If I could share one thing about my culture with a new friend, I would share Chinese cuisine. It isn’t just about the taste, although it tastes amazing, but also because it was a huge part of my family’s normal lunches and dinners, as well as our Chinese holidays. It felt great coming back from a long day at school to smell some nice hot Xiao Long Bao (steamed dumplings), and I enjoyed them as one of my favorite Chinese dishes.

To me, Chinese dishes were always just something I looked forward to. They tasted wonderful, and gave me this familiar feeling of home. We would always sit around the table, and there would be a stunning hot pot with everyone in the family taking their share. We’d toss in thinly sliced meat, mushrooms, tofu, and noodles, sometimes insisting someone eat a certain food, then arguing over it, but it’s just part of Chinese meals. Meals mostly felt relaxed and a bit chaotic, but in a pleasant way. Most times, we didn’t just eat, we watched movies, talked, laughed, and had a great time.

While everyday meals were quite enjoyable, Chinese holidays like the Lunar New Year, reacquired traditional food on another level. We’d start preparing days in advance, and there was always way more food than we could finish. Dishes like dumplings, steamed fish, and we can’t forget about the rice. Rice would be in every meal, not just holidays, and it would go along perfectly with spicy foods, making the spice a little less intense. Most Chinese food doesn’t just taste good, they also have meanings behind them. For example, dumplings and fish symbolize luck and wealth, with spring rolls symbolizing a fresh start for the new year. I never thought too much about the meaning of the food when I was younger, but I only thought about the taste. It’s good to know they had meaning behind them, something I admire about Chinese cuisine.

Chinese food wasn’t just something we ate, it was something our family bonded over. Whether it was a regular dinner or a big holiday meal, it always made things feel a little more special. I didn’t realize it then, but it really is a part of both my childhood and adulthood that I will remember forever.