Why I Don't Make Dumplings for Lunar New Year's

This year, Chinese New Year falls on a Tuesday. Monday night, if we’re being precise. Traditionally, it begins the night before.

When I was growing up in San Francisco, the signs were unmistakable. My mother would stop cleaning. She’d tell us not to wash our hair. And in the refrigerator there would be a giant round disc taking up a shelf on its own. Brown. Homogeneous.

Let me say this clearly: it’s nonsense that all Chinese families make dumplings for New Year. My mother was Cantonese. That meant no dumplings. If you wanted dumplings, you went out for them. Or you ordered them from the dim sum cart.

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