Firstly, a very Happy Chinese New Year and 恭喜发财 to all my readers and FB page followers! It has been a very pleasant and peaceful celebration so far. Tonight, it's the 8th day of the Chinese lunar calendar where the Hokkien lang will celebrate their new year with loads and loads of roast pigs and fireworks display. Goodbye sleep! Haha..
Also, a very Happy belated birthday everyone~! The 7th day of the Chinese lunar calendar signifies the celebration of people's birthday or 人日 (ren ri). One of the traditional and customary thing to do on this day is to 捞起魚生 ("lou hei yu sang" or literally translated "toss up raw fish") or fondly known as "lou sang". When writing this post, I got to know through Google that this "lou sang" or "yu sheng" (鱼生) practice is not Chinese but Malaysian (eh?).
Anyway, it is an auspicious toss to encourage and welcome good luck and wealth to everyone. The higher the toss, the better the luck and wealth would be for the year. But what ticks me off by doing this is the mess that it brings (whatever you are tossing will be outside of the plate and on the floor if it is vigorously and enthusiastically tossed) and most of the time, unfinished. Not everyone fancies finishing "yu sheng" as it comprises mainly of artificial coloured pickles, vegetables and crackers especially those available in the supermarkets.
I have yet to toss any "yu sheng" this year. I've got raised eyebrows reactions from friends who heard this and it would be customary ignorant to not toss "yu sheng" on the 7th day of the lunar month when the year of the fire Rooster starts today (4th February 2017 is the official first day of spring 立春 "li chun"). So, I decided to make a version that is tummy friendly and suitable to my family's taste - I made my first DIY fruit "yu sheng".
Fruit yu sheng is very easy to do and you can pick and choose the fruits and/or vegetables you like for it. My taste bud is not receptive of raw salmon fillets so to replace that, I used mandarin oranges instead. I removed all the fibres for better presentation. As for the sauce which will make the tossing easier and serves a purpose, I prepared a honey and lemon dressing instead of plum sauce. The recipe for my DIY fruit "yu sheng" is after the photograph. Happy tossing!
Here's my version
Alyssa' DIY fruit "yu sheng" (DIY prosperity fruit salad toss")
1 mango, *julienne to thin strips
1 lokam (mandarin orange), peeled to individual sac and removed the fibre strands
1 red apple, *julienne to thin strips then soaked in a bowl of salty water (to prevent oxidisation)
1 green apple (*prepare the same way as the red apple)
1 big pink water guava, julienne to thin strips
1/2 carrot, *julienne to thin strips
*you may use a grater to get the thin strips consistency
2 tablespoons of Spanish pomegranate bulbs (fresh or frozen)
A pinch or two of white sesame seeds as garnishing
Prosperity sauce
6 tablespoons of extra virgin olive oil
3 tablespoons of lemon juice
1 tablespoon of honey (I used a total of 3 tablespoons instead as the olive oil is overpowering)
a pinch of mixed spice powder
1 teaspoon of sugar
a pinch of salt
(I adapted the recipe from Jamie Oliver's honey and lemon juice dressing.)
Preparation
1. Prepare the fruit and assemble on a plate as you like it.
2. Mixed all the ingredients in the Prosperity sauce well. Then pour on the "yu sheng" depending on liking. I used a spoon to dress the salad so that it would not be too much sauce on them. You may also use rojak sauce instead with some roasted chopped peanuts.
