The Fulbright group was invited to celebrate Chinese New Year with the Academy of Singapore Teachers staff. The celebration took place from 11:15am - 1:00pm and we were encouraged to come in red or Chinese ethnic costume. A few weeks ago, I found a traditional Chinese outfit at the Lucky Bazaar thrift store for $4 and some fun Year of the Dog earrings.
At the Chinese New Year celebration there were lots of traditional activities and some silly, "dog themed" games.
The most exciting part was sharing the "Fa Cai Yu Sheng," a popular Singaporean New Year delicacy. Here is some information I learned about it:
Origins
Today's colorful version of Yusheng and the practices of eating it on the seventh day of Chinese New Year appears 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 popularized as a New Year delicacy.
Ingredients
Arranged on a large serving plate, the colourful array of ingredients include raw fish wich is traditionally ikan parang or "mackerel," although now other fish/seafood is used, shredded green radish drained of liquid, shredded carrots adding a bright orange tinge to the dish, pickled ginger, crushed nuts.
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 plays on the homonyms where yu means "fish" but pronounced appropriately, it also means "abundance"; and sheng means literally "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 "lo" also 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.
I received a step-by-step guide to "Lo Hei"-ing the right way...
Step 1: All at the table offers New Year greetings.
Words: "Gong xi fa cai" meaning "Congratulations for your wealth" or "Wan shi ru yi" meaning "May all your wishes by 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: Pepper is then dashed over the ingredients in the hope of attacting more money and valuables.
Words: "Zhao cai jin bao"
Then oil is pooured out, circling the ingredients to increase all profits 10,000 times and encouraging 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 shredded green raddish is placed on the fish symbolising eternal youth.
Words: "Qing chun chang zhu"
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 is then added with wishes that literally
the whole floor would be filled with gold.
Words: "Pian di huang jin."
The Fun Part!-Enjoy!!-Blessings!!!
Step 6: Toss the salad an auspicious 7 times with loud shouts of "lo hei" and other auspicious New Year wishes.
Words: "Lo hei" which is Cantonese for "tossing luck."
The food was all delicious!
It was such a fun time celebrating Chinese New Year with the AST staff!
When I got home, Bren and I exchanged notes/cards (since it was also Valentines Day) and Bren got me a "heart" pastry :)
To make the day even more exciting, Kara and Eddie arrived and we met up with them for dinner (at a hawker stand) and drinks at Haji Lane. It's so fun having friends here! I have Thursday, Friday, and Monday off from school so I can't wait to show them around Singapore and partake in Chinese New Year celebrations with them.
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