Yu Sheng is the central opener dish for any Chinese New Year (CNY) gathering that kick-starts the festivities on a high note and the first dish captured on Instagram. As 2023 is the year of the Rabbit, wow your family with Sharefood’s Co-founder Peiwen’s design for Rabbit Yu Sheng 兔子鱼生!
This CNY dish is probably the most auspicious dish on the reunion table as its name and each of its ingredients have their own auspicious meanings. Yu 鱼 or “fish” in Chinese is homonymous with abundance” 裕 while Sheng 生 means either “raw” or “life”. Thus, the name of the dish is raw fish with the connotations of wishing the consumer an abundant life!
Filled with freshly grated vegetables, salmon, preserved condiments and a sweet and sour sauce, this Rabbit Yu Sheng is bursting with various flavours and textures. The Cantonese name lohei implies “tossing good fortnue/to rise with good fortune” with the one who tosses the highest will receive the most fortune. Hence, this salad dish is healthy, delicious, and highly auspicious.
It is also rather easy and more cost-effective to prepare in your kitchen and you can choose the best ingredients to add. Lots of shredding will be needed so it is a good dish for the many family members to chip in and help while bonding over the shredding of the vegetables. The fun part will be assembling the rabbit which you can easily do so by following our Rabbit Yu Sheng template here (insert pdf). Simply download the file and follow it to assemble the Yu Sheng accordingly.
As of January 2023, this recipe will cost around SGD $44 to make.
| Yu Sheng Package | $15 |
| Radish, Carrot, Cucumber, Spring onion, strawberry, pomegranate | $4 |
| Salmon | $25 |
- 1 set Yu Sheng Package
- 21 pieces sashimi grade salmon thin slices
- 1 large radish shredded into thin and short pieces to look like rabbit fur
- 2 medium carrots shredded
- 1 japanese cucumber shredded
- 1 pomegranate seed for the rabbit eye
- 3 small strawberries sliced thinly
- 2 spring onions
- 1 mint leaf
- 1 large white plate 16 inch in diameter
- Print out the rabbit template from Share Food’s website. Trim out the bunny shape. Use a Clingwrap to wrap up the bunny, this is to ensure that the non-edibles does not touch the food.
- Layer 3 salmon slices into a strip and roll them into roses. Prepare 7 roses and place them in the chiller to keep fresh.
- Lay the shredded cucumber as the grass layer below the bunny.
- Lay the shredded carrot in a semi-circle above the cucumber grass layer.
- Use some of the white radish to form the outline of the bunny then fill it up with the rest of the white radish.
- Use the sliced strawberries and make 2 flowers. Add on the spring onion and mint leaf.
- Place the 7 salmon roses.
- Place the Yu Sheng condiments.
- Add the Pok Chui, peanut, pepper, and sauce, and it is ready to be tossed!
Do remember to infuse the dish with fortune by uttering the auspicious blessings while assembling each ingredient! You can refer to the list below for the meanings behind each ingredient and which CNY blessing to say when assembling the Rabbit Yu Sheng:
Carrots indicate blessings of good luck.
Words: hongyun dangtou (鸿运当头)
Shredded white radish for prosperity in business and promotion at work.
Words: feng sheng shui qi (风生水起) and bubu gaosheng (步步高升)
Fish symbolises abundance or excess throughout the year.
Words: nian nian youyu (年年有余)
Pomelo over the fish for luck
Words: daji dali (大吉大利)
Pepper for greater prosperity and fortune.
Words: zhaocai jinbao (招财进宝)
Oil, is drizzled in a circle over the ingredients to symbolise the multifold increase of profits and to encourage money to flow in from all directions.
Words: caiyuan guang jin (财源广进)
Peanut crumbs are sprinkled on the dish, symbolising a household filled with gold and silver. As an icon of longevity, peanuts also symbolise eternal youth.
Words: jinyin manwu (金银满屋)
Sesame seeds, symbolising growth in business.
Words: shengyi xinglong (生意兴隆)
Golden pillows crackers, symbolising gold ingots and wealth. The wish literally translates to mean that the whole floor would be filled with gold.
Words: biandi huangjin (遍地黄金)
- 1 set Yu Sheng Package
- 21 pieces sashimi grade salmon thin slices
- 1 large radish shredded into thin and short pieces to look like rabbit fur
- 2 medium carrots shredded
- 1 japanese cucumber shredded
- 1 pomegranate seed for the rabbit eye
- 3 small strawberries sliced thinly
- 2 spring onions
- 1 mint leaf
- 1 large white plate 16 inch in diameter
- Print out the rabbit template from Share Food’s website. Trim out the bunny shape. Use a Clingwrap to wrap up the bunny, this is to ensure that the non-edibles does not touch the food.
- Layer 3 salmon slices into a strip and roll them into roses. Prepare 7 roses and place them in the chiller to keep fresh.
- Lay the shredded cucumber as the grass layer below the bunny.
- Lay the shredded carrot in a semi-circle above the cucumber grass layer.
- Use some of the white radish to form the outline of the bunny then fill it up with the rest of the white radish.
- Use the sliced strawberries and make 2 flowers. Add on the spring onion and mint leaf.
- Place the 7 salmon roses.
- Place the Yu Sheng condiments.
- Add the Pok Chui, peanut, pepper, and sauce, and it is ready to be tossed!
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