Yusheng and lo hei
Yusheng and lo hei
Yusheng (鱼生) is a dish of sliced fish, shredded vegetables and seasonings. Lo hei (捞起), a Cantonese expression meaning “tossing up,” names the communal action: diners lift and mix the ingredients with chopsticks while voicing wishes for the year ahead. The custom is especially associated with Singapore and Malaysia, where restaurant meals, family gatherings and workplace celebrations provide different settings for the shared platter.
The colourful modern salad developed from simpler raw-fish dishes. Yusheng was served in Singapore restaurants by the 1930s. In the 1960s, chefs Tham Yui Kai, Sin Leong, Hooi Kok Wai and Lau Yoke Pui helped popularise an elaborate version with a greater variety of colours, flavours and textures. Malaysian accounts also credit Loke Ching Fatt in Seremban with developing a colourful version in the 1940s. The competing claims concern particular forms of the festive dish; they do not establish a sole inventor of raw-fish salad.
The shared platter
The ingredients are arranged separately before the meal, often with fish, shredded vegetables, pomelo, crunchy garnishes and small portions of sauce and seasonings. As components are added, the host or server voices auspicious wishes. Diners then reach in with their chopsticks, lift the ingredients and toss them together. After the ceremonial mixing, the salad is divided and eaten.
The words give ingredients a further meaning. Fish evokes abundance through the Mandarin homophones yú, “fish” (鱼), and yú, “surplus” (余). Other associations draw on colour, sweetness or a customary phrase rather than an exact pun.
| Ingredient | Mandarin wish | Meaning in the ceremony |
|---|---|---|
| Fish | Niánnián yǒuyú, 年年有余 | May there be abundance year after year |
| Pomelo | Dàjí dàlì, 大吉大利 | Great good fortune and prosperity |
| Carrot | Hóngyùn dāngtóu, 鸿运当头 | May good fortune come your way |
| Plum sauce | Tiántián mìmì, 甜甜蜜蜜 | May life be sweet and happy |
The wording and order vary between hosts. A higher toss playfully expresses a hope for rising fortunes, while calling out the wishes gives everyone a part in the meal.
Recipes preserve regional differences as well. Some Teochew presentations use individual dipping sauces, in contrast with the Cantonese-style communal mixing familiar at lo hei. Vegetarian versions replace the fish while retaining the vegetables, seasonings and shared action.
New Year timing
Yusheng has a traditional association with Renri, the seventh day of the first lunar month, also known as the “birthday of humankind.” The meal now extends across the Chinese New Year season as relatives, colleagues and friends arrange gatherings on different days.
Packaged sets make the dish convenient to assemble at home. Keeping the components separate until the gathering preserves the sequence of adding, wishing and tossing.