Eat This: Yee Sang For Chinese New Year

Chinese New Year is right around the corner and what better way to celebrate it than with traditions and food. Time to expand your CNY traditions by eating Yee Sang! What is it? Read on.

Chinese New Year

What is Yee Sang?

Yee Sang or Yúshēng (鱼生) or Prosperity Salad is a popular festive dish in Malaysia and Singapore, traditionally eaten during Chinese New Year. Scratch that. It’s an essential CNY dish. I eat at least three Yee Sangs during CNY. It’s also known as Lo Hei (捞起), which means “to scoop up” in Cantonese. It’s originally called qī cǎi yúshēng (七彩鱼生), seven colors of the rainbow, hence the look. 

It’s essentially a salad. The mix may include shredded white and green radish, carrots, turnips, slices of raw fish (commonly salmon), fried wontons, dressing sauces of plum sauce or honey, pepper, and sesame oil. It’s usually eaten at the start of the meal as an appetizer, and with much ceremony. And like most traditions, there’s meaning within everything.

If you’re unfamiliar with the symbolism of Chinese New Year dishes, you must have at least  heard of nián nián yǒu yú (年年有余), meaning abundance throughout the year or may you have surplus every year. 余 is a homophone for 鱼 (fish), and therefore, there must be fish on the table for CNY dinner. 

Yee Sang is no different. The salmon has its purpose, as does every single component of this colorful salad. Carrots symbolize good luck, green radish for eternal youth, white radish for prosperity in the work place, peanut crumbs for gold and silver, and sesame seeds for a flourishing business. Pepper for attracting money, plum sauce or honey (may life be sweet), and oil, poured encircling the ingredients, which encourages all the monies to flow in from all directions. You get the gist.

Variations include red pickled ginger, sun-dried oranges, candied pomelo, jellyfish, and five spice powder, and anything that can pass for symbolism and be deemed OK to put into said salad.

Chinese New Year

How To Eat Yee Sang

The ceremony of Yee Sang is most fun. Once plated, you’re supposed to mix the salad, but with appropriate pomp. Diners stand around the plate and toss the salad in unison with chopsticks, lifting it up as high as possible. Yes, it will be messy.

It is also custom to bellow auspicious wishes, usually in the form of Chinese idioms (chengyu), at full volume with each lift of the salad. Here are some you can say, most are usually along the lines of “money overfloweth”.

The four basics:

新年快乐 xīn nián kuài lè - Happy New Year
恭喜发财 gōng xǐ fā cái - Happiness & prosperity
万事如意 wàn shì rú yì - May all go well with you
身体健康 shēn tǐ jiàn kāng - Good health

And money-related wishes:

大吉大利 dà jí dà lì - Good luck & profit big
年年有余 nián nián yǒu yú - Surplus year after year

财源广进 cái yuán guǎng jìn - May wealth flow in

金玉满堂 jīn yù mǎn tang - May gold and jade fill your halls
招财进宝 zhāo cái jìn bǎo - May you find wealth and treasures

财源滚滚 cái yuán gǔn gǔn - May a river of gold flow into your pockets

Really, there are a dozen more ways to wish prosperity upon another.

Chinese New Year

Where To Get Yee Sang

Finally, where can you get this awesome CNY dish? At a couple places in town actually. But the one I would recommend is from Jumbo Seafood. Mostly because you can order it through Eleme or Meituan on the day and get it delivered in less than an hour. Search for "珍宝海鲜" to find Jumbo on those delivery platforms.

You can also call to pre-order and pick up in person. iapm: 64663435, ifc: 68953977, L’Avenue: 62183035.

Jumbo has two kinds of Yee Sang, Abalone and Salmon, available in small, medium or large. The small portion is enough for 4-6 people, medium for 6-8, and the large portion 10-12. Abalone (S/M/L) - ¥108, ¥168, ¥208; Salmon (S/M/L) - ¥88, ¥128, ¥228. Available until February 26.

---

Happy Chinese New Year! 新年快乐!

And for my fellow countrymen…
Huat Ah!

---

Read More:

---

---

Tap That WOW and share the love!