Mulan Themed Dinner

This week, we enjoyed a Mulan Themed Dinner while learning about the traditional holiday, Lunar New Year!

I’ve been wanting to do a Mulan Themed Dinner for a while because I absolutely love Chinese cuisine.  And when I realized Lunar New Year was approaching, I decided it would be the perfect learning opportunity for the kids (and me)! 

Lunar New Year (also known as Spring Festival) is an important international holiday celebrated in many Asian countries.  This celebration marks the end of winter and the beginning of spring!  The New Year begins with the first new moon of the lunar calendar, and festivities continue for 15 days until the first full moon. 

Much like our own New Year, Lunar New Year is considered a time of rebirth and renewal.  Lunar New Year celebrations include honoring deities and ancestors, reconnecting with friends and loved ones, and feasting on auspicious foods.  These foods each have symbolic meanings and are believed to bring good luck in the coming year.

I took inspiration from these auspicious foods and tried to incorporate many of them on our Mulan dinner menu.

But before I dive into our menu, I want to share some additional information about Lunar New Year!

Lunar New Year Traditions

• Because Lunar New Year follows the phases of the moon, the date of the holiday changes each year.  This year (2022), the New Year occurred on February 1^st! 
• Each year honors one of the 12 Chinese zodiac animals.  2022 ushered in the Year of the Tiger. 
• Before the celebrations, families meticulously clean their houses to remove any bad luck that may follow them into the New Year.  This custom is known as “sweeping of the grounds.”
• Because red is a lucky color, families decorate their homes with red banners, intricate cut-paper designs, and couplets.  Wearing and decorating with red brings good fortune.
• During Lunar New Year, red paper envelopes (lai see) containing small amounts of money are given to friends and family.  This symbolizes good wishes and fortune for the New Year.  
• Families feast on specific auspicious foods that symbolize wealth, prosperity, and unity.  The symbolism of these foods is derived from their appearance or pronunciation.  Some common auspicious foods include:
  • Dumplings – a symbol of wealth and happiness due to their coin shape.  The more dumplings you eat during celebrations, the more wealth you will acquire in the New Year! 
  • Chicken – preparing and eating a whole chicken symbolizes family unity.
  • Rice – symbolizes abundance, good fortune, and fertility.
  • Long Noodles – a symbol of longevity, it is considered unlucky to cut these noodles.
  • Chinese Almond Cookies – these cookies resemble coins and are meant to bring good luck and wealth in the New Year.
• The holiday culminates with the Lantern Festival on the last day of celebrations.  Celebrations include parades, dances, games, and fireworks.

For more information about Lunar New Year history and traditions, head over to History.com!  ChinaHighlights.com also has great information on auspicious foods to enjoy during the Lunar New Year.

Activities

We learned about Lunar New Year through several fun activities as part of our Mulan dinner night.

The first thing we did was learn what everyone’s Chinese zodiac symbol was.  We have two dragons, two rats, and 1 monkey in our house!  You can look up your Chinese zodiac symbol HERE!

To help facilitate learning about the Lunar New Year, I also printed off some coloring sheets I found at the Purple Pumpkin Blog.  Their Chinese New Year Coloring Book features beautiful images associated with the holiday and was a great teaching tool for the kiddos.

I also made some of our own red paper envelopes (lai see) with the Fu character on them.  This symbol means happiness, blessing, and good fortune and is commonly used during the Spring Festival to greet the New Year. 

These envelopes are handed out to family and friends with small amounts of money to symbolize good fortune for the New Year!

And finally, to get a taste of how the Lunar New Year is celebrated at the Disney Parks, we watched Mulan’s Lunar New Year Procession at Disney California Adventure Park.  Check it out on Youtube HERE! 

It was fun to spot several of the traditional holiday motifs in the parade, as well as our favorite Disney characters joining in on the celebrations! 

Mulan Dinner Menu

What About “Happy” Porridge (Congee)?

For our first dinner item, I immediately thought of recreating the “happy” porridge Mushu made for Mulan’s breakfast.  But after doing research about traditional Lunar New Year foods, I learned congee is considered an inappropriate food to serve for the New Year.  In the past, congee was associated with the less fortunate in China due to its low-cost.  Anyone who serves congee for the New Year can expect a poor year in return.  Yikes!

I have to admit, I’ve always wanted to try the dish because Mushu makes it so adorable!  So, I may just have to try it on a less meaningful day.

Edited 8/8/24 – We finally whipped up some of our own congee for our Raya and the Last Dragon themed dinner. Check out the post to see how it turned out!

Lucky Dumplings for Wealth

First up on our Mulan dinner menu – dumplings!  We see dumplings several times throughout the film as they are a popular food in Chinese cuisine.  They are also an important auspicious food enjoyed during Lunar New Year celebrations.

I’ve never made this type of dumpling before, but I found this recipe for Chinese Boiled Pork Dumplings from Steamy Kitchen that provided great instructions! 

When making dumplings for the New Year, it is important to create several pleats when wrapping the fillings.  Having flat edges is believed to represent poverty, and I definitely didn’t want that!

I watched several Youtube videos to make sure I had the pleating technique down.  I have to say, I think they turned out rather pretty for a novice dumpling-maker! 

These dumplings were a hit with the family, everyone went back for extra helpings.  They were a labor of love but definitely worth it! 

Long Noodles for Longevity

For our longevity noodles, I decided to go with a tried-and-true Vegetable Lo Mein recipe from Savory Bites.  I originally used this recipe for our Beetlejuice Dinner during our Halloween dinner series and LOVED how the dish turned out. 

However, the sriracha sauce made it too spicy for my younger kiddos.  So, this time I omitted it and the whole family was able to enjoy this dish.  Even my 1-year-old happily slurped up the noodles and veggies.  Yay for kids eating vegetables!

Chicken for Family Unity

While it is traditional to prepare a whole chicken for Lunar New Year, I steered in a different direction so I could incorporate this Sweet and Sour Chicken Stir-Fry recipe from the Disney Parks.  This dish was created by Chef Ming Tsai and made its appearance at EPCOT Food and Wine Festival in 2011.

I’m a sucker for official Disney recipes, so I couldn’t wait to give this one a try!

This stir-fry recipe utilizes fresh ingredients and boasts great flavors.  It’s definitely an elevated version of your standard sweet and sour chicken recipe.  This was another dish for our Mulan dinner that got the whole family’s approval!

Chinese Almond Cookies for Good Luck

For dessert, I decided to bake some traditional Chinese Almond Cookies using a recipe from Bites of Better.  Because of their coin-like appearance, these cookies are considered a symbol of good luck and fortune for the New Year. 

These cookies were crumbly, nutty, and not too sweet. They were the perfect ending to our Mulan Dinner!

I hope you enjoyed our Mulan Dinner and tribute to Lunar New Year.  Themed dinners are a great way to make movie night more memorable, and it’s extra special when we can teach the kids something new!

Do you celebrate Lunar New Year?  If so, I’d love to hear about your traditions in the comments!

Looking for other Disney Themed Dinner Nights?  Check out our Coco Themed Dinner HERE and our Princess and the Frog Themed Dinner HERE!

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