In the mid-1960s, four master chefs - known
in local food circles as the four Heavenly
Kings - were jointly responsible for
creating a Singaporean culinary tradition by
transforming a humble roadside hawker dish
into a colourful, tasty and auspicious
festive food.
Taking the raw fish slices used in simple
fish porridge as their primary ingredient,
they invented Yu Sheng, a dish that
symbolises for Singaporeans the birth of a
new year, and one that has become as
synonymous with Singapore as chili crab and
chicken rice - only a lot more seasonal. |
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The four men, Messrs Sin Leong, Hooi Kok Wai,
Lau Yoke Pui and Than Mui Kai, combined the
fish - typically a local trout - with a
variety of ingredients like shredded
lettuce, carrots, turnips, red and yellow
ginger, pickled onions, jellyfish and
sun-dried plums. They then mixed the
ingredients, and the taste, with a
sour-sweet sauce made from vinegar, plum
sauce, salt and sugar.
According to Chris Hooi, son of Hooi Kok Wai
and general manager of the family-owned
Dragon Phoenix restaurant - started by the
elder Mr Hooi in 1963 - fishermen from the
coast of Guangzhou province in southern
China celebrated the seventh day of the new
year by feasting on the fish - which
symbolised wealth - that was part of their
catch. 'The culture was brought down to
Singapore in the early days by people who
emigrated here,' says Chris Hooi. 'It later
evolved into the fish porridge found in
roadside stalls here.
It used to be that Yu Sheng, the Chinese New
Year prosperity tossed salad platter, could only
be found after the first few days of the new
year. It's traditionally eaten on "Ren-ri",
meaning Man's Birthday, which falls on the
seventh day of the first lunar month.
However, in recent years, you'll see Yu Sheng
being sold everywhere in Singapore even before new year starts. In fact, it's so
common - you'll see it in the coffeeshops,
supermarkets, wet markets, restaurants.
That basic individual dish was
re-interpreted by the chefs as Yu Sheng. The
elaborate family-sized appetizer - and the
attendant ritual of standing around the
dinner table and 'tossing' the ingredients -
has apparently been re-exported to the
motherland. At present, says Mr Hooi,
Singapore-style Yu Sheng is available in
some parts of China.
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8 Steps to Present the Yu Sheng
Meanwhile, we must be particular about the way
we present the dish. Whenever a waiter hold out
a type of ingredient, he would say something
auspicious. There are 8 steps to bring forth
the meaning of getting wealthy.
1st step: Say Gong Xi Fa Cai 恭喜发财 (getting rich) and Wan Shi Ru Yi (to be smooth
sailing) when putting down the Yu Sheng on the table.
2nd Step: Say Da Ji Da Li 大吉大利 (to be very auspicious) when adding limejuice to
the ingredient.
3rd step: Say Nian Nian You Yu 年年有余 (to have a surplus every year) and Long Ma
Jing Shen (to enjoy great health) when placing Yu Sheng onto the shredded
carrot.
4th step: Say Yi Ben Wan Li 一本万利 (business to be flourishing) when putting
pepper and five-spice powder to the Yu Sheng.
5th step: Say You Shui Duo Duo 油水多多 (business to be flourishing) when adding
golden cooking oil and sauces to the Yu Sheng.
6th step: Say Jin Yin Man Wu 金银满屋 (to obtain abundant wealth) when sprinkling
the golden peanut powder.
7th step: Say Sheng Yi Xing Long 生意兴隆 (business to be flourishing) when
sprinkling the sesame powder.
8th step: Say Man Di Huang Jin 满地黄金 (to obtain abundant wealth) when adding the
thin golden membrane.
A waiter who follows the eight steps above will be
managed to please the customers to a great
extent. Before he leaves the table, he will say
with a broad smile, ?May everyone here see their
fortune rise higher with each toss.?
You won't be able to resist it when you are told to
start mixing the dish by tossing it in the air -
the higher the better!
捞起！捞起！今年捞个风生水起！
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