Flavors of Lunar New Year: Exploring and Tasting Traditional Ingredients
Schedule
Wed Feb 04 2026 at 06:30 pm to 08:30 pm
UTC-05:00Location
Museum of Chinese in America | New York, NY
About this Event
$20 General Admission | $15 Student & Senior | $ for MOCA Members
In collaboration with Po Wing Hong Food Market 寶榮行, a cornerstone of Manhattan’s Chinatown for more than 45 years, the Museum of Chinese in America (MOCA) invites you to an engaging Lunar New Year tasting and conversation that celebrates the flavors and stories behind traditional ingredients. Join Sophia Tsao, Executive Vice President of Po Wing Hong, for a guided introduction to staple ingredients commonly used for New Year cooking, from premium dried seafood and nourishing soup components to herbs and pantry essentials shaped by generations of culinary wisdom.
Through a lively presentation and curated tastings, you will learn what these ingredients are, how families use them at home, and why certain foods carry auspicious meanings for the season, including prosperity, longevity, and well-being. Whether you are a seasoned Lunar New Year cook or simply curious about traditional ingredients, this program offers a delicious entry point into the cultural knowledge held in everyday kitchens.
Come ready to sample, ask questions, and leave with practical shopping and cooking tips, as well as a deeper understanding of how food connects memory, tradition, and community across generations.
About Sophia Tsao
Sophia Tsao is the Executive Vice President of Po Wing Hong Food Market Inc., a cornerstone of Manhattan’s Chinatown for more than 45 years. A graduate of Boston University’s School of Management, Sophia never expected to join the family business founded by her parents, Patrick and Nancy Ng. But over time, she came to see that leading Po Wing Hong is not only a professional calling—it is a way to preserve and celebrate Chinese food culture in America. Today, she guides the company’s growth across wholesale, retail, and e-commerce while ensuring Asian American communities continue to have access to high-quality, traditional Chinese ingredients.
Beyond her role at Po Wing Hong, Sophia is an active community advocate and serves on the Board of the Charles B. Wang Community Health Center, a nationally recognized HRSA Quality Leader.
About Po Wing Hong
Since 1980, Po Wing Hong Food Market has been fueling kitchens and nourishing communities in Manhattan’s Chinatown. Founded by Patrick and Nancy Ng, we bring the flavors of Hong Kong to New York through a thoughtfully curated mix of Cantonese staples—premium dried seafood, traditional herbs, and soup ingredients rooted in generations of wisdom. We believe health is wealth, and we proudly embrace the Eastern philosophy of food as medicine, where every ingredient plays a role in supporting balance and well-being.
We live by three simple values: quality, honesty, and expertise. With decades of hands-on knowledge behind every recommendation, we’re not just selling ingredients—we’re helping keep Chinese culinary traditions alive, one bowl at a time.
Our Brooklyn-based wholesale division, Po Wing Trading, delivers daily to restaurants and retailers across New York City and has been sharing our flavors around the world since the early 1990s.
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Where is it happening?
Museum of Chinese in America, 215 Centre Street, New York, United StatesEvent Location & Nearby Stays:
USD 12.51 to USD 23.18
