Lao Yu Sheng with family

Yu Sheng

By Tan, Bonny written on 1999-02-13
National Library Board Singapore

Comments on article: InfopediaTalk

Yusheng (also spelt Yu Sheng) meaning "raw fish" is a Chinese New Year dish, served traditionally on the seventh day of Chinese New Year or Ren Ri ("Everyman's Birthday"). It is a salad dish made of thin slices of raw fish and various spices, mixed with tossing actions by diners. A play on Chinese homonyms links the ingredients and tossing actions to prosperity and longevity, all adding to the good wishes for the new year.

OriginsIt is believed that Yusheng has its origins in southern China. Legend has it that a young man and his girlfriend found themselves stranded by bad weather at a temple with nothing to eat but a carp they had caught. Chancing upon a bottle of vinegar, they added this to the stripped carp and found it quite appetising. Today's colourful version of Yusheng and the practice of eating it on the seventh day of Chinese New Year appear to be unique to Malaysia and Singapore. Four local chefs are credited for developing Yusheng as we know it today. They named the dish "Lucky Raw Fish" and popularised it as a New Year delicacy. The chefs are Lau Yeok Pui and Tham Yui Kai, master chefs at Lai Wah Restaurant along Jalan Besar, and their good friends Sin Leong and Hooi Kok Wai. They had previously been colleagues at the Cathay Restaurant at Cathay Building.


Ingredients
Arranged on a large serving plate, the colourful array of ingredients include raw fish, which is traditionally ikan parang or "mackerel", shredded green and white radish drained of liquid, shredded carrots adding a bright orange tinge to the dish, pickled ginger, crushed nuts and pomelo. The ingredients are topped with various condiments including deep-fried flour crisps, crushed peanuts, sesame seeds, cinnamon, pepper and other spices. All at the table would then jointly toss the salad with a generous portion of plum sauce and cooking oil to add sweetness and taste.


Rituals and Meanings
Yusheng is deemed auspicious because of its homonymic quality - yu means "fish" but enunciated appropriately, it also means "abundance", while sheng literally means "raw" but enunciated appropriately, it means "life". Thus Yusheng implies "abundance of wealth and long life". In Cantonese, it is known as lo sheng with loalso meaning "tossing up good fortune". The tossing action is called lo hei, which means to "rise" (hei), again a reference to a thriving business and thus its popularity with businessmen during the New Year.


Step 1: All at the table offer New Year greetings.
Words: Gong xi fa cai meaning "congratulations for your wealth" or wan shi ru yi meaning "may all your wishes be fulfilled".


Step 2: Fish, symbolising abundance or excess through the year, is added.
Words: Nian nian you yu and you yu you sheng.


Step 3: The pomelo is added over the fish, adding both luck and auspicious value.
Words: Da ji da li.
Pepper is then dashed over the ingredients in the hope of attracting more money and valuables.
Words: Zhao cai jin bao.
Then oil is poured, circling the ingredients to increase all profits 10,000 times and to encourage money to flow in from all directions.
Words: Yi ben wan li and cai yuan guang jin.


Step 4: Carrots are added to the fish, indicating blessings of good luck.
Words: Hong yun dang tou.
Then the shredded green radish is placed on the fish, symbolising eternal youth.
Words: Qing chun chang zhu.
Next, the shredded white radish is added for prosperity in business and promotion at work.
Words: Feng sheng shui qi and bu bu gao sheng.


Step 5: The condiments are finally added. First, peanut crumbs are dusted on the dish, symbolising a household filled with gold and silver. As an icon of longevity, peanuts also symbolise eternal youth.
Words: Jin yin man wu.
Sesame seeds quickly follow symbolising a flourishing business.
Words: Sheng yi xing long.
Deep-fried flour crisps in the shape of golden pillows are then added with wishes that literally translate to mean the whole floor would be filled with gold.
Words: Pian di huang jin.


Step 6: All toss the salad an auspicious seven times with loud shouts of lo hei and other auspicious New Year wishes.
Words: Lo hei which is Cantonese for "tossing luck".
The ingredients are mixed by pushing them toward the centre, an encouragement to push on the good luck of all at the table.

Find out what your Chinese horoscope has to say for the Year of the Tiger - 2010

The Rat

The Rat

For those born in the Year of the Rat, year 2010 promises to be an average year for you, while you may suffer from melancholy from time to time, the positioning of the planets in 2010 will benefit the rats and they will most definitely be more self-confident, and be more innovative than before. Excellent news for the lonely rats, year 2010 promises a great love life for you. You will definitely find a lover within the year, and for the ones that are blissfully married, the year will be filled with romantic joy. Time to rejoice in the warmth of love, rats!

The Ox

The Ox

You should be aware of some conflicts that might happen in the coming year, particularly with the dragons and horses. To avoid these conflicts, remember to keep an open mind and to not judge others without any basis. This year is a good year for you to learn a new language, so, if you have always wanted to pick up a new language before traveling, 2010 would definitely be the best year. Career-wise, those born in the year of the Ox should be aware that in 2010, your working attitude will be slightly lackadaisical and without much buoyed enthusiasm, put in effort to change the attitude.

The Tiger

The Tiger

For their own year, the Tigers will face a surprisingly average year with little ups and downs. While everything will be at your advantage this year, you will find it terribly difficult to find the encouragement and willpower to perform at your very best. Find the encouragement within yourself or you might be faced with plenty of disappointments. 2010 will provide a healthy backdrop for you, for those suffering digestive problems; you will most likely find that situations for you will improve.

The Rabbit

The Rabbit

Unfortunately for the Rabbits, 2010 will possibly be a bad year for those who were born in the year of the Rabbit. You will have to work hard to achieve some good in terms of your career, health and love life. Rabbits should look towards philosophy and religion to find some good in the upcoming year. Be prudent, thrifty and stay on the lookout for signs of a business scam, your finances could prove to be a problem this upcoming year.

The Dragon

The Dragon

For those born in the year of the Dragon, it is time for you to apply into some form of school or undertake some courses! Studying in the upcoming year will bring you a considerable amount of success. While you might find yourself getting into some minor conflicts, it is essential for you to stay positive. Your ability to stay positive will lead to a happier and more successful year ahead. It might also be a rocky year ahead for you if you are in a relationship, remember, stay positive and lend a listening ear and you will stay happy.

The Snake

The Snake

Those born in the year of the Snake are known to be very stubborn. Keep your stubbornness in check; learn to control it and you will find many successes coming towards you in the upcoming year. While it is important to have dreams, try to keep a level-headed mind for the upcoming year or you might end up straying away from reality. Once you’ve kept a level-headed mind, you will find yourself in favorable opportunities in your career, make sure you grab them!

The Horse

The Horse

Good news for the horses! Year 2010 might be one of the smoothest years for you. You will find bonds between your friends and relatives being built fairly easily. Keep a clear head when making decisions for you will find that plenty of decisions may sound familiar to one another but with very different outcomes. You may also tend to overfeed yourself in the upcoming year so be sure to keep on a healthy diet and exercise regularly.

The Goat

The Goat

Those born in the year of the Goatwill find plenty of wealth opportunities coming their way in 2010. You may end up passing up on a lot of them and making several bad decisions early on in the trimester but it is crucial for you to stay positive and not be disheartened by your losses for more opportunities will be coming for you later in the year. Stay on your feet, be in the company of your loved ones and develop more personal relationships and you will find that the upcoming year might just be your best year yet.

The Monkey

The Monkey

It is essential for the monkey to not be overly emotional in 2010. You will find that not everything will go your way initially. While you might lose some close friends, you have to maintain mental stability to save the broken pieces of the relationship. However, 2010 will provide business opportunities for you. It is the year for you to take risks. Take the risks and you will be rewarded tremendously. Do not rest on your laurels and expect things to happen!

The Rooster

The Rooster

2010 will be a year of competition for those born in the year of the Rooster. In your career, you will face plenty of competition to get up onto a higher rung of the ladder in your company. If you are unattached, you will find competition for someone that you are interested in. Make well-thought out decisions and do not make rash decision. Adopt a positive and hardworking attitude and 2010 might just be a good year for you.

The Dog

The Dog

There will be ups and downs for the dog in the year 2010. In your career, your lack of respect towards authority might prove to be a downfall for you. Your quest for independence will lead to you having some problems in your love life as well. It is ultimately crucial for you to tone down your brash attitude to find some good in the upcoming year or 2010 will prove to be a year of loneliness for you. Stay friendly!

The Pig

The Pig

Known to be sentimental creatures, you have to learn to put off your sentimental ways to find some unexpected successes in your line of work and your love life for 2010. The alignment of the stars will bring you utmost luck for the coming year so expect some monetary windfall coming your way. It is important for you to stay away from carbonated drinks in the upcoming year for you will be vulnerable and open to intestinal and digestive problems. However, besides that, 2010 might prove to be a healthy year ahead for you.

Pizza Nite

Monday has always been a challenge to get fresh food from the market, it is almost impossible to get anything from the wet market.

We had cravings for pizzas the other day, so I thought I would simply make them myself. Not many places in Singapore make good pizzas. And even if they do, they charge a fortune.

Caught the Astro Boy movie with Alan, he was all so excited about this movie. We were only able to watch it 10 days after the movie was show as Alan has been working 8 days a week. Yep, he's that busy until March 2010.  :(

Just had such a fabulous week.

We invited Rasika over to Singapore for his birthday.

I am sure he will remember this experience for a long long time.

Missing him already... :(

Attempted my very first Angel's Hair with Mussels in White Wine. Not particularly proud of it but it was still pretty good.
Note to self: Need more tomatoes, add a little tomato paste to thicken and flavour the white wine.

I was saying to Mom that I couldn't find lemongrass at the market with roots to grow them in the pot. Interestingly, I place these 4 in the plastic bag & viola... roots in just 7 days. I have planted them & hopefully they will grow well. So needed to make the lemongrass drink every now and then. The leaves add better flavour & colour to the drink.

How often do we get food samples & trial samples these days?

I got a sachet of (3-in-1) latte in our letterbox, and I was so eager to make the latte immediately. Then, I thought... nah... keep it when I go travelling.

And how often do you have Wagyu beef patties in your fridge? Samples, maybe not.

Well, I have been spoilt with Wagyu beef burger for the last few days. I don't think I will crave for BigMac or Whopper anytime too soon. :)

We celebrated Mom's birthday at our place, the first party with our family. We did not have a housewarming, so this was the first time we all got together at our place.

I prepared most of the food, well... at least 80 percent of the food. Some of the items we had were:

Vietnamese Rice Roll (Pork)

Vietnamese Pho (Chicken or Pork)

Chicken kebab

Grilled Prawns

Grilled Mushrooms

Sausages

Satays (Mutton & Chicken)

BBQ Chicken Thai-style (Gai Yang)

BBQ Crabs

Otah Otah

Thai Mango Salad

Lemongrass Drink

And of course, the Mandarin & Passionfruit Cake topped with fresh fruits that Alan made specially for Mom.

Yup, my best friend from Melbourne visited me this whole week and I have been extremely happy. I have not seen Matthew for almost 8 years, and having him here in Singapore was very special to me.
Matt's been a very special friend to me, I would forever be grateful that he took me in so unconditionally for 2 weeks when I was 'homeless' in Adelaide. I moved out of Keswick & had not found another place to stay & my term had already started. Not only did he put me up, he also had to put up with my nonsense of telling him off for spending his money on the TONS of CDs that he just kept buying; the amount of fizzy drinks (Coke) that he consumed daily; the food that he ate (lack of); etc. Yes, he put up with my nonsense. He truly deserves the BFF title (Best Friends Forever).

(Below) Here's an old picture of us - 8 years ago, when I visited him in Melbourne. I stayed with him for a week. (YES, he put up with my nonsense again!!)

Matt: Thank you for being there for me, accepting me for who I am, & for treasuring this friendship. ==> This picture specially for you. Miss you heaps. :(

A pleasant surprise when I received a call from Sarah in the morning asking if we could meet. Sarah & I go way way back, we were classmates since Secondary 1, and we have remained the best of friends. I was delighted to see her, and of course her new look - after getting her LASIK done a few weeks ago.
It was about 11am, and I wasn't sure why I was so keen to make pancakes but we did. I showed her how easy it was to put all the ingredients together. We were supposed to have lunch, but we ended up eating the pancakes. Sarah asked if I would normally have pancakes for lunch... LOL... I didn't think about it till that evening, it was quite funny actually.

I hope to catch up with Sarah again, this time for a proper meal. :)

Eranga's brother, Ranil visited Singapore on 4 July. I didn't know of his visit till Eranga updated us. Bad news from Eranga, he was burnt while working preparing breakfast at the resort in Maldives. Gas leak was the cause of the accident, and thus he has returned back home to Sri Lanka to seek treatment. His face was burnt & covered, and both his hands were burnt as well. I hope he recovers fast.

Anyway, I caught up with Ranil & took him out to eat his first McDonalds at Plaza Singapura. Unfortunately, Ranil was another victims scammed into paying hefty sum of money to an Agent who promised him work in Singapore.

In any case, it was nice to catch up with Ranil & to extend the hospitality that he & his family showered upon us when we were in Negombo.

Alan & I went to The Helping Hands & bought a high bar table with marble top, and a couple of high chairs for our verandah in the bedroom. We were hungry, and walked to the Hougang (Kovan) market. I couldn't resist but bought 2 packets of Wee Brothers Nasi Lemak (for myself) & a cup of Selegie Soya Beans drink. Two of my favourites.
Alan had duck rice & iced-coffee.

I think I have made Laksa most frequently since coming back to Singapore, I don't remember making that in Sri Lanka actually. And the reason for making it regularly is because I have a big tub of Laksa paste to use up, I mean industrial size that is kept in the fridge. It's really easy to make too, just a couple of spoons of laksa paste to boiling water, then add coconut milk... and that's it.

Note: If you use chicken broth, the Laksa has more flavour and depth.

A picture of our lounge area, with lots of picture frames sitting on the TV console (but we are not having a TV set though). On the right, you can see the stairs leading up to our office and bedroom.
On the coffee table are a set of exquisite Candle Holder & Picture Frame from our recent Taiwan guests, Chi & Kung.

I have finally made my first homemade pizza here in Singapore. I was going to make this for Chi & Kung before they departed on Tuesday but I wasn't game enough to attempt this without first trying it.

Pictured above was a seafood pizza, and it was pretty good. But if I could add basil onto it I think it would have been better. I haven't any luck growing my own basil, I think I need to get some good soil for that.

You can find other homemade pizzas blogposts from this link: pizza

This is almost like a Must-Have food whenever I have visitors to Singapore.

Loy Kee Hainanese Chicken Rice.

So glad to share this with Chi & Kung. I remember Garrett & James love this very much too. :)

Finally, the wait is over! :)

Chi & I have been corresponding since 7 April 2009, and we finally met here in Singapore on 18 June. I coordinated my KUL-SIN flight such that I would actually be able to meet them in the transit area. That was so cool.

Chi & Kung are from Taiwan, and through couchsurfing.com Chi contacted me asking about the possible itineraries that he could plan into his trip. We chatted almost everyday on MSN, constantly updating the Must-Do, Must-See, Must-Try. And, we have 'grown' to know each other better. Chi & I communicated in different written languages, he would type in Traditional Chinese while I type in English. And, both of us read our 2nd Languages pretty OK... When we meet, we converse in Chinese.

That's Chi, Kung (middle), and I posing at the recently restored Merlion with Fullerton Hotel in the background.

They brought us a gift (below), which I was actually quite embarrassed. I have not been doing the 'gift thing' but most of my couchsurfers have. More embarrassed with Chi & Kung as I didn't even host them at our place, they have already booked their hotel before I could offer them.

Love the pair of exquisite tea cups very much, I have been making so many pots of 8-Treasures tea & drinking from these cups. Thank you so much, Chi & Kung... :)

A view from one of the tallest buildings in Singapore...

UOB Plaza, standing at 280 metres
(Singapore River on the bottom left)

The tallest hotel in Singapore (top left), Swissôtel The Stamford, at 226 metres.
Our Uniquely Singapore.... Esplanade - Theatre on the Bay (bottom right)

These were taken from the restaurant on the 60th floor at UOB Plaza.

What is unique about this place is that the Xiao Er (Waiter), with a long spout brass teapot, serves you the 8 treasures tea (八宝茶) in a gàiwǎn (盖碗). Not many restaurants do that these days, I think.

I read some of the blogs & was told that this place was good for their dim sum. To be honest, the food was only average.

The junior waitresses were good & prompt in their service, but the senior waitresses were disappointing & quite rude.

We got our fortune cookies at the end of the meal.

Guess what my lucky scroll said...

"You need not worry about your future"

The meal was only average, service was not very good. Almost SGD100 for 2 of us...

Would I return? Maybe not.

It was great to catch up with old friends... reservist mates that I have only gone for ONE in-camp training with BUT we've kept in touch all these years.

Top (from left to right):

Gregory, Mark, Chua, Melson & Billy*

Front row:

Chew, me, Alan* & Wei Wei*

* - not reservist mates

Melson & Billy are owners of this coffeeshop:

Heng Kee

151, Joo Chiat Road