Homemade Yusheng (aka Yee Sang, Prosperity Salad)
Homemade Yusheng recipe, a very traditional Chinese New Year salad in Singapore and Malaysia.
Ingredients
Salad Dressing
- 120 g plum sauce
- 2 Tbsp fresh lemon juice about half a lemon
- 4 Tbsp water
- ⅛ tsp Chinese Five Spice Powder
Crispy Dumpling Strips
- 200 g dumpling or wonton wrappers click here for homemade recipe on LinsFood
- 250 ml vegetable oil for frying the wrapper strips
Salad Ingredients
- 1 large carrot about 200g/7 oz
- 1 small daikon about 200g/7 oz
- 200 g purple cabbage
- ½ cucumber about 200g/7 oz
- 1 handful fresh coriander leaves (cilantro) about 30g/1 oz
- 1 packet jellyfish, as sold optional, package weight 170g/6 oz
- 200 g smoked or sashimi grade salmon
- 1-2 Tbsp pickled ginger (like sushi ginger)
Topping/Garnish
- 3 Tbsp roasted peanuts or raw or blanched peanuts
- 1 Tbsp sesame seeds
- 1-2 Tbsp toasted sesame oil
Instructions
Salad Dressing
- Mix all the ingredients together and set aside.I don't bother heating it up, as you may see some folks doing.120 g plum sauce, 2 Tbsp fresh lemon juice, 4 Tbsp water, ⅛ tsp Chinese Five Spice Powder
Crispy Dumpling Strips
- Slice your dumpling wrappers into strips about 1cm (just under ½in) wide and 5cm (2in) long.200 g dumpling or wonton wrappers
- Heat the oil in a small wok, frying pan or saucepan, on medium heat. Fry the dumpling strips for 2-3 minutes until they're a golden light brown. Don't let them burn.Take them out with a slotted spoon and leave to drain in a bowl lined with 2 layers of kitchen paper.250 ml vegetable oil
Prep Work - Vegetables
- Peel the carrot and daikon.Cut the cucumber into 8cm (roughly 3in) lengths. Slice the edges lengthwise, making sure to avoid the middle part with seeds. We won't be using the inner fleshy parts.1 large carrot, 1 small daikon, ½ cucumber
- Thinly slice or grate the carrot, daikon, cabbage and cucumber into thin slices.You want them fairly thin. Using a grater will give you wispy thin slices which are perfect. But you can also just cut them with a knife, making them as thin as possible.Or use a mandoline, Amazon link in Notes below.200 g purple cabbage
- Pick the coriander leaves off the stems but leave them whole.1 handful fresh coriander leaves (cilantro)
Prep Work - Fish
- Rinse the jellyfish, and drain, if using. If your jelly fish came with flavour sachets, sprinkle/drizzle the content over and mix well. If not, drizzle a little sesame oil and mix, about 1 tsp will do.Set aside. I place it in the fridge until needed.1 packet jellyfish, as sold
- Get the salmon out of the packaging, and cut into large bite-sized pieces if necessary. This is why smoked salmon trimmings work great here - cheaper and perfect size.200 g smoked or sashimi grade salmon
Prep Work - Toppings
- If your peanuts are not ready roasted, dry toast them in a small frying frying pan on medium-low heat for 5-7 minutes until they are a light brown colour and smell roasted.3 Tbsp roasted peanuts
- Place the roasted nuts into a food chopper and pulse to a coarse grind. Or do this with a pestle and mortar. Or place them in a bag, seal and roll a rolling pin over.
- Toast the sesame seeds in a small frying pan on low for a minute or two. Stop when they're a light golden beige. Tip out into a bowl or saucer. They'll burn if you leave them in the hot pan.You can use the same pan as the nuts.1 Tbsp sesame seeds
Assembly
- Always start in the middle and move out. And always use a round platter, see article above for explanations.Arrange the salmon in the middle of the platter.
- Arrange the jellyfish around the salmon in a thin circle, if using.
- Traditionally, each ingredient would have a specific order, but this is no longer observed as strictly. So all you want to do now is arrange a handful of the rest of the salad ingredients in 2 portions each, on opposite ends of the circle. See video.See article above for the meaning of each ingredient.Tuck the pickled ginger in somewhere if you've run out of space.1-2 Tbsp pickled ginger (like sushi ginger)
- Sprinkle the crushed peanuts all over, followed by the sesame seeds.
- Drizzle the sesame oil all over in a circular motion.1-2 Tbsp toasted sesame oil
- Finally, drizzle 3 Tbsp of the salad dressing all over, again in a circular motion. Leave the rest on the side for folks to add to their portion if they fancy.
- Take your finished yusheng to the table and gather everyone together. Using chopsticks, get everyone to toss the salad 7 times, with shouts of lohei and gong xi fa cai!Mix your salad from the outer rim inwards, as explained in the article above.
Nutrition
Calories: 247kcalCarbohydrates: 27gProtein: 9gFat: 12gSaturated Fat: 2gPolyunsaturated Fat: 5gMonounsaturated Fat: 4gTrans Fat: 0.04gCholesterol: 8mgSodium: 458mgPotassium: 359mgFiber: 3gSugar: 3gVitamin A: 1632IUVitamin C: 26mgCalcium: 59mgIron: 2mg
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