Chinese New Year is a time for many things; having a reunion dinner, spending time with your family, eating sentimental home cooked meals, seeing your friends, taking a break from work, and of course, snacking! 

Yes, snacks are an integral part of the CNY celebrations. It’s what everyone munches on while they’re watching Steven Chow comedy reruns on TV and what your guests will be nibbling on while they chat.

Choosing which snacks to have in your home can be a daunting task. Here are some ideas to get your started:

Pineapple Tarts

Pineapple tarts are a perennial favorite, simply because of their classic delicious taste. These tarts are always present during CNY because they contain pineapples. In Chinese tradition, pineapples are associated with luck and prosperity, especially because of their bright yellow color that represents wealth. 

Many people just love the taste of pineapple tarts. It has a  slightly salty and buttery crust that brings out the sweetness of the pineapple paste that’s paired with it. 

There are several types of pineapple tarts available, including pineapple rollovers, little balls and open faced pineapple tarts. There are also many modern takes on this traditional favorite that you can find, including Matcha pineapple tarts and Charcoal pineapple tarts. 

The open faced pineapple tarts are also known as Nyonya pineapple tarts, and one place you can find them is at Ding Bakery.These melt-in-mouth pineapple tarts can be delivered right to your doorstep, and they’ve won numerous awards for it. 

Source: Ding Bakery

Prawn Rolls or Hae Bee Hiam

This crunchy snack resembles little fried popiah that are bite sized. In fact, they’re made of thin dumpling skins that are rolled around a spicy dried prawn sambal and then deep fried.

This prawn mixture is known in Hokkien as Hae Bee Hiam, and they’re super addictive, especially if you love savory and crunchy snacks. 

Fortunately, Ding Bakery carried these little popiahs which you can find on their site as Hae Bee Hiam Prawn Rolls. They’re the best option for balancing out all the other sweet snacks that are usually found on a CNY spread. 

Source: Ding Bakery

Kueh Bangkit

Kueh Bangkit is one of those quintessentially local snacks that comes from a traditional Malay recipe. Its main ingredients are sago or tapioca flour, coconut milk and eggs. This combination of ingredients produces a cookie that is crumbly, and literally melts in your mouth when you bite into it. 

Kueh bangkit is a staple CNY snack for those who live in Singapore, Malaysia and Indonesia. Back in the days, it would be one of the few cookies that were made at home by hand. The recipe is relatively simple and the ingredients easily obtainable. 

These days, it’s easier to purchase your kueh bangkit from shops like Ding Bakery.They have several types of melt in your mouth kueh bangkit, including the original version, Gula Melaka version, Pandan flavor version and a Flower version. 

Source: Ding Bakery

Deep Fried Crab Sticks

This fairly modern snack became a favorite relatively recently, and is made by deep frying shredded or sliced crab sticks and then seasoning them. This deep frying process makes the crab sticks crunchy, just like a potato chip. 

Although they can be eaten by anyone, crunchy crab sticks are particularly liked by children. They also provide a savory alternative for those who just don’t really like sweet CNY snacks, or believe that they’ve had too much. 

The good news is, Ding Bakery carries these delicious and irreplaceable fried snacks in two flavors, namely Salted Egg Crab Sticks and Mala Crab Sticks. If you’re into spicy snacks with a kick, then the Mala flavor is perfect for you.

Source: Ding Bakery

Love Letters

Love letters are so named because back in the day, there was a legend that a pair of forbidden lovers found a creative way to communicate. They did so using crispy, crepe-like cookies printed all over with their messages. 

Whether or not one believes this story, love letters have become a CNY staple these days. They’re not very sweet, and are made mainly from eggs, rice flour and tapioca flour. Alternative names for this snack includes kueh kapit and kueh Sembrong. 

The process of making love letters takes a lot of skill, practice and experience. Once the batter is made, it is spread over a custom-made pan and grilled over charcoal fire. 

Then, when the time is right, you have to lift the cookie off the steaming hot pan and fold or roll it into shape before it cools down. What a daunting task!

Love letters can be served plain. However, it has become a trend nowadays to fill them with all sorts of lovely things. Some examples include peanut butter, pandan cream, Nutella, chocolate cream, strawberry jam and many more. 

At Ding Bakery, you can find both plain Love Letters and Peanut Butter Folded Love Letters. We suggest you get both to offer more varieties of snacks for your family and visitors. 

Source: Ding Bakery

Prepare Your Snacks Early

Chinese New Year 2022 will be celebrated on February 1st, so it’s a good idea to avoid the last minute rush by making your orders earlier. That way, you have plenty of time to dedicate to plenty of other tasks, like decorating your home or planning what dishes to make for reunion dinner. 

Ding Bakery is offering a 40% discount for early birds who make their orders before December 25th 2021, which will definitely contribute to your savings. You can also enjoy free delivery if your orders exceed $100. 

Ding Bakery offers a lot more cookies, crackers and snacks apart from the ones mentioned above.Some of their unique creations you have to try are their salted egg butter cookies, salted egg fish skin and gold standard butter cookies. 

Source: Unsplash

We hope you have fun shopping around for your CNY snacks and cookies. Just remember not to get too stressed up about it as having the opportunity to celebrate with your loved ones and appreciate your traditions is far more important. Happy CNY folks!