The week of January 26 marks the start of a Chinese New Year, a 15-day celebration. While we typically like to ring in the New Year with a big pot of collards, Chinese revelers have different ideas about traditional New Year's Food. Celebrate the country that gave us pasta, dominoes and Jackie Chan with a dinner of good luck food.

Start with a batch of Chinese dumplings. These delicious, doughy, pork-filled New Year's treats look complicated but are decidedly simple to prepare.

Then, tip your hat to the Chinese inventors and chefs with a plate of chicken lo mein, a dish that combines savory ginger chicken with seasoned, tasty lo mein noodles.

No Chinese meal is complete without a helping of Chinese sticky rice, a dish that's perfect alone or coupled with chicken or pork.

We don't have to tell you that egg rolls are a very popular Chinese treat. Give your local Hunan haunt a break and try making a few from scratch—but only on a weekend, since the ingredients list is about as long as Kobe Bryant's arm.

For a tasty ending to a sweet meal, experiment with a traditional New Year's law bok gow or turnip cake. The cake is a symbol of prosperity and growing fortunes, and it is also a rich and delicious dessert (or so we hear). But fair warning: This "cake" isn't like Duncan Hines, since both shrimp and bacon are major components!

Sun nien fai lok, or Happy New Year! We wish you good luck, good food and much prosperity in the Year of the Ox.

--Whitney Teal

Egg roll photo courtesy Lucky Wok Chinese