Origins in Southeast Asia
Singaporean chefs are primarily credited for popularizing Lo Hei in the 1960s, inspired by the Cantonese tradition of eating raw fish strips during the Lunar New Year. Lo Hei (or Yusheng) is also known as a Prosperity Toss.
Step-by-Step
There is a specific order in which the ingredients must be individually added, each accompanied by a different New Year wish highlighting prosperity, good luck, and success for the year ahead.
Ingredients
Recipes and what they symbolize vary depending on the chef, but the basic ingredients may include: green radish, white radish, carrots, crackers, smoked fish, raisins, dried plum, dried winter melon, dried pineapple, oil, sesame seeds, peanuts, and plum sauce.
Say your wishes out loud!
An example of a spoken verse during the ritual might be: "Sprinkle sesame seeds to symbolize a household filled with GOLD & SILVER! Jin Yin Man Wu 金银满屋 (May your house be filled with gold and silver)"!
Toss!
Once all of the ingredients have been added, everyone seated around the table will stand up to toss the Yusheng using chopsticks, a ritual called “Lo Hei” (meaning “to rise”)—the higher you toss, the higher your prosperity rises.
Photos are from A4's 2024 Lo Hei Celebration. More available on A4's Flickr.
