Celebrate the Year of the Rat

By Franz Scheurer

Chinese New Year falls on 7^th February 2008 and the celebrations, giving thanks for the blessings of the past year and setting the tone for a fortuitous new year, run from 5^th to 21^st February.

In Malaysia, Chinese New Year in an important holiday marked by a colourful fortnight-long festival, where each ritual stands for an important virtue yearned for in the coming year: dragon and lion dances for good luck, fire crackers to drive off evil spirits and the giving and receiving of Ang Pow (red envelopes containing money) for prosperity.

Malaysians traditionally kick off the celebrations with a New Year’s Eve dinner containing dishes especially created to bring health, wealth and happiness. Fatt Choy Yee Sang (Rainbow Salad), one such dish, is only served during Chinese New Year and symbolises prosperity. Its many colourful ingredients together symbolise the occurrence of something auspicious:

- raw fish signifies life itself (as ‘yee’ means fish and ‘sang’ means life),

- peanuts and sesame seeds signify harvest

- oil represents wealth

- pomelo for good luck

- jellyfish signifies the important skill of bargaining

- pickled leek, the ability to manage finances, and

- the crunch of wheat crackers drives off evil and represents happiness.

A good Yee Sang strikes a perfect balance of sweet, bitter, salty and spicy, representing the different experiences that life contains. At Kuali in Lane Cove, chef John Poh prepares Fatt Choy Yee Sang each Chinese New Year, using the above ingredients (including sashimi-grade salmon) plus celery, brightly dyed strips of red and green taro, carrot, chilli, coriander, green onion, pickled papaya, daikon, five-spice powder, pickled ginger, all arranged on a large platter and doused with a superb brandy plum sauce at the table.

The appeal is not just visual, but in the traditional salad tossing: family and friends gather around the platter and, using chopsticks, toss the salad as high as possible while chanting ‘Lo Hei’ (liveliness, prosperity and longevity). This ritual is known as Lo Sang (stirring up life), and the higher the salad is tossed, the higher the level of success and prosperity in the new year.

Kuali will be serving Fatt Choy Yee Sang as part of their 10-course Chinese New Year banquet from 5^th to 21^st February. At $48.80 per person for a minimum of 6 people, it’s a great way to get together with friends and family and make an auspicious start to the Lunar New Year.

For more information or bookings call: 02 9418 6878