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Friday, January 28, 2011

Chinese New Year =Yee Sang!!

Peeps, let's jump and hope into the the prosperous life and future but before that, Chinese new year wont be complete without tossing the Yee Sang..

(Sebenarnya Chinese new year juga bererti public holiday for all of us malaysian.eheheh.Kita bernasib baik sebab boleh raya macam-macam perayaan..Achik tak cuti panjang tapi sebabnya nak save cuti anak sakit)


Ok let's sekodeng the definition and history of yee sang .Source diambil from wikipedia yer..Hasil pertanyaan dari en Google the Know All.


Yusheng , yee sang or yuu sahng (simplified Chinese: 鱼生; pinyin: yúshēng), also known as lo hei (Cantonese for 撈起 or 捞起) is a Teochew-style raw fish salad. It usually consists of strips of raw fish (most commonly salmon), mixed with shredded vegetables and a variety of sauces and condiments, among other ingredients. Yusheng literally means "raw fish" but since "fish (鱼)" is commonly conflated with its homophone "abundance (余)", Yúshēng (鱼生) is interpreted as a homophone for Yúshēng (余升) meaning an increase in abundance. Therefore, yusheng is considered a symbol of abundance, prosperity and vigor.




While versions of it is thought to have existed in China, the contemporary version is created and popularised in Singapore in the 1960s amongst the ethnic Chinese community and its consumption has been associated with Chinese New Year festivities in Singapore as well as in neighbouring Malaysia. In Singapore, government, community and business leaders often take the lead in serving the dish as part of official functions during the festive period or in private
celebrity dinners. Some have even suggested that it be named a national dish.



History
Fishermen along the coast of Guangzhou traditionally celebrated Renri, the seventh day of the Chinese New Year, by feasting on their catches.[1] The practice of eating raw fish in thinly sliced strips can be traced back to ancient China through the raw fish or meat dish known as Kuai (膾, kuài). However the present form of yusheng is believed to have started in Chaozhou and Shantou as far back as the Southern Song Dynasty[citation needed] In Malaya's colonial past, migrants imported this tradition; porridge stalls sold a raw fish dish which is believed to have originated in Jiangmen, Guangdong province that consisted of fish, turnip and carrot strips, which was served with condiments of oil, vinegar and sugar that were mixed in by customers.

The modern yusheng dish originated during Lunar New Year in 1964 in Singapore's Lai Wah Restaurant and was invented by master chef Than Mui Kai (Tham Yu Kai, co-head chef of Lai Wah restaurant) as a symbol of prosperity and good health amongst the Chinese. Together with Lau Yoke Pui (co-head chef of Lai Wah Restaurant), Hooi Kok Wai (founder of Dragon-Phoenix Restaurant) and Sin Leong, Than Mui Kai was named as one of the "Four Heavenly Culinary Kings" of Singapore some 40 years ago for their culinary prowess and ingenuity



Serving
Yusheng is often served as part of a multi-dish dinner, usually as the appetizer due to its symbolism of "good luck" for the new year. Some would consume it on Renri, the seventh day of the Chinese New Year, although in practice it may be eaten on any convenient day.
The base ingredients are first served. The leader amongst the diners or the restaurant server proceeds to add ingredients such as the fish, the crackers and the sauces while saying "auspicious wishes" (吉祥话 or Jíxiáng Huà) as each ingredient is added, typically related to the specific ingredient being added. For example, phrases such as Nian Nian You Yu (年年有余) are uttered as the fish is added, as the word Yu (余), which means "surplus" or "abundance", sounds the same as the Chinese word for fish (yu, 鱼).
All dinners at the table than stand up and on cue, proceed to toss the shredded ingredients into the air with chopsticks while saying various "auspicious wishes" out loud. It is believed that the height of the toss reflects the height of the diner's growth in fortunes, thus diners are expected to toss enthusiastically.




Each ingredient in the Yee sang melambangkan kekayaan, kesihatan dan umur panjang...
I never taste yee sang before tho i feel like to taste some. hik..hik..hik..
Ok la, let's see the colorful of yee Sang....let the picture tell the story ya?





All i can conclude is Yee Sang equivalent to Yum! Yum!

hehehe, Happy Holiday Peeps!! And Gong Xi Fa Cai!!

1 comments:

Aan Andes said...

Yup paling best CNY ni sbb cuti yeay! Hehehe. Asalkan cuti best saja. Nampak sgt kerja ni is taking a toll on us.