Red Egg and Ginger Party

It was my niece's one month celebration yesterday. It's a Chinese thing. Maybe other cultures do a similar thing but in this instance I'm referring to the Chinese tradition. Traditionally it is held one month from the date of birth but due to scheduling conflicts, she is already 6 weeks old. Luckily it is more flexible these days and people celebrate this occasion anywhere from one to three months after the baby is born. You can read more about the significance of the one month baby celebration here. Basically, back in the days in China, the infant mortality rate was high because of the lack of modern medicine. An infant who survives the one month period was believed to have made it pass the precarious stages. A call for celebration!

Chinese people still carry on this tradition even today here in the U.S. where the infant mortality rate is low. This celebration now serves as a way to introduce the baby and mother back into the world after recovering from birth for a month. If you have ever seen the movie The Joy Luck Club, there is a scene in the movie of a Red Egg Celebration.

Here's the sleeping beauty!

Here's the feast! Some of these dishes were selected for symbolic reasons. Yes, meaningful and delicious! That's how we roll. The red eggs above represents fertility and the color red stands for happiness.

The whole steamed fish stands for prosperity, while the Peking duck stands for fidelity. All the dishes red in coloring represents happiness. The lobster dish is a dragon food. Normally chicken is also served in it's whole form. The chicken is a representation of a phoenix food. The lobster and chicken represents the unity of dragon and phoenix, a symbol of a happy marriage. Serving the chicken whole stands for the unity of the family. I'm not an expert by any means. I just came for the food. Just kidding. Maybe.

Happy One Month to my beautiful niece! <3