Chinese New Year Recipe- Tray of Togetherness

TRAY OF TOGETHERNESS Throughout the Chinese New Year season, it is customary to offer guests an assortment of treats from a Tray of Togetherness called chuen-hop – a circular or octagonal shaped tray filled with an assortment of symbolic foods to provide a sweet beginning to the New Year. While it is possible to find togetherness trays made of expensive wood such as teak, inexpensive versions made of plastic are readily available in Asian grocery stores throughout the New Year season. The tray has eight compartments, as the Chinese consider the number eight to be extremely lucky. These trays traditionally offer sugared fruit and vegetables, including winter melon, coconut, lotus seed, lotus root, water chestnut, carrot and tangerine. And what a great idea to get kids to try new fruits and veggies! Assemble a Tray of Togetherness with plenty of fresh and dried fruits, assorted nuts and cheeses, crisp fresh carrots, celery and broccoli and for a really sweet burst of color, steam some beautiful red beets and cut them into small cubes for easy munching. Toss in some fortune cookies and enjoy A Chinese new years tradition any time of the year!

For even more family fun, pass out a set of chopsticks to everyone and have them use their chopsticks to sample all of the goodies in the Tray of Togetherness. Check-out our clever chopsticks http://kidscookingshop.com/clothes-pin-chopstick-set