Menu with Meaning (2024)

Dumplings symbolize prosperity in China, particularly during New Year’s celebrations.

Question: In what country can you feast your way toward everything from a healthy marriage to a baby carriage—and a long life, provided you eat by the rules?

Answer: China

Imagine a land where a menu of noodles and dumplings could reward you with a long and prosperous life (if somewhat at odds with an expanding waistline). In China, symbolism and superstitions have been attached to certain foods for more than 2,000 years—and eating right, particularly during celebrations and festivals, is still believed to bring good luck for a day, a year, or even a lifetime.

Sometimes, the symbolism is drawn from the shape of a food—like associating wealth with crescent-shaped dumplings that resemble ancient currency. Or, the phonetic pronunciation of a food might be similar to an auspicious Chinese character—like carp (li), which symbolizes success because it sounds like the word for “advantage.” Rather than eat carp for lunch every day, many businessmen hang an image of the fish on the walls of their establishment.

Interested in eating your way toward a long and prosperous life? Here’s what to put on the menu—and a few things to avoid.

Health, Wealth, & Happiness in 5 Chinese Courses:

• Live long and prosper: If you’re going to plan on all this success and happiness, you want to have time to enjoy it. Noodles symbolize longevity—and, for obvious reasons, the longer the better. Never cut noodles before serving or eating, as their length is directly proportional to your years on this earth. Peaches take the concept one step further, symbolizing immortality. Just don’t serve them in groups of four: the number is pronounced almost identically to the word for “death.”
• Love and marriage: Instead of your run-of-the-mill surf and turf, serve chicken and lobster at a wedding to ensure a happy union. Together, the two represent the sacred dragon and phoenix—two folkloric symbols that, in the spirit of yin and yang, come together to make a whole. (You’d probably recognize the motif from traditional Chinese artwork.) Lobster is doubly auspicious because the color red symbolizes happiness—but you can also serve crispy glazed Peking duck for good measure; it also symbolizes fidelity. Whatever you do, don’t share a pear with your beloved: the word for pear sounds ominously like the word for “divorce.”
• Money in the bank: The best time to eat your way rich is during Chinese New Year, when basically every ingredient holds special meaning. Among the deliciously auspicious: abalone, apricot, cashew, grapes, and oranges. Bananas symbolize brilliance, which could apply to either work or school. Regarding your career, don’t serve or eat squid during New Year’s celebrations: The word for squid closely resembles an idiom that means “you’re fired.” Instead, eggplant is said to signify that a promotion might be in your future. Keep that carp on your wall to be safe.
• Full house: As in many cultures, eggs symbolize fertility, and are eaten both to encourage pregnancy and to celebrate the birth of a baby. If you want many children, seek out pomegranate or snacks made with seeds. Pregnant women must navigate a minefield of superstitions, food-related or otherwise; among them, it’s wise to avoid crab and pineapple for the safety of the fetus. For a smart child, consume plenty of walnuts, believed to promote intelligence because they resemble tiny brains. Actually, walnuts contain brain-boosting omega-3 fatty acids, so there’s some truth to this. Did the ancient Chinese know?
• Happy family: Serve fish, duck, and chicken whole—in China, this means head, feet, and all—to promote unity and togetherness for your family. A side of mixed vegetables symbolizes family harmony. And because food—any food—means the most when you share it with the ones you love, serve meatballs to ensure many happy reunions to come.

Discover the superstitions and symbolism that permeate Chinese culture when you join O.A.T. on Imperial China, Tibet & the Yangtze River.