Toss Up Good Fortune and Prosperity: Yee Sang

This special dish is very popular with the Chinese in South East Asia and is usually eaten on the seventh and eight days of the lunar new year.

The "rainbow yee sang" is made of shredded vegetables such as carrots, cucumber and yam bean (sengkuang), and pickled fruit slices, peanuts, crackers and chips and raw fish slices, and topped with tantalizing sauces.

Fish (yee) symbolizes hope for surplus every year and business men must have plenty of them if they want to see their businesses prosper in the coming year.

First, you put all these colorful ingredients onto a large plate to create your "rainbow". And add your sauces.

Then, everybody gathers around the table with chopsticks ready. You then toss the ingredients together, mixing them up with chopsticks while saying auspicious words such as "Toss! Toss! Toss it high and may fortune come my way!"

Finally, you feast on this delicious 'yee-sang' with zest and confidence that the new year will bring good fortune and prosperity.

We all had a great time tossing and then eating "rainbow yee sang" at Francis and Lindy Lai's Chinese New Year Open-house.

Here's a recipe for the vegetarian Yee Sang or Mixed Salad.

You can add, replace or leave out any of the ingredients. Try it out and you may find the best combination for your eating pleasure. Enjoy!

Ingredients

100g white radish, shredded
100g carrot, shredded
100g mango, shredded
50g spring onions, shredded
1 red chilli, shredded
75g pickled papaya, shredded
6 pickled leeks, shredded
100g pomelo wedges, peeled and separate the sacs
4 kaffir lime leaves, finely shredded
20g young ginger, finely shredded
1 pair yao char kwai, sliced thinly and deep-fried until crispy
100g sweet potato, finely shredded
50g toasted sesame seeds
70g roasted peanuts, pounded

Sauce ingredients (cook and cool)
300g plum sauce
1 tbsp apricot jam
3 tbsp lime juice
3 tbsp honey
1 tbsp sesame paste
1 tsp sesame oil
1/2 tsp salt or to taste
10g Chinese five spice powder, put into a red packet

Method

Deep-fry shredded sweet potatoes in hot oil until crispy. Drain. Add sliced yao char kwai pieces to the hot oil. Deep-fry until lightly golden and crispy. Remove from oil and drain well on crushed kitchen paper.

Combine the sauce ingredients in a small saucepan. Bring to a low simmering boil. Leave aside to cool completely before use.

Arrange the shredded ingredients attractively on a big, round serving platter.

To serve, pour the sauce over the yee sang and sprinkle the with five-spice powder.

Add a sprinkling of sesame seeds and roasted peanuts.