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This is China's most famous cake, traditionally fed to the Chinese Kitchen God so he will report favorably on a family's behavior when he returns to heaven before the start of the New Year season. In Chinese culture, cakes symbolize togetherness and a rich life. The main ingredient in Nian Gao is glutinous rice flour, available in Asian grocery stores. The cake is filled with dried fruit and steamed.
- Not comfortable with the idea of steaming a cake? Here is a recipe for baked Nian Gao. The cake is filled with red azuki beans, used in many Chinese festive dishes.
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A fun, if filling, dessert - Fresh chestnuts are ground into fine pieces to represent the dust of the Mongolian dessert, and paired with whipped cream.
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No Chinese New Year celebration would be complete without cookies! These almond cookies have a light, delicate flavor that is not too overpowering.
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These are tasty balls of glutinous rice flour that filled with red bean paste and rolled in sesame seeds and fried. While sesame seed balls are available at Asian bakeries throughout the year, they are especially popular during the Chinese New Year season.
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This famous banquet dessert is a pudding, traditionally made with eight types of dried candied fruits to "treasures" such as happiness and a long life.
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Peanuts symbolize longevity in Chinese culture. In this easy recipe the peanuts are coated in a syrupy mixture with brown sugar, corn syrup and five-spice powder.
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Sago tarts are made with lotus seeds. Lotus seeds are often given to married couples to wish them many children.
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This popular sweet dessert soup is made with lotus seeds, red azuki beans, and dried tangerine peel.
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One of the more unusual Chinese desserts, this fried custard is made with toasted sesame seeds.
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Although they're actually an American creation, fortune cookies are a fun way to end a festive meal. Homemade fortune cookies taste so much better than storebought, and you can make up the fortunes to put in the cookies.
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