There are few more iconic Chinese New Year traditions than the New Year banquet, and, as celebrants gather for feasts in their respective cities, there are obvious similarities and striking differences. From varying Chinese regions, multicultural influences and individual philosophies, there is plenty of variety when it comes to putting a fork in the Year of the Rabbit.

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Sydney

Each year, one of the most anticipated Chinese New Year feasts is Kylie Kwong’s banquet at her intimate Billy Kwong restaurant in Surry Hills, held this year on February 2 and 9. As Kwong’s philosophy has evolved to emphasise organic and slow food, so have the dozen-odd-course banquets, which are also influenced by traditions from her Chinese-Australian family. “For me, it’s an opportunity to celebrate the very rich Chinese culture we have in Australia,” she says. “It’s also a night when we can talk about why sustainability and organic produce is so important to us.”

Dishes range from steamed free-range pork dumplings with organic tamari, to savoury pancakes with braised organic Wagyu, and steamed fish with ginger and shallot. Wines will be biodynamic from the Margaret River region’s Cullen Wines. “It’s not completely traditional,” says Kwong, who aims to combine “beautiful local produce” with her dual Chinese and Australian influences. “I’m 29th generation Kwong and come from the largest Chinese clan in Australia. I’m also third-generation Australian,” she says.

Kwong also likes to talk about what her family does for the holiday celebration – a noisy affair, as each of her parents has 10 siblings. “My uncle Jimmy always brings a large platter of fresh hokkien noodles,” she says, while her aunts “bring a huge pile of local prawns”. Then are typical traditions, such as using whole chickens with the head and feet intact to symbolise completeness; oranges to indicate abundance and happiness; and an absence of tofu, which, if present, symbolises misfortune.

While Cantonese restaurants might be the dominant force across Australia, you won’t find a hint of them among the regional Chinese flavours at Neil Perry’s Spice Temple. “We don’t pretend to be Chinese, but we’ve been given this awesome opportunity to cook this incredible Chinese food,” says head chef Andy Evans. “It’s our way of saying, ‘Thank you very much’.”

Spice Temple’s 14-dish banquets reflect China’s provinces, from Yunnan to Sichuan, Xinjiang, Hunan and others. Dishes range from beef braised “Hakka style” to tea eggs with salted olive and black bean paste, hot and numbing pork, and strange-flavour sesame noodles. The uncut noodles are there for longevity, while northern-style Jiaoxi dumplings are also traditional, albeit without the occasional coin stuck into the random dumpling. “It would present a bit of an issue with someone biting into a coin,” laughs Evans. The $120-per-head banquets will be offered from January 28 to February 4.

Melbourne

When Dainty Sichuan’s Ye Shao thinks of Chinese New Year, he thinks of people busying, new clothes, fireworks … and smoked meat. The latter is a popular tradition of Sichuan and Shao’s native Chongqing – which was part of Sichuan until it became its own economic zone in 1997 – and includes smoked sausage and slices of smoked pork belly called la rou, which literally means end of the year.

Dainty Sichuan doesn’t do a set banquet, but Shao says customers make their own banquets by ordering traditional New Year foods. That includes whole fish, a barramundi in this case, which is barbecued in Sichuan sauce with fresh chilli, Sichuan pepper and Chinese herbs and spices. “Whole fish means abundance in Chinese,” says Shao. “It means you have something left; that you have enough money.”

Then there are poultry dishes like a cold-dish of mouthwatering chicken, braised and deep-fried Sichuan crispy duck, and Chongqing chicken. Since the restaurant relocated from the CBD to South Yarra about one and a half years ago, it’s also been cooking traditional Chongqing hotpots – the city’s most famous cuisine – spicy hot broths into which raw ingredients like chicken, beef, pork, fish or tofu are cooked. “It’s very popular here,” says Shao. Dainty Sichuan, 176 Toorak Road, South Yarra, Victoria, (03) 9078 1686.

Adelaide

Probably the most exciting Chinese New Year celebration in South Australia will be Kylie Kwong’s special 100-person banquet with Maggie and Saskia Beer at their Pheasant Farm (08 8562 4477) in the Barossa – although the event sold out mere days after it went on sale in late November, so it’s a good idea to be on the mailing list in case it happens again next year. “We have so much fun,” says Kwong. “They have all that beautiful produce up there,” she adds, mentioning use of the Farm’s organic chickens and black Berkshire pork, and top-notch seafood from Port Lincoln. “There will just be platters of food down the table, and everyone’s encouraged to bring their own wine.”

For those who missed out, there’s a virtual bargain closer at home in Adelaide, at Parkside’s Canto standout, Rice Chinese Cuisine (08 8373 7000), which offers separate banquet menus for its Western and Chinese clientele during February 5-6. The price? A mere $39, which last year also included lion dancers and a Shaolin kung-fu demonstration.

Perth

The biggest celebration in WA is likely to be the 450-strong Chinese New Year Ball on February 5 at the Perth Exhibition Centre, by the Chung Wah Association, which recently celebrated 100 years of service to the area’s Chinese community.

“We try to be as traditional as we can,” says Doreen Chin, organising chairperson. “We will name all of our dishes with beautiful names that reflect our wishes for the New Year.” For example, there’s a word play on the Cantonese term for oyster, hoi see, which winds up sounding like “good things to come”. A notable dish will be yushang, a raw-fish salad that’s more traditional for Malaysians and Singaporeans of Chinese descent. The salad is a colourful mix featuring segmented servings of shredded carrots, white radish, bean sprouts, cucumber and thin slices of salmon. “We have a tradition of tossing it as high as we can for luck or prosperity,” says Chin.

The full menu is unveiled on the night, but last year’s highlights included fried duckling stuffed with glutinous rice, and a seafood and “four treasures” soup. Activities including lion dancers and Chinese karaoke accompany the $109 banquet.

Other notable feasts include a nine-course Cantonese banquet at the Burswood Entertainment Complex’s Yu. At $138 per person (six person minimum), the meal centres on good fortune, from “prosperity fish” salmon to a “boundless gold and jade fortune” duck. Lion dancers also appear at the complex from February 2-9.

Brisbane

If there was any worry that the Brisbane floods would put the kibosh on the city’s Chinese New Year festivities, think again. In fact, Fortitude Valley’s Chinatown Mall preceded its Year of the Rabbit luck by remaining untouched during the floods, so expect a full three-day street celebration from February 5, including lion dancing, firecrackers and various restaurants serving New Year menus, including yum cha stalwart Golden Palace (07 3252 8872), and Enjoy Inn (07 3252 3838).

The latter is also host to a special $48 banquet dinner on February 3, hosted by the Valley Chamber of Commerce, and preceded by a business luncheon at Cloudland, where HSBC Australia’s Graham Heunis and Samsung managing director Steve Plant will address doing business in China. The Chinatown celebrations are particularly significant, given the area’s $8 million refurbishment and feng shui redesign last year, in conjunction with architects from Brisbane’s sister city Shenzhen.