[寫作指導] Lunar New Year 過新年｜Cultural Heritage 文化傳統｜學生作品 Writing Clinic

Family’s Tradition/Cultural Heritage

As Chinese New Year slowly crawls upon us, the preparation has begun. 

My grandma is a usual customer at the traditional market near her house. She knows almost everyone there and goes there every weekend. Just a few days before Chinese New Year's Eve, she starts to stock up on the necessary ingredients for the New Year's Eve feast. Fish, carrots, potatoes, bok choy, cabbage, dried tofu, mushrooms, and meat…were all in the blue and white striped basket she had used for years. She then chops up all the ingredients into either thin slices or chunks for later use. 

On the day of the feast, my grandma summoned me and my cousins to her house bright and early. A strong smell of soy sauce and sesame oil could be detected from the hallway. A massive bowl of thinly sliced pork marinated with soy sauce, sesame oil, garlic, green onions, finely chopped carrots, and a plate of dumpling wrappers welcomed us into the house.  

We sat around the round table and started to do our favorite activity – making dumplings. We each grabbed a spoon and got a tiny serving of the filling. We placed the filling onto the wrap, dipped our fingers in water, and used water to seal the dumpling. 

Last but not least, we squeezed the sealed part into different shapes and stacked the dumplings in a bowl, ready to be cooked. Right after the dumplings are brought back into the kitchen, my grandma takes out another tray full of new ingredients. 

A huge bowl of shredded pork mixed with salt, cooking wine, raw ginger, and chicken stock with a stack of bean curd skin is on the tray. Once again, we sit down and start making another dish called shredded pork rolled in bean curd skin. We each took a tablespoon of the mixture and placed it on the sheet. We then wrapped it into a tight roll and piled it up like a pyramid on a plate. The rolls then go into the fridge, waiting to be steamed. 

However, the best part is not about food but how we are intimate with our family members. When we were still children, we used to run around after finishing all the work and boast to our grandma about how well we did. During the feast, after the dishes we made were brought onto the table, my aunts and uncles would praise us so well we never felt that proud. 

My family has been doing this tradition since I was not even born yet. Even though we have also spent plenty of pleasure time together, like traveling or simply going to watch a movie, making dumplings and bean curd pork rolls with my cousins has been a core memory. I am extremely excited for the next New Year’s Eve party, and I hope that this tradition will be passed down to the next generations of my family.