因中文中「魚」與「餘」同音，寓示「年年有餘」，因此魚往往是中國年夜飯不可或缺的一道菜餚。雖現已進入尋常百姓家，但在過去，帶魚還屬於過年才難得購買的奢侈海味，因而外酥裡嫩，鮮美焦香的炸帶魚也成為了很多老一輩人獨有的春節記憶。
The Chinese word for fish - "yu" - sounds the same as the word for plenty, so this is another highlight at the New Year's Eve dinner, representing abundance for the coming year.
In many homes, the fish of choice is hairtail – a long, flat, belt-like silver fish – as its name in Chinese, "dai yu", sounds like "surplus for every generation".
In the old days, deep-fried hairtail was a luxury dish that was almost only prepared for New Year's Eve dinners. For people of that generation, the taste of deep-fried hairtail is associated with memories of Lunar New Year to this day.