by Laurel Harrison
Happy Lunar New Year, foodies! The Year of the Pig is upon us and we’re celebrating in style with a new recipe and tradition from our friends at Food Literacy Center.
Food Literacy Center celebrates Lunar New Year with Yu Sheng, a Singaporean salad dish meant to bring good luck for the new year. A salad of fruit, vegetables and fish, the dish is made and shared to ensure a lucky, prosperous and healthy year.
Each ingredient in Yu Sheng symbolizes a specific hope or wish.
- Fish – Abundance
- Pomelo – Luck
- Pepper – Wealth
- Oil – Excess of Profits
- Carrots – Blessings of Good Luck
- Radish – Prosperity in Business and Promotion at Work
- Peanut Crumbs – Gold and Silver, Eternal Youth
- Sesame Seeds – Flourishing Business
- Deep Fried Flour Crisps – Gold
- Noodles – Long Life
As you add each ingredient to the plate, it’s traditional to recite greetings and wishes of good luck and prosperity. When all the ingredients are added to the plate, everyone yells “lo hei” seven times while tossing the ingredients together to spread the luck around! “Lo hei” is the Cantonese phrase for “tossing luck” or “rise again” – a highly fitting phrase for both the action and the start of a new year.
To see the full recipe (and a fun video of the process!), visit Food Literacy Center’s blog here. Learning a new recipe and tradition is a great way to start the year and ring in the Year of the Pig.
*FleishmanHillard Sacramento represents Food Literacy Center on a pro bono basis.
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