In 2024, the Lunar New Year begins on Saturday February 10. For many, as for Vincent Liew, executive chef at The Star Sydney, the date is a chance to gather together and celebrate the year to come. “It’s a big thing for the family – it’s the traditional way,” Liew says, who is of Malaysian-born Chinese descent. “A lot of food for eating and sharing, not only being able to meet your cousins and have one big family time, but also learning from generation to generation.”

At the centre of every celebration – as Liew will demonstrate with his extensive Star menus this year – is a feast. Traditionally, we’re talking about large spreads big enough to feed all the gathering relatives. “It’s family-style – we always go for a banquet,” he says. “It could be six, eight or 10 [dishes] – all even numbers because even is always bringing balance. Most Chinese believe that having six dishes or eight represents wealth – it comes back to symbols, it’s all very traditional.”

What to make this year

There’s no shortage of traditional Lunar New Year dishes – longevity noodles; sweet, glutinous nian gao rice cakes and steamed whole fish are common table-toppers – but Liew’s pick is a real centrepiece. “In Southeast Asia, especially Malaysia and Singapore, there’s one dish that’s my favourite called yee sang – the tossing salad,” he says. “Basically, it's a very colourful salad with a lot of interaction.”

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Like so much of the Lunar New Year’s culinary repertoire, yee sang (also known as yusheng) is imbued with deeper meaning, here mostly from its eye-catching combination of coloured veg like carrots (which are considered red here), white radish and green spring onions. “White colour in the radish represents your career, red means luck,” says Liew. “They also have sesame seeds and peanuts and that is symbolic of goals spread all over.” Once everything is in the bowl, the group tosses it all together. “The higher they toss, the more they believe the coming year [will bring] a step up in career or anything.”

Another common dish is the traditional dumpling, which represents wealth and according to Liew, is an easy way to involve the family in cooking at home. “I think dumplings are a good thing because I’m trying to promote family togetherness,” he says. “I think it’s good to make dumplings, people can actually sit together around the table, grandpa, mum or kids.”

But if you aren’t up to putting together a massive feast – or would rather leave it to the professionals, there are plenty of venues where you can celebrate Lunar New Year with all the traditional dishes, alongside modern takes.

Liew’s feasts at The Star

As the new year approaches, Liew’s suite of Star restaurants are gearing up for a more refined take on those home-cooked classics while still retaining familiar tradition. “All the dishes we create for the signature dining area, we just make sure to encourage people to share,” he says. “On Lunar New Year people want to have more things in front of them and try to present variety as well.”

Lunar New Year festivities at The Star also start earlier than the auspicious date itself, with special offers and events kicking off on February 9. At ritzy Japanese fine-diner Sokyo, the headliner is an $888 lobster sashimi platter named Prosperity, complete with caviar, toro (a fatty cut from the belly of the tuna), scampi and local rock lobster. At Black Bar & Grill, the traditional dumpling (titled Wealthy) is stepped up from the homemade classic, here with abalone, octopus and a veal broth, while the seafood-focused Flying Fish is all about Treasure, a dish of fried mud crab served with local natives like bush tomato and saltbush buns.

The names, like the dishes themselves, nod to the ideas that make Lunar New Year so important for many communities, emphasising the chance to set up for a big 2024. “Prosperity, fortune, auspicious, wealthy – this is what they expect in the coming year,” says Liew. “How can they usher in a year of luck and also prosperity? They believe if you do it in Lunar New Year it reflects in life more easily for the coming year.”

Menu subject to change and cancellation. The Star Practises the responsible service of alcohol. Guests must be aged 18 years or over to enter the casino.

This article is produced by Broadsheet in partnership with The Star.