Chinese New Year, also known as the Spring Festival or Lunar New Year, revolves around five blessings, namely Longevity, Riches, Peace, Wisdom and Virtue.
A Chinese New Year dinner will not be complete without the tossing of Yee Sang. Yee Sang is a salad dish unique to Malaysia and Singapore; a symbol of good luck, prosperity, health and all things auspicious.
Back in the olden days, yee sang is made from vegetables you can easily grow in your own garden such as radish, leek, carrot, cucumber, ginger and turnip. These vegetables are then finely shredded and dressed with simple dressings such as five spice powder, pepper and plum sauce which remain popular to date. Fish slices is added into the mix for prosperity as fish is called ‘yu‘, similar sounding to prosperity’s ‘yu‘.
As simple as this salad dish seems to be, the ingredients are actually carefully selected based on their Chinese names and their meanings or interpretations.
Raw fish (年年有余)
Raw fish slices represents abundance and always having excess throughout the year and beyond.
Plum sauce (甜甜蜜蜜)
Plum sauce is sweet hence it symbolises having a good and sweet life ahead.
Crackers (金银满屋)
The addictive crunchy crackers we all love in yee sang salad represents gold nuggets. It is encouraged to pour them in abundance to symbolise a prosperous land full of gold.
Crushed roasted peanut / sesame seed (金银满屋)
Sprinkling your salad with crushed roasted peanut and toasted sesame seed symbolise a household filled with good fortune; blessed with many offsprings and a healthy future generation with it.
Pickled red ginger (鸿运当头) for good luck.
Green radish (青春常驻) for eternal youth.
White radish (风生水起) for uprising fortune.
Three Creative Yee Sang Recipes
Today, I’m going to share three creative yee sang recipes you can try during this upcoming Chinese New Year. Check out which is of your preference and try it out with your loved ones!
1. Year of the Tiger Yee Sang
The first yee sang recipe I am sharing will be a Tiger themed yee sang to welcome the Year of the Tiger in 2022. Many families practice eating vegetarian on the first day of Chinese New Year hence my tiger themed yee sang will be the vegetarian version suitable for the first day of Chinese New Year.
Tiger Themed Vegetarian Yee Sang
Ingredients
Typical ingredients
- Shredded carrot
- Pickled ginger (red and white)
- Green radish
- Pickled cucumber
- Pickled garlic
- Fried yam slices
- Grounded roasted peanut
- Toasted sesame seed
- Crackers
Dressing
- Plum sauce
- 5 spice powder
- Pepper
Instructions
- Shred one whole carrot.
- Place a bowl of shredded carrot in the middle of a huge plate.
- Place a spoonful of shredded carrot as the ears.
- Carefully place some white pickled ginger on the lower part of the face area.
- Cut seaweed and arrange as the stripes.
- Sprinkle roasted peanuts and toasted sesame seeds around the tiger head.
- Add all the colourful vegetables surrounding the tigers. You can be versatile here as long as you have red, green, yellow and white in the mix.
- Finish off with lots and lots of those crunchy crackers and serve to toss.
- Sprinkle pepper and five spice powder as well as drizzle plum sauce in clockwise just before tossing.
Video
2. Fruity Yee Sang
The next recipe I am sharing is a refreshing fruity yee sang. This is also suitable as a vegetarian dish for the first day of Chinese New Year.
Fruity Yee Sang
Ingredients
Typical Ingredients
- Mango
- Apple
- Pomelo
- Grapes
- Watermelon
- Honey melon
- Pickled cucumber
- Shredded purple cabbage
- Grounded roasted peanut
- Toasted sesame seed
- Crackers
Dressing
- Red dragon fruit juice
- Plum sauce
- 5 spice powder
- Pepper
Instructions
- Use a metal fruit baller to scoop watermelon and honey melon into balls.
- Slice mango and apples into thin strips. Squeeze lemon juice onto apple to prevent oxidation.
- Shred carrot and cucumber.
- Clean grapes thoroughly.
- Arrange fruits creatively on a plate.
- Top with grounded peanuts, sesame seed and crackers.
- Pour red dragon fruit juice and plum sauce before tossing.
3. Salmon Skin Yee Sang with Octopus
The third yee sang I am sharing claims the throne as the star of the festive spread as it is filled with a selection of healthy shredded treasures, salmon slices, giant clams, crispy fish skin and octopus. This is also the easiest to prepare among the three yee sangs as most of the ingredients are store bought, all we need to do is assemble them. I usually buy fresh salmon slices from my favourite Japanese restaurants. They do sell crispy fish skin and octopus, too.
Salmon Skin Yee Sang with Octopus
Ingredients
- Fresh thick salmon cut
- Giant clam
- Baby octopus
- Crispy fish skin
- Jelly fish strips
- Purple cabbage
- Carrot
- Cucumber
- Pickled red ginger
- Grounded roasted peanut
- Toasted sesame seed
- Crackers
Dressing
- Plus sauce
- Pepper
- 5 spice powder
Instructions
- Purchase fresh and thick cuts of salmon, clam slices, baby octopus and jelly fish strips from your favourite Japanese restaurant.
- Shred carrot and slice purple cabbage into thin strips.
- Arrange all the dry ingredients onto a huge plate.
- Add baby octopus and jelly fish strips.
- Salmon and giant clams should be kept refrigerated. Take note to only add them onto the yee sang assemble shortly before tossing.
Now all we need to do is gather our family and friends and toss the salad high and make as big a mess as you possibly can. This tossing action is called, ‘lou hei‘ in Cantonese. It is believed that the higher you lou hei, the more your life will improve. We are also supposed to make a big mess while tossing because the bigger the mess, the more prosperous our life will be throughout the year.
All of us at Motherhood wishes you and yours an abundance of prosperity, good fortune and health this Year of the Tiger! Gong Xi Fa Cai!
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