This Scarborough business gives families a taste of home through Lunar New Year snacks

Lunar New Year is often one of the busiest times for Asian communities.

But for Joe Tam and his family, the two months leading up to the big event includes non-stop work, seven days a week. 

Tam is a chef and owner of Wai Tack Kee, a Scarborough manufacturing business that specializes in Lunar New Year snacks. It's a family affair at the company. His wife Alice Tam helps with packaging, while his daughter Audrey Tam helps with customer service and social media. Two other part-timers help with everything else.

"Chinese New Year for us, it's a busy day," Joe Tam said in an interview Tuesday with CBC's Metro Morning. 

"But this season, we are busy [all the time]." 

One of Wai Tack Kee's specialities includes their lotus blossom cookies, which are only available during the Lunar New Year season. 

"For Chinese New Year, the tradition is to buy flowers the day before," said Audrey Tam.  

She says if the flowers open up on Lunar New Year, "it means the money is coming in, things are opening up. It's a new year. And it really means good fortune." 

Making the lotus blossoms can be a tricky task, however. Once the cookies are fried in oil, they are quickly propped open with a cup to resemble a blooming flower. 

"Those flowers, you can't see it in other stores. It's hard to make it," Joe Tam said. 

"The hardest part ... with our blossoms is we open it up. That's the most labour-intensive part," Audrey Tam added.  

"Commonly, when you see this type of flower blossom cookie, they're not usually opened. But for Chinese New Year, we want to make sure we have large beautiful flowers so we do that extra step," she said. 

Joe Tam opened Wai Tack Kee 17 years ago, five years after he moved to Canada in 2000.

In Hong Kong, he owned and ran a restaurant and owned a bakery. Coming to Toronto, he decided to work for himself as he was not familiar with the restaurant industry in the city.