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Originally Posted by dpg

As we ate our Chinese food new years eve we wondered and discussed who started Chinese food that night anyway??

Great question and I don't know the origin of the tradition either. I do tend to agree with Happy Gourmand's thought that, "Chinese restaurants were the only ones open late on New Year's because they don't recognize Jan 1st as New Year's."

That being said, whenever our kids stump us with a question we tell them to Google it. So, I followed my own advice and I found the following article online.

Why we love Chinese food for New Year's Eve

Somehow it’s become a tradition that people order Chinese food on Dec. 31. Food historians and local restaurant owners don’t know how or why, but one thing is clear: it’s the go-to meal for gatherings or quiet nights at home.
• By Dana Barbuto

Posted Dec. 31, 2011 at 12:01 AM
Updated Dec 31, 2011 at 3:10 PM

For as long as she can remember, Sara Lynne Donovan’s family has indulged in a feast of Chinese food on New Year’s Eve. “It goes as far back to when I was a child,” said Donovan, 23 of Quincy. “We get so much food. We don’t get it any other time of the year.”

Donovan’s family is one of many on the South Shore who ring in the New Year with Chinese takeout. Somehow it’s become a tradition that people order Chinese food on Dec. 31. Food historians and local restaurant owners don’t know how or why, but one thing is clear: it’s the go-to meal for gatherings or quiet nights at home.

Food historian Lynne Olver, who runs the website foodtimeline.org isn’t sure about the origin of the custom, but she knows Chinese food is a crowd pleaser. “It’s convenient, festive, not overly filling and everyone gets what they want,” she said.

Walter Chan, owner of Mr. Chan’s in East Milton Square said he thinks the custom “is a New England thing. Years ago lots of places were closed and Chinese restaurants were not.”

Last New Year’s Eve, the entire dining room at Great Chow in North Quincy wasn’t filled with people – it was filled with hundreds of brown paper bags filled with take-out orders. The small waiting area was packed with people and multiple phone lines were ringing fast and furiously. That’s a scene typical of many Chinese restaurants. New Year’s Eve is the busiest night of the year for local restaurants – some taking orders earlier in the week. Others, like China Copsticks in Quincy, will only serve large appetizers after 3 p.m. to keep up with demand.

“New Year’s Eve is like our Super Bowl,” said Chan. He expects orders to starts coming in at about 9:30 a.m. “It’s a grueling day.”
Chan said they’ll likely serve about 500 pounds of rice and estimates 7,500 fortunes will go out the door. “There’s 500 cookies in a box and we’ll go through at least 15 boxes,” he said.

Chan, and other local restaurant employees, spent much of this week preparing for tonight – chopping vegetables, assembling hundreds of those red-and-white takeout boxes, filling small plastic condiment bowls with duck sauce and hot mustard.

Susie Chu, owner of Cathay Center in Weymouth, has been in the restaurant business for more than 25 years. She said business gets stronger and stronger every year. “I hired extra cooks and extra help. Everybody loves Chinese on New Year’s Eve. It goes good with everything.”
Chu’s brother George Chu, owner of Cathay Pacific in North Quincy said he’s seen the Chinese food fixation grow over the 30 years he’s been in the business. “Every year my customers say ‘it’s tradition.’”

We run around a little faster, and move a little quicker,” he said. “It’s a really busy night. We’re constantly cooking all day. We go through a lot of chicken wings.”

The appeal of Chinese food, said George Chu, is that it’s so versatile – eat it hot, cold, it lasts for days. “Anything goes,” Chu said.

The celebration at the Donovan house will be a feast of chicken lo mein, Crab Rangoon, pork fried rice and any kind of dumpling. Laughing, she said, “My father will complain how he was up all night because of all the MSG.”

The family, however, wouldn’t imagine celebrating any other way.

“If we didn’t get Chinese food, then we’d all complain,” Donovan said. Simply put, it’s tradition.