According to the traditional Chinese calendar, Saturday is when the Chinese ring out the Year of the Ox and ring in the Year of the Tiger. Based on a lunar cycle, the traditional Chinese calendar follows the regular appearance of the full moon; hence it will be the year 4708. Like Christmas in the West, it is the biggest holiday in China — a time spent with family and celebrated with foods symbolizing prosperity.

The food most closely associated with the Chinese New Year are jiaozi, or dumplings, symbolic of wealth and prosperity because of their resemblance to ancient Chinese money — the silver ingot. Families traditionally spend New Year's Eve together preparing these dumplings, which are eaten at midnight: the dumpling wrapper representing the family as a whole and the filling symbolizing members of the family.

In northern China, the jiaozi are rough, doughy crescents stuffed with lamb or pork, garlic chives and chopped cabbage. In the west they're more delicately shaped and doused at the table with hot-chile oil or spicy, toasted-sesame dressing. In the east and south, they're almost an art form, with myriad meat and seafood fillings, both savory and sweet. The skin may be transparent or opaque and are steamed, boiled, baked, pan-fried or deep-fried.

Fish and chicken represent prosperity and are always served whole at the end of the meal, as the Chinese believe that this presentation symbolizes completeness and a wish for abundance in the coming year. Sweet and sour pork is most popular with families hoping for a lot of grandchildren, as the Cantonese word for "sour" sounds like the word for "grandchild." Duck represents fidelity in Chinese culture and noodles represent longevity.

Traveling to San Francisco — the city with the largest urban population of Chinese outside China — is the most festive way to celebrate the Lunar New Year in this country. Its Chinatown is the oldest and most colorful in North America. And there's no better way to immerse yourself in Chinese culture than through its food. Explore its dim sum tea houses, cafes and restaurants frequented by locals and the many food markets lining its clogged streets. Delight in the haggling and shouting matches while nibbling on small portions of take-out Peking duck.

A much more exciting way to explore Chinatown and its food culture is to take one of the Wok Wiz Walking Tours. Voted the best in San Francisco by visitors, these culinary and historical walking tours are a feeding of the mind and body by Shirley Fong-Torres, the Pied Piper of America's most food-obsessed ethnic neighborhood. A "remembrance of things past" set in Chinatown: it's art, it's history, it's fun, but most of all it's delicious.

"When I conduct the 'I can't believe I ate my way through Chinatown' tours, guests get a good glimpse of what Old Chinatown was like food-wise," said Fong-Torres, a historian, cookbook author and TV chef. If you go with the right person, she says, you can find authentic Chinese food, especially where local Chinese people go to seek out regional village food.

There are restaurants in Chinatown that have two menus, one catering to tourists and another in Chinese for locals. Fong-Torres tells visitors that if she's not with them, to go into a restaurant she recommends and check out what others are eating. "If it looks good and authentic (e.g. clay-pot cooking; steamed fish; salt-and-pepper calamari), just point to the table with food that makes you drool and say 'daw jeh, gnaw seung sig.' "

If you've been out clubbing past midnight and you're starving and want to eat cheap, stop at Sam Wo's, in the depths of Chinatown. A hole in the wall joint entered through the kitchen and up dark narrow flights of stairs to the dining areas, Sam Wo's was the infamous dive of the late headwaiter Edsel Ford Fong, who would greet cowering diners by telling them to "sit down and shut up." Locals still love going there for the abuse. "You have to visit it at least once," Fong-Torres said. To learn more about Wok Wiz Walking Tours, visit www.wokwiz.com or call 650-355-9657. You can also sign up for cooking classes.

Recipes

HAND-HACKED SEAFOOD POTSTICKERS

Have on hand: one pound of potsticker wrappers* (yield about 30), small bowl of cold water, 12-inch non-stick pan with cover, 2 cups of chicken broth

1/3 pound each: lean ground pork, minced prawns or baby shrimp and/or bay scallops

1 cup of Napa cabbage plus 1 cup fresh spinach

1 green onion, minced

3 cloves garlic

1 teaspoon fresh ginger

1 tablespoon soy sauce

1/2 teaspoon 100 percent sesame oil

pinch of white pepper

Filling: Chop by hand the pork, seafood, cabbage, spinach, green onion, garlic and ginger. Place mixture into a bowl, add soy sauce, sesame oil and white pepper.

To assemble potstickers: Spoon 1 tablespoon of the filling into the center of each potsticker wrapper. Fold dough over to make a half-circle, moisten bottom half-circle with a small amount of water. Pleat edges firmly, forming 3-4 pleats on the top half-circle. Set each potsticker upright on a platter, so a flat base is formed.

To cook potstickers: Heat a 12-inch nonstick fry pan** with 1 tablespoon oil. Place the potstickers close to one another. Brown the potstickers, about 30 seconds. Pour in enough broth to cover potstickers half way. Cover and cook over moderate heat for five minutes, until liquid evaporates. Use a spatula to remove potstickers carefully. Turn each potsticker over, dark side up, and place on a platter to serve.

Have in little dishes an assortment of hot chili oil, vinegar, soy sauce and sesame oil. Mix dip ingredients to suit individual taste.

*Using "suey gow" wrappers are better if they are available, as they are lighter, and you can taste more of the filling.

**A nonstick fry pan, instead of a cast iron pan is preferable because it requires less oil and the potstickers slip out of the fry pan easily.


LETTUCE WRAPS

1 tablespoon salad oil

1/2 pound ground pork

1/2 pound cooked small shrimp or other shellfish

1/2 cup canned bamboo shoots, sliced

1 cup mushrooms, sliced

12 water chestnuts (fresh or canned), sliced

2 tablespoons soy, oyster or hoisin sauce

3/4 cup plus 2 teaspoons water

2 teaspoons cornstarch

6 large bibb or iceberg lettuce leaves, chilled

chopped green onion

Heat oil in frypan or electric skillet. Brown pork and remove drippings. Add shrimp, bamboo shoots, mushrooms, water chestnuts, soy sauce and 3/4-cup water. Cover and simmer gently about 5 minutes. Blend cornstarch and 2 tablespoons of water. Sir into liquid in pan. Cook, stirring, until slightly thickened. Serve in chafing dish or electric skillet. Garnish liberally with chopped green onion. Serve lettuce chilled; let each guest spoon meat and shrimp mixture into a lettuce leaf, fold and eat like tacos.