Get that extra luck for a prosperous Year of the Snake by tossing some magnificent yusheng salad at Imperial Palace Restaurant.
Yusheng is a quintessential Lunar New Year dish that is a must for dinners during the festive celebrations in Malaysia and Singapore and is fast growing in popularity here in Auckland too.
It is colour, messy, boisterous and loads of fun, and many look forward to the annual tossing of yusheng - known as lo hei - during the Lunar New Year season.
Under the watchful eye of yusheng expert Janet Chan, Imperial Palace Restaurant will be bringing this prosperous Lunar New Year speciality from Thursday 18 January through the end of the festive observations on 12 February 2025.
Priced at $168 per serving, dine-in-only, Chan’s take on the dish - which some have described as the “rolls royce of yusheng” - features a colourful assortment of auspicious, crunchy, raw vegetables, fresh salmon slices, mixed with her special sauces.
“Every ingredient has a special significance that is believed to bring good luck and blessings in the coming year for those to eat it,” said Chan.
The fish symbolises abundance, the shredded radish represents eternal youth and the crispy deep-fried crackers represent gold nuggets or wealth.
Yusheng, or yusang in Cantonese, means “raw fish” but it also has other ingredients such as shredded carrot, cucumber, radish, candied citrus peel, pomelo bits, chopped peanuts, fried wonton skin, five-spice powder, plum sauce, oil and various seasonings.
Dishes eaten during Lunar New Year often have a symbolic meaning, often based on how they are pronounced in Chinese or its appearance.
“Fish, in Chinese, sounds like the word abundance and eating it will mean we will have life in plentiful,” Chan said.
“We eat the fish raw because it symbolizes a fresh start or a new life.”
Imperial Palace has special festive set dinners for Lunar New Year and Chan said the yusheng - which feeds between 10 to 12 people - would make a meaningful first dish.
“Mine is the ‘Rolls Royce of yusheng’, and I believe I make the best in Auckland. I’m proud to be partnering with Imperial Palace this festive season,” Chan said.
The dish is also sometimes called lo hei (tossing for luck), which refers to the ritual of communal tossing that’s performed before eating the dish.
The ingredients are mixed during the tossing, while participants yell out well wishes and invocations for good luck.
“The higher you toss, the better your luck,” Chan said.
“It’s good if some spill over the plate because it shows that you will have a year in excess.”
LO HEI AT IMPERIAL PALACE RESTAURANT
What: Lo Hei Yusheng $168 (10 to 12 people)
Where: Imperial Palace Restaurant, 519 Ellerslie Panmure Highway, Mount Wellington
When: From Thursday 18 January to 12 February 2025.
Booking: 09 5270519. Pre-order is essential. Dine-in only, no takeaway.
***This article is brought to you in partnership with Imperial Palace.
