Chinese like playing with words and symbols. Often homonyms (words that share the same pronunciation but have different meanings) are used. Names of dishes and/or their ingrediets which will be served sound similar to words and phrases refering to wishes expressed during the Chinese New Year, while other foods hold a symbolic meaning.

Food offerings are a prayer or a wish and can be addressed to ancestors and other beings such as the Jade Emperor and The Kitchen God. The offering of food serves to bring ancestors and other beings in the other world closer to oneself. The food offerings serve as a bonding tool to bring both worlds together.

Below a brief list of the food's symbolic meaning:

Abalone (sea snail; 鳆; fù) - definite good fortune

Apple (苹果; píngguǒ) - wisdom, peace

Apricot, dried (杏脯; xìngfǔ) - gold, wealth

Arrowhead (bot.: Sagittaria sagittifolia; 慈菇; cí gū) - benevolence

Arrowroot (bot.: Maranta arundinacea; 竹芋) - good life

Bamboo fungus (stinkhorn fungus; bot.: Phallus indusiatus; 竹笙, zhúshēng), also called bamboo pith (竹荪; zhúsūn) - meaning: long life

Bamboo shoots (竹笋尖; zhú sǔn jiān) - wealth (term sounds like "wishing that everything would be well" - xǔyuànchí), new start

Banana (香蕉; xiāngjiāo), on altar, offering - wish for education, brilliance at work/ school

Bean curd, dried/ tofu, dried (豆腐, dòu fǔ)- fulfillment of wealth and happiness (note: dried tofu is not of white colour) Bean curd sticks (腐竹; fǔ zhú) - blessing the house

Bean sprouts (豆芽; dòu yá, literally "bean sprout/germ" 芽菜; yá cài, literally "sprout vegetable" or 银芽; yín yá, literally "silver sprouts") - 'to your heart's content', positive start into the new year

Black moss (hair moss, hair weed), fat choy (髮菜; fàcài; a black hair-like cyanobacteria) - wealth

Cabbage, Chinese (pak choy, 白菜) - 100 types of prosperity luck Cabbage, stuffed packages - wealth (the shape symbolises an ingot)

Calms (scallops; 扇贝; shànbèi) - opening of new horizons calm roll (干贝; gānbèi) - gold, wealth

Carrots (胡蘿蔔; hú luóbo; or 紅蘿蔔; hóng luóbo), red colour- good luck

Cashew nut (腰果, yāoguǒ)- gold, money (the nut's shape symbolises the gold bar of ancient times)

Chicken (whole) (鸡肉; jīròu) - prosperity, togetherness of the family, joy (note: chicken with its head, tail and feet symbolizes completeness)

Chinese garlic chives (韭菜, jiǔcài) - everlasting, eternity, long life

Coconut, nut (椰子; yēzi), flesh (椰肉; yēròu), juice/milk (椰汁; yēzhī) - promoting togetherness

Daylily buds, golden lily buds (金针; jīnzhēn; also called "golden needles") - wealth

Duck (鸭肉, yāròu) - fertility

Dumplings - dumplings exist in various kind, see: jiaozi dumplings, yuanxiao/ tangyuan/ tangtuan dumplings

Egg (蛋, dàn) - fertility egg roll (蛋皮春卷, dàn pí chūn juǎn) - money, wealth, gold

Fa Gao (发糕; fāgāo) the steamed "Prosperity Cake"; the sound "fa" means either "to raise/generate" or "be prosperous"

Fish (whole) - The word 魚 (yú), meaning "fish", has the same pronunciation as the word 餘, which is "remain or surplus", 'having leftovers of money', an increase in prosperity fish ball (鱼蛋; yúdàn) - reunion

Golden lilly buds, Daylily (bot.: Hemerocallis; 金针; jīnzhēn) - wealth

Gingko nuts ( 銀杏; yín xìng; or 白果, bái guǒ)- hope for silver, wealth (the nut's shape represents a silver yuanbao/ ingot)

Glass noodles, Chinese vermicelli, cellophane noodle, noodle threads (粉絲; fěn sī; also called "bean threads ", mung bean thread) - silver chain

Grapes (葡萄, pútaó) - wealth, abundance, fertility, many descendants, family harmony

Jiaozi- Dumplings (jiǎozi, 饺子) - wealth (the shape of the jiaozi dumplings is that of a yuanbao ingot, also the word jiǎozi shares the same pronunciation with 角子 (jiǎozi) that is a small jiao coin used in old times. Other meanings: togetherness, heavenly blessing

Jujube (kind of date, red colour; 枣; zǎo, candied jujube: 蜜枣; mìzǎo) - wealth, prosperity, fertility

Kumquat (金橘; jīn jú) - gold, hence fortune, wealth

Lettuce (生菜; shēngcài) - prosperity lettuce roll, food being rolled into lettuce - having a child soon

Longan (龙眼) - many good son

Lotus seeds/ -nuts/ -beans (蓮子; lián zĭ) - a full wallet, many (male) offspring lotus seeds,crystallized (蓮子糖; lián zĭ táng) - a full wallet, many (male) offspring

Lychee (荔枝; lìzhī) - close family ties

Maize (玉米; yùmǐ) - growth

Mandarin (瓯柑; ōugān) - gold, wealth

Meat ball (肉丸; ròuwán)- reunion

Melon (瓜; guā) - family unity melon, candied - growth, good health

Mixed vegetable (什锦蔬菜; shíjǐn shūcài) - family harmony

Muer mushroom, Black fungus, Three ear fungus, Wood ear (木耳; mù ěr) - longevity

Noodles (面条; miàntiáo) uncut - long life

Onion (洋葱; yángcōng) - cleverness

Orange (柑橘; gānjú) - wealth, good fortune, gold

Oyster (牡蠣; mǔlì) - receptivity to good fortune, good business Oyster, dried (ho xi) - all good things, good luck

Peach - immortality Peach, pair of (桃; táo) - wealth, abundance, long healthy life, great fortune for many generations

Peanuts (花生; huāshēng) - health, long life, birth of prosperity, continuous growth, multiplication in wealth and good fortune, stability

Pineapple (凤梨; fènglí) - wealth, luck, excellent fortune, gambling luck