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Yu Sheng � Raw Fish Salad
This is a popular dish during Chinese New Year in Singapore. Nearly everyone would have tossed Yu Sheng at least once during the Chinese New Year holidays, with some chalking up multiple tosses under their belt. Punning on the words, �Yu Sheng�, which literally means raw fish, it auspiciously meant abundance and growth. Just what we need every New Year, the Chinese thought. What better way, then to embody these symbols of good luck by eating them!
Yet this entrenched tradition is very much a recent Singapore invention, with it gaining popularity only in the last twenty years! Different theories suggest Yu Sheng was either created and popularised by Cantonese restaurants in Singapore or of its Teochew antecedents. As to what is fact and what is fiction, will require some research to put the matter at rest.
The following recipe is somewhat "modern" with the use of salmon, a imported fish that gained popularity in the Chinese food market only in recent years. Before, other local "white flesh fish" was used
Beyond all that, this is just a wonderfully delicious salad!
Ingredients
100g (1/4 lb) of very fresh salmon
2 cups of finely shredded daikon (white radish)
2 cups of finely shredded carrot
1 red pepper (capsicum), sliced thinly
1 inch fresh ginger, shredded paper thin
� cup of finely shredded sweet pickled ginger
7 fresh kaffir lime leaves, finely shredded
4 sprigs of fresh chinese parsley
� cup of chopped peanuts
Toasted sesame seeds for garnish
Chinese shrimp crackers for garnish (or fried dried shrimp)
1 tbsp of five spice powder
Dressing-
2/3 cup of plum sauce
� cup of water
1 tbsp of vegetable oil
1/3 cup of sugar
salt to taste
Marinade
1 tsp of vegetable oil
1 tsp of sesame oil
� tsp of sugar
1/8 teaspoon of white pepper
1/8 teaspoon of five spice powder
Juice of half lemon and salt to taste
1) In separate bowls, cover finely shredded radish and carrots with cold water and set aside.
2) To make the dressing, mix the plum sauce and water together. Heat oil over low heat and add the plum sauce, sugar and salt. Cook until sugar dissolves.
3) Mix the marinade ingredients together in a bowl. Add fish slices and mix. Mound the fish in the centre of a platter.
4) Rinse the carrots and daikon, and squeeze out excess water. Mound each vegetable � carrot, daikon, red pepper and Chinese parsley around the fish on the platter. Then scatter the ginger and lime leaves over the fish.
5) Finally, top with peanut, sesame seeds, shrimp crackers and five spice powder. Then pour the cooled dressing over the salad.
6) You are ready to toss � Lo Hei!
www.singaporefoodhistory.com / Copyright 2005 by Ai Ling Sim-Devadas