We'll see if you can guess which country considers them lucky and why they're considered lucky.

I'm down; okay.

How exciting! That is so much fun; I'm really excited.

So, here is your first good luck food.

What are you looking at?

A doughnut! I haven't had these in a million years.

I mean, doughnuts are good luck, I think, but I, I, I didn't know this was a good luck food specific to a place.

What do you think the meaning of a doughnut could be?

It tasting good?

Maybe there's, like, significance around the shape of a doughnut?

Mmm, [it's] a good doughnut.

What part of the world do you think considers ring-shaped foods lucky?

New York, because I've been to New York before, and if you go, like, downtown or, like, anywhere, like, anywhere, there's always, like, a doughnut shop.

Gonna take a lucky guess: Australia?

Ring-shaped foods are considered lucky in central Europe, specifically Poland.

Ah, they know what's going on; doughnuts are good.

The circle shape of the doughnut is what's considered lucky about it; it represents the circle of life and signifies the year coming full circle.

That's so cool; I'd never even thought of that before.

What? okay, 'cause it makes sense, 'cause every New year's, also along with the whole jumping off the stairs things, every single year, my family makes us wear polka dots for, like, good luck for the new year.

I'd never questioned it; I was just, like, okay, we just have to wear polka dots on New Year's.

Oh, grapes! Oh, that's nice; grape's my favorite fruit.

What part of the world do you think considers grapes a good luck food?

Ooh, grapes? Where do grapes come from?

Aren't there grapes everywhere?

South America? I don't know.

Some part of me is trying to say, like, maybe Napa, only because they grow grapes, but trying to think outside of the box; Asia.

Three different countries, actually, consider grapes lucky; Spain, Portugal, and Mexico.

That's cool.

So, there are actually 12 grapes in the bowl we've given you; what do you think is significant about that?

12 grapes? 12 months! So, one for each month.

In Spain, Mexico, and Portugal, it's tradition on New Year's Eve to eat a grape at midnight every time the clock tolls.

One grape to signify each month of the coming new year.

That's amazing. I would choke and die, but that's amazing. That's an amazing, amazing ritual.

We're actually gonna have you give this tradition a try.

It's New Year's Eve, and the clock has just struck midnight; every time the clock chimes, you'll eat one grape.

Okay.

Ready to give it a shot?

Yes.

I mean, I could stuff them all in my mouth, but then I wouldn't be able to breathe.

That's fun, though; that is a fun tradition to have, for sure.

Do you feel lucky?

I'm so lucky; the luckiest I've ever felt.

What are you looking at?

Noodles and some type of sauce; I've seen these before, I've definitely seen these before.

They're like noodles; they're, like, purplish.

And is this soy sauce?

What part of the world do you think these are considered lucky in?

I feel like an Asian country, um, just the soy sauce, you know, and the noodles; maybe Korea?

Japan?

- Yeah, that's right! - Like...

Yeah, wow! Me being half Japanese, oh my gosh.

What do you think is lucky about a noodle?

Maybe if you put... I've heard you put sauce on top of the noodles, so maybe when the noodles' pressed down, that has something to do with luck?

I don't know; maybe noodles signify life and, like, the length of life and...

- Rachel! - What?

- You just got it! - Stop! Stop!

In Japan, long noodles can represent a long life.

So, what we want you to do is, find the longest noodle you can and try to slurp it down without breaking the noodle.

Okay, I'll put this in the soy sauce.

And then...

I did it!

I was in Japan last year, and I remember my dad telling me, like, don't break the noodles.

Mmm. Yum.

I hope I have long life now; knock on wood.

Is that fish?

Oh, this is, like, a full, like, fish head.

Is it tilapia?

This is exactly how my grandma would give it to me, too, so, like, this smell is so familiar to me.

What part of the world do you think considers this good luck?

I'm thinking somewhere where there's a lot of fish, maybe near the water.

I kinda wanna say Norway for some reason.

I don't know; okay, fish.

I'm still thinking Asian country, I don't know why; I'm thinking, like, Thailand.

I'm Filipino, that... I feel like a lot of Filipinos always eat tilapia, too, it's always at parties and stuff.

Um.., that's my guess; I mean, I grew up eating this.

The country we're looking for here is actually China.

Ah.

Why might China consider whole fish lucky?

A whole? I do know that Asian countries really, really like, like, seafood and like, and like, animals of the water.

Maybe, like, they swim, and you know, like, through life, you just keep swimming.

Maybe it has something to do with life?

Because they're not taking the, like, eyes out and stuff; maybe it has something religiously to do, like, keeping its body intact and eating it from, like it's gut.

Fishes are considered lucky in three ways.

First, the scales on the outside of their body resemble coins, representing money.

Second, they travel in schools, which represents prosperity.

And third, fish always swim forward, symbolizing forward movement in life.

Oh, I never, like... I never thought how fish swim 'cause I never think of them.

I always thought that fish was just fish, and then it was just, it was, like, good; you just buy it.

I never thought that, like, fish would be, like, a lucky food.

Oh my gosh, China has a lot of cool traditions, too.

I want my grandma here to, like, feed it to me; she would literally hand-feed it to me like this.

So, I... yeah, we don't need forks over here.

Actually, in India, like, a fish eye is, like, good luck.

So, like, seeing a whole fish, like, my... my mom does cook, like, whole fish, like, roasted, like, literally like this.

So, um... so, yeah, no, I'm not, like, surprised.

But the reasons behind it are super cool, like, the scales and everything.

So, finally, of all the foods we told you about today, which surprised you the most as a lucky food?

Mm... probably grapes, 'cause I, like, think that grapes aren't too special, but they're really good; I've never thought that people eat 12 grapes on New Year's.

I think the noodles; that's, like, the... like, a harmless, cute, like, tradition, like, especially, like, with kids and stuff, like, it's... it's super cute.

Definitely the fish!

I will do all... however many good luck things that I have to do just to make sure 2021 is at least a decent year.

At least a tiny bit better.

Thanks so much for watching us try global good luck foods on Replay.

- Don't forget to subscribe; we have new shows every week. - Bye!

Hello, Replay producer Lindsay, here. Thanks so much for watching this episode of people versus food.

Make sure you subscribe to Replay so you never miss a video. And best of luck to you all in the new year.