CNY in Auckland (part 2)

Last week we caught up with Charles and Janet when we were in Auckland.

You might remember Janet and Charles who were dishing out the most delicious nyonya food at their Sri Intan Cuisine at Mt Albert, Auckland up until 11 Oct 2009.

The good old days... Janet and Charles

So when Janet invited us to dinner at her house, CNY eve; we can't wait!

She told us that after Sri Intan, she only cook to order. Her loyal customers phone her for her special dishes, especially the "confinement" variety!

This CNY she got some order for the traditional "Yee Sang", which is very popular with Malaysians and Singaporeans.

Some of you might ask what is "Yee Sang"?

According to Wikipedia, and I quote:

"Yusheng , yee sang or yuu sahng (simplified Chinese: 鱼生; pinyin: yúshēng), also known as lo hei (Cantonese for 撈起 or 捞起) is a Teochew-style raw fish salad.

It usually consists of strips of raw fish (most commonly salmon), mixed with shredded vegetables and a variety of sauces and condiments, among other ingredients.

Yusheng literally means "raw fish" but since "fish (鱼)" is commonly conflated with its homophone "abundance (余)", Yúshēng (鱼生) is interpreted as a homophone for Yúshēng (余升) meaning an increase in abundance. Therefore, yusheng is considered a symbol of abundance, prosperity and vigor.
While versions of it is thought to have existed in China, the contemporary version is created and popularised in Singapore in the 1960s amongst the ethnic Chinese community and its consumption has been associated with Chinese New Year festivities in Singapore as well as in neighbouring Malaysia.
In Singapore, government, community and business leaders often take the lead in serving the dish as part of official functions during the festive period or in private celebrity dinners. Some have even suggested that it be named a national dish."
Janet's special Yee Sang dish can be order at this number:

021-948-333

The dish came in two sizes, at $48.00 and $60.00.

Janet sprinkles thin slices of fresh salmon on the Yee Sang

A sweet sauce is drizzle over the ready to eat Yee Sang

Of course the fun part of eating yee Sang is the "Lo Sang" before you tuck in!

"All dinners at the table than stand up and on cue, proceed to toss the shredded ingredients into the air with chopsticks while saying various "auspicious wishes" out loud. It is believed that the height of the toss reflects the height of the dinner's growth in fortunes, thus dinners are expected to toss enthusiastically!" - Wikipedia -

I shot a short video how Charles and "family" did it :)