Whispering Sweet Nothings in Heaven’s Ear

As a young girl, I was fascinated by this story… the legend of the Kitchen God.

The traditional Chinese believe that a Kitchen God watches over the kitchen of every home. Now, this deity does not judge one’s culinary skills, but rather he oversees the moral conduct of the household. Throughout the year, the Kitchen God surveys and monitors the family's virtues and vices from his position on a kitchen wall or mantle. Usually, the Kitchen God is not an actual statue but rather a paper depiction of a lavishly bedecked figure.

According to the legend, one week before the Spring Festival begins (New Year’s Day), the Kitchen God returns to Heaven to report on the family's behavior during the previous year. It is believed that a negative report means that the family will suffer from bad luck during the year to come. Therefore, it became a tradition for families to bring to the Kitchen God, prior to his departure, an offering of a sticky, sweet cake, in the hope that only sweet words about the family in his charge will be spoken at his audience with the Jade Emperor (in Chinese mythology the Jade Emperor is the ruler of heaven). Another variation to the story has it that the sweet cakes offered to the Kitchen God will “seal” his mouth, as it would be so full of the sticky cake that he would be unable to say anything at all!

After the offering has been made, the image of the Kitchen God is burnt as a symbolic act of departure, to send it on its way back to Heaven. And so from the 23rd of the last lunar month, the Kitchen God is absent from his “throne” in the kitchen. During this time, the kitchen is thoroughly cleaned in preparation for his return on New Year’s Eve, when a new image of the Kitchen God is “enshrined” for the New Year.

This is the legend behind the eating of the New Year Cake or “nian gao” – a very sweet, sticky steamed rice cake made from glutinous rice flour, water and sugar. The tradition of eating these cakes naturally emerged from the tradition of making the offering to the Kitchen God. After the offering has been made, the cakes are eaten by the family so as not to let them go to waste.

In modern times, the “nian gao” has come to symbolize “nian nian gao sheng” or growth and advancement every year. It is now believed that eating the rice cakes symbolize a year of progress ahead. For children or those still in education, a year of good grades and academic success. For working adults, a year of professional or business success and achievement. For each individual, a year of personal growth and expansion.

Although our family, being a Christian family, has never had a Kitchen God “altar” in our kitchen and I never saw an image of the Kitchen God, I was nevertheless fascinated by this story as a young child. To this day, each time I eat “nian gao” I inevitably think of this legend, and the purpose of these sweet cakes. Actually, as a young child, my parents provided a new twist to the story. I was told that after I eat the sweet nian gao, I have to say only nice things to and about other people!

So it is customary for just about every family to buy at least one nian gao for CNY. At the festive market, trays and trays of these sweet rice cakes are on display. (They of course can also be easily bought from every wet market, hyper-market and neighborhood provision shop). They come in all kinds of sizes. I spotted the huge one at the festive night market the other night (above picture). It must have been between 18-24” in diameter. The cardboard signage next to it says it weighs a hefty 20 kilos, and it comes with an equally hefty price tag!

The nian gao in the above picture are the traditionally shaped and colored ones (the color being from the caramelisation of the sugar). In recent years, restaurants and hotels have “reinvented” the nian gao, and they now come in auspicious shapes (such as Koi fish) and colors (orange, gold) to better signify prosperity, wealth and abundance in the coming year. Some of these “modern” nian gao even come with pure gold leaf adornments.

To the left of the large nian gao in the picture, you can also see a small “fa gao”. This is also sometimes called “ma lai gao” or Malay cake. It is also a steam caked made from just wheatflour, sugar and water – no oil or eggs. It can come in different colors, like brown, white, pink or yellow. The eating of this cake during CNY is a recent tradition, and originates from South East Asia. The auspicious symbolism of this cake is derived from the sound of its name. Its name “fa gao” describes the fluffy texture of the cake, and at the same time the word “fa” sounds like the word “to prosper”.

During CNY, one avoids serving and eating sour and bitter foods, as this is taken to have the meaning of encountering unpleasant or bitter experiences in the new year. Thus, sour fruits and drinks like grapefruits and soursop, lemonade and lime juices respectively are never served to guests, nor are ingredients like bitter gourd used in CNY cooking. Instead, the house is filled with all things sweet and pleasant, to augur well for the year ahead. It is a tradition to have an octagonal tray of various “sweets” in the home during CNY. This is the “ba bao pen” or Eight Treasures Tray. This selection of sweets can consist of just about any variety of sweets the family prefers. There are sweets galore at the festive market. All types of candied fruits and vegetables are on offer.

Clockwise from top left: candied green papaya, candied ginger, candied papaya, candied coconut strips (this is taken to signify abundant progeny and descendants – the significance is taken from the sound of the words for “coconut”, “ye zhi”, with the word “zhi” sounding like the word for sons or offspring – this is very much a South East Asian tradition, as coconuts are abundant in this part of the world), candied sweet potato, candied winter melon.

Clockwise from top left: candied sweet lime (favored for its golden color and sound of its name, both of which resemble gold, wealth and abundance), candied carrot (auspicious color), candied lotus seeds (“lian zhi” – again, the name sounds like “lots of descendants and offsprings), candied lotus roots (these signify family unity and harmony), candied water chestnut, candied coconut pieces (for long line of descendants). My personal favorites are the lotus roots and seeds. I like the chewiness of the roots and the soft crunch of the seeds, balanced with the sugar. I have to admit to indulging heavily in these each year during CNY! I like the water chestnut too, but it is SERIOUSLY sweet, and can only be taken in very small doses!

Dried fruits are also favored during CNY…

Top left: dried red dates (“hong zhao” – the second word in its name signifies “all things come early”, i.e. the early realization of goals, wishes and desires). Bottom left: dried tangerines (again, the name “kum” and color signify wealth and prosperity).

A favorite with many people… dried persimmons. The dried fruits are given a dusting of flour to help keep it fresh and prolong the shelf life. These dried fruits are quite different from the Western versions of dried fruits – these are almost like soft, chewy sweets even though they are fruits that have been dried whole.

All these candied goodies only make their appearance during CNY, and so for many people, this is an excuse to indulge heartily in them! (I speak from experience! Heh!)

Next to these sweet offerings are another definite “must-have” for each family - melon seeds. These “gua zhi” symbolize “gua di mian mian” or to have many descendants and offsprings.

Traditionally, these came only in black melon seeds (hei gua zhi), red melon seeds (hong gua zhi) or white pumpkin seeds (bai gua zhi).

In the last couple of years, new and fancy “new-age” flavors and colors have emerged.

Bright pink rose-flavored pumpkin seeds.

Lavender (zhi luo lan) -flavored and green-tea flavored pumpkin seeds.

A favored activity during CNY is to sit with family and friends and munch on these melon seeds. They are addictive! Once one gets into a rhythm of cracking the seeds, peeling back the husk and removing the fragrant inner seed, it is hard to stop! One just keeps going and going, sometimes for hours on end, as one chats away with family and friends! The entire cracking, peeling and removing of the inner seed is done entirely with the two front teeth and the lips only. No hands required! The pointed end of the melon seed is cracked open with the front tooth. The same tooth is used to delicately peel back the two sides of the opened up husk, to reveal the white inner seed. The front teeth are then used to gently secure the inner seed and ease it from the husk. All this is done very elegantly and discretely, leaving only a pile of perfectly opened up “v-shaped” empty husks on the table! It takes skill and a lot of practice!

Nowadays, to accompany the traditional candied fruits and sweets, many homes also have on offer various chocolates and candies in auspicious shapes and designs. This is quite obviously an incredibly lucrative brain-child of retailers. This stall really packs them in. The crowd (when I was there) was several persons deep. I could barely get a nose in on the action (and thus the very blurred picture as I tried to squeeze my camera through! Haha!)

What’s being offered is chocolates shaped into “lucky” designs (not sure if you can make it out from the picture) like Koi fish, gold fish, pineapples (“wang lai” in Chinese sounding like “wealth arrives”) and so on. These are not cheap… they are going for around S$1 per piece of chocolate, and these are just low-grade commercial quality chocolates, which without the fancy CNY designs would sell for only maybe S$0.10 - 0.20 per piece! More often than not, these chocolates do not get eaten. Very few people like their taste, but people snap them up anyway, and display them in their homes for the symbolism behind their designs.

This is from another stall, also selling “lucky chocolates”. The designs in this stall are a little smaller, and thus the crowd around this stall was correspondingly smaller too! These smaller pineapples and gold ingots are priced at S$0.60 per piece.

Again, more of the “new-age” flavored pumpkin seeds next to the chocolates.

This stall-owner is selling the more traditional or some might say “old-fashioned” candies and chocolates, which unfortunately, nobody seems to be interested in anymore.

Ah… the sweet traditions of CNY, both ancient and modern…

And so this is my wish for the New Year of the Monkey: may every mind think sweet and kind thoughts, every mouth speak sweet and kind words, every heart be filled with the sweetness of love, compassion and peace, every life be filled with sweet success, achievement and fulfillment, and every home be filled with sweet warmth and togetherness!

Copyright © 2004 Renee Kho. All rights reserved.
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