Fruits Yu Sheng
Happy Lunar New Year, 猴年快乐! I hope everyone has eaten lots of delicious CNY goodies and collected many red packets. This year, I decided to make fruits yu sheng (yee sang/鱼生), a fruity twist to the usual Chinese new year raw fish salad. This yu sheng salad is made with fresh fruits and vegetables. Doesn’t it still resemble the typical yu sheng to you? For those staying overseas, the fruity ingredients will be easier to gather than the usual yu sheng toppings.
See Also:
The first time my family saw it, they thought it was colourful, refreshing and healthy. After all that feasting, they definitely welcomed this healthy fruits platter.
CNY Leftover Ideas:
If you like, you can also buy one of those pre-packaged yee sang pack from the supermarkets to add to this salad. Personally, I didn’t really like adding the overly sweet and preserved stuff to this real fruits salad.
I used the usual auspicious CNY fruits such as pineapple, pomegranate, pomelo and mandarin oranges. Use any sweet fruit that is red (signifies 鸿运当头; I used strawberry), green (signifies 青春常驻; I used kiwi) or golden (signifies prosperity). Other fruits that are suitable include star fruit (cut them to star shapes), canned longan or rambutan and fresh grapes (signifies roundness and completeness). You can also add luxury items such as sashimi (年年有余), abalone (年年包有余) or surf clams (hokkigai) to the salad. The other usual yee sang ingredients which signifies goodwill for the coming year are also here: lime, roasted sesame seeds (生意兴隆), olive oil (多多油水), pok chui crackers (翩地黄金), crushed roasted peanuts (金银满屋), 5-spice powder (五福临门), cinnamon and white pepper powder (招财进宝) and plum sauce (甜甜蜜蜜). With all these colours and symbols, I think it is as lucky as any other yee sang.
Remember to toss the yee sang high and say auspicious wishes (吉祥话) during “lo hei” (salad tossing) ceremony. Have a lucky and happy new year!
Fruits Yu Sheng (Yee Sang) Recipe
Use your favourite fruits or vegetables in this fruity twist to the usual Chinese New Year yu sheng salad.
Ingredients:
(A) Fruits
Cut the fruits to desired slices or shapes (example matchsticks, bite-sized pieces, halves or thin slices).
- 150 grams strawberries (use redder ones) sliced
- 2 kiwi skin removed; sliced
- 3 tbsp pomegranate seeds
- 3 tbsp pomelo sacs
- 2 mandarin oranges skin membrane from sac removed for better presentation
- 150 grams pineapple flesh sliced
Other suitable fruits suggestions:
- whole seedless grapes
- canned rambutan or longan
- jackfruit
- mango
- dragon fruit
- star fruit (cut to star shapes)
- any sweet fruit that has a vibrant red, green or golden
(B) Vegetables
- 1 cup each of thinly shredded cucumber, carrot and daikon*
- 1 small head romaine lettuce use the green part only; slice to thin shreds
* Use a zig-zag peeler to shred the trio vegetables and dry in salad spinner. You may also buy them pre-shredded from local supermarkets (usually at the sushi booth) during the CNY season.
(C) Other Ingredients
- 1 tbsp toasted sesame seeds
- 1 tbsp finely chopped roasted peanuts
- 1 tsp Chinese 5-spice powder
- 1 tsp cinnamon powder
- a small dash of Chinese white ground pepper
- 1 tbsp good quality extra virgin olive oil
(D) Raw fish, abalone or clam (optional)
- sashimi-grade fish (such as salmon) slices, or
- sliced real or imitation abalone (or whole baby abalones), or
- Japanese surf clam meat (hokkigai)
(E) Sauce
- 5 tbsp Chinese plum sauce to taste
- 1 tsp sesame oil
- 2 tbsp of hot water adjust accordingly to to achieve the desired consistency
Directions:
- Slice the fruits (A) and shred the vegetables (B). Prep the other ingredients (C) and (D) in serving saucers and mini bowls.
- Make the sauce by mixing (E) in a small bowl. Season to taste and set aside.
- In a large round serving plate, pile up shredded vegetables (B) in a high tower in the center of the plate. Arrange the sliced fruits at (A) around the shredded vegetables.
- Serve the fruits yee sang with (C), (D) and (E) at the side. While adding each ingredient to the plate, say the corresponding auspicious wish (see previous page) for the ingredient. Pour sauce over yu sheng in a circular motion. Toss the salad high and say auspicious wishes for the coming year during the “lo hei” (salad tossing) ceremony.