Chinese New Year involves various types of food served at reunion dinners and the many get-together parties. All foods served embodies special significance or symbolism. Festive dishes include whole fish (for unity and abundance), uncut noodles (for long life), chicken (for prosperity) and yusheng (for wealth). Yusheng is especially a Singapore dish. When you are presented with a yusheng, you should know what to do. There are eight steps that you need to perform to bring forth more wealth. The eight steps include:
Step 1: You should utter “Gong Xi Fa Cai” (which means happiness and prosperity) and “Wan Shi Ruyi” (which means smooth sailing).
Step 2: You should utter “Da Ji Dali” (which means luck and prosperity) upon pouring lime juice to the ingredients.
Step 3: You should utter “Yi Ben Wan Li” (which means having surplus every year) and “Long Ma Jing Shen” (which means great health) upon putting yusheng onto the shredded vegetables.
Step 4: You should utter “Yi Ben Wan Li” (which means flourishing business) upon sprinkling pepper and the five spice powder.
Step 5: You should utter “You Hui Duo Duo” (which means rolling fortunes) upon pouring sauces and golden cooking oil.
Step 6: You should utter “Jin Yin Man Wu” (which means abundant wealth) upon sprinkling the golden crushed peanuts.
Step 7: You should utter “Sheng Yi Xing Long” (which means flourishing business) upon dashing it with sesame powder.
Step 8: Finally, you should utter “Man Di Huang Jin” (which means abundant wealth) upon pouring the thin golden membrane.
As a conclusion, everyone at the table calls out “Lo Hei” (which means to prosper more and more). The tossing of yusheng is popular with businessmen. Some use their chopsticks to toss the ingredients as high as they can in the air; the higher you throw it, the more prosperous you will be.