Sticky, sweet and round—these are the themes for foods commemorating Chinese New Year.

Whether sugared lotus roots, sticky rice pudding cake (gau), a whole fish, roast duck or oranges, these foods represent happiness, good fortune and luck.

Typically, the foods chosen are homophones for words that already mean happiness, for instance, or abundance. Stickiness is symbolic of family sticking together. Red represents happiness.

June Tong, author of “;Popo's Kitchen,”; has been making traditional Chinese New Year foods every year for the past few decades, constantly refining them, and also coming up with new recipes.

“;Popo's Kitchen,”; originally published to mark the bicentennial of Chinese immigration to Hawaii in 1989, is available once again, featuring 200 home-style recipes that Tong hopes to pass down through the generations. Proceeds from the cookbook go to Tong's next-door neighbor, 4-year-old Morgan Tanaka, who has autism.

Tong learned to cook traditional foods from watching her mother, who passed down her gau and joong recipes.

“;Home-style cooking with its simple flavors can only be learned by watching someone do it, then trying it out,”; says Tong. “;How lucky I was to have watched my mother do it.”;

Tong also spent 15 years teaching traditional Chinese cooking to Narcissus Queen contestants.

She shares her new recipe for taro gok (fried taro stuffed with meat) as well as traditional gau (sticky rice cake) and joong (mochi rice wrapped in bamboo leaves).

TARO GOK (DEEP-FRIED TARO)

» FILLING MIXTURE:
1 tablespoon oil (preferably peanut)
1/2 cup dry baby shrimp, parboiled
1/4 cup roast pork, minced
1/4 cup char siu, minced
1/4 cup ham, minced
1/4 cup green onions, minced
1/4 cup Chinese parsley, minced
1 tablespoon oyster sauce
» PASTE MIXTTURE:
1/8 cup wheat starch
1/4 cup and 1 tablespoon boiling water
» TARO MIXTURE:
4 cups cooked taro
2 teaspoons salt
1 teaspoon sugar
1/4 teaspoon five spice
1/4 teaspoon white pepper
1/4 cup oil
1/2 cup potato starch
Paste mixture
» Batter:
1/2 cup flour
1 egg white
1 teaspoon baking powder
Panko, for coating
3 cups oil, for deep frying
» SAUCES (OPTIONAL):
Chinese mustard with soy sauce
Chinese chili paste with soy sauce

Begin by making filling. Heat oil in pan. Stir-fry ingredients. Add oyster sauce. Stir well. Chill in refrigerator.

Next, make paste by pour boiling water into starch, stirring simultaneously.

For taro mixture: To cook taro, peel and slice taro thinly. Steam 40 to 50 minutes until tender.

Mash cooked taro and combine with salt, sugar, five spice, white pepper and oil. Cool.

Combine taro mixture with potato starch. Add in paste gradually, kneading till well blended, to achieve a stiff dough. Add more water, or more starch, as needed.

To make batter, combine ingredients and mix. Add water for thinner batter.

Scoop 2 tablespoons of taro mixture and form into ball.

Press center to make a well. Place 1 tablespoon of filling in well. Seal and mold into oval shape.

After making all the taro balls, roll each in batter, then coat with panko.

Heat oil in wok, then deep fry taro until golden brown. Dip in sauce if desired. Yields 20 pieces.

Approximate nutritional analysis, per piece (not including sauce): 300 calories, 18 g fat, 3 g saturated fat, 5 mg cholesterol, 400 mg sodium, 33 g carbohydrate, 2 g fiber, 1 g sugar, 4 g protein

NGIEN GAU

12 to 15 small ti leaves, ends trimmed (optional)
2 pounds Chinese cane sugar (wong tong)
5-3/4 cups water
2 pounds glutinous rice flour
3 tablespoons oil
1 red date
2 teaspoons sesame seeds

If using leaves, parboil with 2 tablespoons oil. Set aside.

Boil sugar in water until sugar dissolves. Let cool.

Mix sugar syrup with rice flour and oil. Knead until smooth. Strain to remove lumps.

Line pan with plastic wrap. If using, add layer of ti leaves in crisscross pattern.

Pour gau dough into pan and cover with foil.

Place on rack in steamer or large pot. Fill pot with about 3 inches of water.

Bring to boil and steam gau for three hours on medium heat.

Test for doneness by poking center with chopstick. If chopstick comes out clean, gau is done.

Place date in center of gau. Sprinkle with sesame seeds. Serves 20.

Approximate nutritional analysis, per serving: 370 calories, 3 g fat, 0 g saturated fat, 0 mg cholesterol, 0 mg sodium, 81 g carbohydrate, 1 g fiber, 45 g sugar, 4 g protein

HARM JOONG

80 bamboo leaves
» RICE MIXTURE:
1 pound black-eyed peas
5 pounds mochi or sweet rice
3/8 cup Hawaiian salt
3/4 cup oil
» PORK MIXTURE:
2-1/2 pounds belly park, sliced into 1-inch pieces
1 teaspoon Hawaiian salt
1 teaspoon Chinese five spice
1 pound or package lup chong (Chinese pork sausage), cut into 80 pieces
20 salted duck egg yolks
String

Wash bamboo leaves and soak overnight.

For rice mixture, wash then soak black-eyed peas overnight. Drain. Wash rice, soak 1 hour and drain. Combine peas, rice, salt and oil and mix well.

To make pork mixture, combine pork, salt and five spice, and mix well.

To assemble, place leaf in triangle mold. Fold second leaf, shape into cone in center of mold. Place third leaf in cone.

Scoop 2/3 cup of rice mixture into cone. Place egg yolk, 3 pieces pork and 4 pieces lup chong onto rice. Top with second scoop of rice. Cover with another leaf.

Fold leaves together. Tie securely with string.

Place bundles in large pot; add enough water to cover joong plus 2 inches more. Bring to boil and cook five hours. Be sure water is at boiling point. Add more boiling water as needed keep bundles covered. Yields about 20 joong.

Approximate nutritional analysis, per joong: 1000 calories, 53 g fat, 14 g saturated fat, 300 mg cholesterol, greater than 1500 mg sodium, 104 g carbohydrate, 6 g fiber, 3 g sugar, 25 g protein