Alright so, Yu-Sheng . It is a salad dish comprising thin slices of raw fish and various seasoning that mixed together. Diners will then toss the ingredients and shout, “Lo Hei!” while they are at it. A lot of guests on our food tours ask us about this now as it’s a common sight in Singapore. In the 19th century, there were many dialects of Chinese in Singapore. This dish came to Singapore with the migration of Cantonese and Teochew people. The dish was to served on the seventh day of Chinese New Year, also known as renri (everyman’s birthday). So there are two types of Yu Sheng in Singapore – Cantonese and Teochew. For the Cantonese, Yu Sheng is eaten on the seventh day of the Lunar New Year. The meal enjoyed amongst businessman ensures a prosperous year ahead. For Teochews, the dish’s name is husay, eaten throughout the new year period. The difference you may ask? Well for Cantonese version thinly sliced raw fish is comes with an array of vegetables. These are tossed together in a piquant sauce. It comes with porridge to wash down the taste of the raw fish. For the Teochew version, the fish is first air-dried. Then it is sliced, topped with sesame seeds and served. The dish comes with sliced vegetables and a sweet-and-sour sauce. Today the ritual of eating yusheng has evolved. Now, it involves all the people at the table tossing the food and uttering auspicious phrases. The dish is auspicious because of the homonymic meanings behind its ingredients. In other words, yusheng suggests blessings and good fortune for the new year. Yu is the homonym for “fish” and “plenty”, while Sheng means both “raw” and “life”. Together, yusheng food implies “plenty of wealth and long life.” So what does lo hei means? In Cantonese dialect, “lo” implies “tossing up good fortune” and “hei” means “to rise”. So everyone at the table stands up and toss the food an auspicious seven times. With loud shouts of “lohei” and other other auspicious phrases such as “Huat Ah”! Sometimes on our food tours we see people doing this and it’s always a noisy affair. Oh, also, they believe that the higher you toss the yusheng, the better your fortune! So this festive period, take your colleagues out to eat a nice yusheng, don’t forget to toss the food as high as you can!
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