Celebrate Chinese New Year with Yee Sang and UMAMU

I love Chinese New Year.  And one of the highlights is tossing a 'Yee Sang' Salad.  Must have been all the years I missed doing this ritual when I was in boarding school in England.

Yee is fish in Chinese and the character tonally sounds similar to abundance and Sang is increase so the idea is to have "Increase in Abundance".  So Yee Sang is a symbol of abundance and prosperity and all good things.

This year, New Year falls on the 17th of February with the fire horse.  The festivities start on the eve of Chinese New Year.  And we start the feast with a Yee Sang.  Yee Sang is a ‘Prosperity toss’ where you toss a salad with particular ingredients that have symbols of Abundance, Prosperity and Good luck.  Traditionally bringing wishes for reaching higher levels, for Households to be filled with gold and silver, Prosperity for the business and for Life to always be Sweet… 

Yee Sang is a fun dish where everyone tosses the ingredients together, wishing for good health, wealth, and success. The higher the toss, the better!  Traditionally this dish is served on the seventh day of the new year but nowadays it is enjoyed in the lead up to the new year as well as during the 15 days of new year.  And I even toss during the year.

Here is a lovely entrée for five people or so depending on your appetite!  

How to Make Yee Sang Salad for Chinese New Year

The easiest way is to buy a Yee Sang Kit and just add a bag of julienned/ shredded raw vegetables from the supermarkets Coles or Woolies.  And top with smoked salmon.  And toss and mix with chopsticks.

If you can't easily find a kit, then here is a super easy recipe I have put together so that you can join in the celebration and enjoy the act of tossing and ushering in good luck. 

INGREDIENTS FOR Easy Peasy Lemon Squeezy YEE SANG SALAD 

• Chopsticks 
• A big round plate
• 250g Smoked salmon
• Coles 550g Asian Salad Kit with Crunchy noodles and Dressing
• Asian pear sliced (Asian cos they are usually lighter in texture)
• One tablespoon of honey drizzle on salad before you toss
• Two tablespoons of pickled ginger sliced up (optional)
• Two tablespoons of pickled onion sliced up (optional)
• Three tablespoons of chopped peanuts or any nut (optional)
• Two tablespoons sesame seeds (optional)

METHOD: 

To prepare the dish, place all the veggies on a big round plate, with the salad in the middle and surround with each type of ingredient and top with the smoked salmon. When you are ready to start eating, add the dressing (you can dilute the dressing with a tablespoon or two of water) and drizzle the honey round. The idea is to use your chopsticks to toss the ingredients into the air to mix the salad while saying auspicious wishes such as good health, good wealth, good everything! The belief is that the higher the toss, the higher one’s growth in abundance so let’s toss as high as we can. 

Pair this with our Sparkling MacAnn 2019.

Continue the feast with a steamboat.