Renri - My First Abalone Yu Sheng

Abalone Yu Sheng Salad

With age I reminiscise too much for my own good. So it was with much nostalgia that I thought of my childhood picking out crackers in the Yu Sheng (Lucky Raw Fish Salad) that my dad would bring us to eat during CNY. Then I read about all the loh-hei that my dear blogger friends have been up to in the past week and was filled with envy.

So while I have been a little lazy about cooking new things lately (just dishing out well-tried favourites), I wondered if I shouldn't make myself some sort of a Yu Sheng, especially after I've read Umami's 2007 posting on her own attempt at the dish. And since she has very kindly given me tips on how to make my favourite crackers, I could find no excuse not to go ahead and do it.

It was an amazingly successful 1st attempt! I am no salad fan and quite dreaded the idea of having to actually eat my Yu Sheng if nobody else wanted it. But I ended up hoarding the dish after the 1st bite and ate it up all by myself! And I will make it even after CNY because I really like it.

The sauce's the key to the dish's success and mine tasted as far as I could remember like the ones I've had in my lost youth. I skipped the candied ginger etc as I'm not fond of preserved fruit and vegetables. The vegetables should normally be shredded really fine but I was lazy and decided to just have them julienned. But they were good.

Abalone Yu Sheng :

Shredded Carrots

Shredded Cucumber

Shredded Red Bell Pepper

Shredded Turnip, Radish etc

Grapefruit or Pomelo

Chopped Peanuts, Almonds or Pistachio Nuts

Grilled Sesame Seeds

Abalone slices

Coriander leaves

Flour Crackers

Limes

The Sauce :

Plum Sauce

Kumquat Paste (didn't use it)

Rice Vinegar

Sesame Oil

Grapefruit Juice

5 Spice Powder

Grated Ginger or Ginger Powder

Chilli

Olive or Vegetable Oil

Pepper

Salt

One is supposed to compose the salad in stages and mutter the appropriate lucky sayings appropriate to the ingredient(s) in question. For example, when you add in the fish you say niannian youyu, when you add in the carrots hongyun dangtou, mix in the crackers (looking like gold ingots) you say piandi huangjin etc.

With the crackers

The crackers I made them with flour, olive oil, water, salt and sugar.

Gonghei Fattchoy everyone!