Yee Sang, Yu Sheng, “鱼生” or Prosperity Toss “捞起” is a refreshing appetizer consisting of various ingredients that is served during the Chinese New Year feasts. This dish is believed to bring you abundance and prosperity. The tradition is to toss everything high and it is okay to make a mess. While you are tossing, you should chant auspicious greetings out loud.
Usually, the majority of the ingredients are made from fried colourful starch crackers which are not healthy. In our version, we substitute all non-healthy ingredients with vegetables and fruits. We chose salmon to accompany the dish but you can always replace it with jellyfish or abalone slices.
How to make Yee Sang
Preparation
for 3 to 4 servings
Main ingredients
- 150 g red cabbage, thinly sliced
- 1 whole carrot, cut into matchsticks
- 1 whole Japanese cucumber, cut into matchsticks
- 1 whole Shinko pear, cut into matchsticks
- 150 g pomelo
- 2 eggs, beaten
- 100 g roasted peanuts
- 20 g roasted sesame seeds
- 8 to 10 dumpling wrappers, cut into 1-cm strips
- 6 shallots, thinly sliced
- Some pickled onions
- Some kaffir lime leaves, thinly sliced
- Some cooking oil to fry dumpling wrappers
- Some cooking oil to make shallot oil
Yee Sang sauce
- 4 tbsp plum sauce
- 4 tbsp water
Seasonings
- ½ tsp salt for fried egg
- ½ tsp white pepper powder
- ½ tsp five spice powder
Step-by-step
Fry crackers
- Cut dumpling wrappers into 1-cm strips.
- Fry dumpling wrappers for 10 seconds on medium-heat or until golden brown.
- Drain and set aside.
Fry shallot
- Thinly slice shallot.
- Fry shallot for a few minutes on medium-heat until lightly browned.
- Strain oil from fried shallot and set aside. You can keep fried shallot oil and fried shallots for other recipes.
Fry egg
- Beat 2 eggs.
- Add 1/2 tsp salt.
- Fried egg for 2 to 3 minutes on each side on medium-heat.
- Cut fried egg into thin strips.
- Set aside.
Grind peanuts and sesame seeds
- Grind together roasted peanuts and sesame seeds.
- Set aside.
Chop fruits and vegetables
- Thinly slice red cabbage.
- Peel and cut carrots, Japanese cucumber and Shinko pear into matchsticks.
- Squeeze out the juice from cucumber if not used immediately.
- Soak pear in salt water if not used immediately.
Assemble
- On a big round dish, place pear in the center.
- Place some picked onions on top of the pear.
- Place thinly sliced lime leaves on top of the picked onions.
- Place grinded peanuts and sesame seeds around the pear.
- Top peanuts with crushed crackers.
- Place cabbage, carrot, cucumber, fried egg and pomelo on the outer. – Picture time! Ahem..
- When served, sprinkle around white pepper powder, five spice powder, about 2 tbsp shallot oil and plum sauce to taste.
- And lastly… TOSS as high as possible!
- It’ll be messy, it’s okay. Remember to chant auspicious words and phrases while tossing the Yes Sang! – Happy New Year and Gong Xi Fa Cai!
