Yu Sheng - Good Luck Food for Chinese New Year

Yu Sheng (Fish Salad) for Chinese New Year

Before you double check to see what blog you landed on - Yes, it's me talking about Chinese food. This is Yu Sheng - a special fish salad with many colorful mostly raw ingredients that is served during the Chinese New Year celebrations in Singapore. It's not just any salad, it comes with a whole tradition of fun that includes everyone tossing the salad into the air and yelling Lo Hei (Mix it Up) for good luck. Throughout China, lucky foods are served all during the two weeks of the Chinese New Year celebration. The Chinese use words that sound alike, but have different meanings (homonyms) as symbols for the dishes and ingredients they use to express their wishes for good luck, long life, abundant living, happiness and fortune. For example, the word for fish also sounds like the word for prosperity. Their food serves as an offering to bring ancestors and family members closer and in hopes of bonding worlds past with worlds in the present. Many of the dishes are named with words that include blessings and wishes for a good life. While setting up Yu Sheng there is a specialized shout for each ingredient as it's presented that is also symbolic of their blessings.

I am always trying to expand not only my own palate and cooking experiences, but also to bring you along on the adventure. This past week marked the beginning of the Chinese New Year. My "Let's Lunch" pals (see us each month on twitter using #LetsLunch for searching) are posting LUCKY FOODS today to launch the Year of The Rabbit. I chose Yu Sheng and made a rabbit from mashed yams.

How fun is this? You get to shout at the table, throw your food and eat healthy all at the same time!You should have seen my husband, son and friends when I encouraged them to literally throw the food into the air because the higher it goes, the more abundant and long wealthy, healthy life you will have, according to teachings.
I've had a blast reading and listening to stories and traditions from this area of the world. I'm also very excited that one of our founding virtual lunch pals, Cheryl Tan, has a new book out this week, A Tiger In The Kitchen- A Memoir of Food and Family. Cheryl spent a year in her homeland with family members teaching and telling her stories and recipes from her heritage. I hope my rendition of YuSheng is respectful of the tradition, and introduces it to others in a fun way.
Many of the foods I used in my Yu Sheng are supposed to be symbols of good luck:
Pomelo is the most ancient of grapefruits and it's huge, and sweeter than other types. It's symbolic of prosperity because the word for pomelo in Chinese sounds like "to have".

Tangerines are good luck because the Chinese word sounds like luck and wealth.

Noodles are symbolic of long life and the raw salmon is a symbol of new beginnings.Carrots are like gold.The mushrooms are a symbol of good health and long life in Chinese art.
The Rabbit - a symbol of mercy and elegance.I gathered all my ingredients together, one by one, including pickled red ginger from the Chinese market, and Daikon that I shredded the same as the carrots and cucumbers on a mandoline.
For many years, all over China, small red envelopes are given out on many occasions to children, friends and family members. Often the red envelopes are filled with money as a symbol of contributing and beginning ones abundant wealth. For this Yu Sheng, I filled the envelopes with chopped peanuts and black sesame seeds (of course, another good luck food) for each person to open and sprinkle on their salads once we had plated them for eating.I used the rind from the Pommelo, which is very thick, to make candied citrus peels.
A Yu Sheng often has little won ton crackers, but I used Shrimp Chips from the Chinese Market to add a nice crunch.Because most of the ingredients are raw, the only recipe I created was the Pomelo Honey Vinaigrette we sprinkled on the salad before each of us ate two helpings. It's salad, so why not and besides - just more good luck for us, right?

RECIPE: Pomelo Honey Vinaigrette

Juice from one Pomelo Grapefruit
1 tsp. honey
3 tsp. rice vinegar
1/4 cup sesame oil
salt/pepper

In a small bowl, whisk together the grapefruit juice, honey, vinegar and a pinch of salt and pepper. Gradually add the oil in a slow stream and whisk vigorously until a thicker dressing is achieved. Add more oil if needed or desired for taste. Can be refrigerated for a couple days.

FOR MANY MORE LUCKY FOODS: visit these fun and talented Let's Lunch pals:

A Tiger In The Kitchen
Hot Curries and Cold Beer
Free Range Cookies
Can It You Nit

Warm Napa Cabbage w/Black Rice

A person can only eat just so many salads in repentance of their holiday gorging, unless:

The salad is warm (like cozy fattening food, but not),
The salad has some carbs (that make me feel like I'm being bad without being bad),
The salad has a lot of flavor (enough to squelch my feeling of depravity.)

Meet such a salad:

Warm Napa Cabbage w/Black Rice

AND, if ya wanna pump up the zing: Add a few Salt & Pepper Shrimp

This month's Veggie pick for the Beet n' Squash You event (organized by Mel/ Gourmet Fury and Leela/ She Simmers) is Napa Cabbage, sometimes known as Chinese White Cabbage. It's so versatile and packed with good things for your body that you almost can't go wrong with the preparation. Napa Cabbage can be braised, grilled, sauteed, chopped raw, sliced and slivered for slaw, steamed and wrapped around fish, and pickled.

Selfishly, I wanted it several ways at once. Yes, I have an issue with commitment to one idea (it has cost me a lot of money to be able to say that out loud.) That's not my only issue, of course, but that's a whole other kind of blog.

Back to the Napa at hand: Aren't these the most beautiful stalks of lacy leaves in the cabbage world?
For this salad, begin prep by washing and drying the separate leaves. Then cut the white stalks away from the leaves. Keep the leafy part for making a raw leaf bowl around the salad, later. To make a salad that serves four; cut 2 cups of sliced up stalk.
Combine the sliced stalks with 1 med. sliced onion. Heat a Saute Pan with a 1Tbls. of oil and add the onions and cabbage stalks. Season with salt and pepper and cook on low/med until slightly caramelized. Add 6-8 sliced mushrooms to the pan and continue cooking til wilted. It's optional, but really adds some bite to throw in a dash of Sriracha (Chinese Chili Sauce.)

While these are slow cooking, start the Black Rice. This can be made according to directions that come with your purchase of Chinese Black Rice, but also I used Vegetable stock instead of water or Chicken Stock. Drain the rice, fluff with a fork and keep warm.

When all components are ready, toss together and season to taste.

Use the leafy ends of the left-over Napa Cabbage to make a small bowl on a plate to contain the Warm Rice Salad.

For the Salt & Pepper Shrimp: Use peeled, whole shrimp tossed in just a bit of cornstarch with large granule salt and ground pepper. Saute in a pan with 1 Tbls. hot oil for about 3 minutes on each side. Add a few of these to the top and garnish with minced cucumber.

The raw Napa leaves make a great palate cleanser after the warm rice is gone from your plate.

For other fabulous ideas using Napa Cabbage, click here to see the Beet n' Squash You Hall of Fame. You're also welcome to join us for next month!