For the Fire Horse year, the beliefs described in the article associate colourful foods and meanings of movement and progress with doubled good fortune.
Preparing the Chinese New Year offering table is presented as an important way to thank ancestors and pray for well-being. The seven auspicious food categories listed are:
1. Misua noodles or stir-fried noodles.
Meaning: Long noodles symbolise longevity.
For the Horse year: In a fast-moving year likened to a horse, good health and longevity are seen as foundations of success. The custom says not to cut noodles during cooking or eating.
2. A whole fish.
Meaning: The Chinese word for fish, yu, sounds like the word for surplus or abundance.
For the Horse year: It expresses wishes for financial inflows and a surplus throughout the year. Serving a fish with its head and tail symbolises a good beginning and ending.
3. Pineapple.
Meaning: The Hokkien expression ong lai is interpreted as good fortune arriving.
For the Horse year: The fruit’s golden colour is associated with the Fire Horse element, symbolising business growth and a continuing flow of customers.
4. Num kantrok (New Year cakes) or Chinese cakes.
Meaning: Rising higher from year to year.
For the Horse year: They symbolise promotion, higher positions and career progress as swift as a running horse.
5. Roast pork or boiled chicken.
Meaning: Red roast pork symbolises luck, while chicken represents prosperity and reunion.
For the Horse year: The article treats the red colour of roast pork as especially auspicious for the 2026 Fire Horse year, expressing hopes of warding off misfortune.
6. Mandarin oranges.
Meaning: Their round shape and golden colour represent money and abundance.
For the Horse year: Displaying oranges with leaves is associated with wishes for lively, strong family relationships.
7. Lotus-seed cakes or grains.
Meaning: Many descendants and a strong family line.
For the Horse year: They express hopes for family happiness and capable successors.
By Pai Sokhim.
