Yuan

By Arianna Wu

“I saw a place where my family, tradition, and the history of the dish was continuing, a place where my family could embrace and bond over our culture in history.”

Arianna: Yuan has made an impact on me for as long as I could remember. Yuan is a traditional Chinese dish that consists of spears of glutinous rice dough in a savory soup made from different meats and veggies. Every year, on the eve of Chinese New Year, my grandma and mom would make this dish for the family to eat. I never really knew the significance of this dish and why we had to eat it every year. It wasn't until I asked my mom one day while she was making it that I realized how much symbolism the dish has.

Mom: You know, I always have a good memory about it because when I was a little kid, my grandma always make them during special occasion or during, like, celebration. So when we came here, my mom started making it. After I got married, when I have kids, I feel like that's something I want to continue. So I start making it for my family. Both my kids like it a lot. So every so often, I will make it. How this started as a tradition for our house is when my older daughter went away for college, the first time when she came back, and I asked her what did she miss the most and what kind of food did she miss the most from home? She told me it's the yuan, which is the Chinese dumpling. So I told her I will make it for her as a first dinner when she came home. So, after that, every time when she came home, and she always asked for it, so it became a tradition. Now, every time when she came home, we will have that as our first dinner together. Yuan is representing, like, a circle, like the lifecycle, like from the beginning to end, like a ball. Because, traditionally, Chinese like stuff in round because they feel like it's from the beginning to end and they meet again. So it's just like a family when somebody who went away for travel, or jobs, or school, when they come home, it means the family is together again. So that's why we always make this as a togetherness dish, because it's like a celebration of life.

Arianna: Before this, I didn't really understand nor knew a lot about my Chinese culture or background. But after talking to my mom, I got to know a little more about my background and how important this dish is. All of a sudden, I started seeing my kitchen in a whole new way. The place that I have grown up with its tiled walls, wooden floor, and the everlasting aroma of food cooking, suddenly felt different from all the years I have known it. I instead saw a place where my family tradition and the history of the dish was continuing, a place where my family could embrace and bond over our culture and history. After this moment, I started to appreciate the dish more for what it stood for and how it helped unite my family every year, even if it wasn't obvious.