If you haven’t heard of this one, you’ll be excused. Even some of the most venerable keepers of Asian tradition haven’t got the word, yet. But the so-called Prosperity Toss has migrated all the way across Mainland Asia!
Indonesian Prime Minister Lawrence Wong (left) and Malaysia Prime
Minister Anwar Ibrahim (third from left) dig into a huge
platter of yusheng on January 28, 2025, to bring
their respective nations good fortune
in the coming year…
Asians traditionalists will do anything to ensure prosperity, fertility, productivity and joy in the new year. And they’ve come up with hundreds – if not thousands – of ways to ensure positive life out-comes. Many of these must be observed during the 16 precious, magical days of the annual Lunar New Year’s celebration.
What IS the toss?
It’s a ceremony, usually conducted by community culinary leaders, during which a special salad is tossed high in the air – as if offering a taste to the gods of goodness – at some point in the Lunar New Year celebration.
The whole thing may resemble a big green food fight to Westerners looking on from the sidelines, CNN correspondent But it’s really a highly respected, serious though joyful observance centred on food and what it means to Asian culture.
A prescribed method…
There’s a right way (and many wrong ways) to prepare the special yusheng salad for the ‘toss’.
“First come the vegetables, then the slices of raw fish, followed by the dressing and, finally, garnishes such as nuts or wonton crisps,” Wong explains.
Everyone then attacks the salad at once, with chop sticks, tossing ingredients higher and higher while shouting seasonal greetings louder and louder — all in the hopes of bringing good fortune for the coming year.
“The higher the toss, the more blessings you’re wishing for. But it’s more about the spirit of the celebration than a competition.” And it’s not just chefs or cooks who take part, Wong notes.
Shrouded in uncertainty
You might say it’s a grammatical toss-up, whether the modern version of the yusheng salad toss originated in Malaysia or Singapore. It’s especially popular in
Wong explains, the Singaporean version of the ancient ceremony was apparently initiated when a quartet of Cantonese chefs brought their cuisine to the island principality during the 1960s and 70s. It was they who created the ‘salad’ as known today, adding, “seven kinds of colorful chopped vegeta-bles as well as a sweet and sour, plum and tangerine sauce to raw slices of fish — a traditional delicacy.”
In Malaysia, meanwhile, many claim the dish was invented by another group of Chinese expatriot chefs, inspired by traditional fish noodles, at a restaurant called Loke Ching Kee in Seremban City in the 1940s. Either way, it’s roots are indisputably agreed to be Cantonese.
Traditionally, the prosperity toss is celebrated by community or family ‘clan’ leaders, in groups of 10 or more. But I suspect it’s also performed in smaller, extended family groups as well.
My take
Yes, yusheng salad is consumed, by all in attendance, once the magic is added by the tossers. And there’s nothing to say that everyone in attendance can’t have a toss or two, to add even more pros-perity to the mix.
Even if you are not of Asian heritage, there’s nothing to lose in making this symbolic offering to the gods of prosperity as part of one of your New Year’s feasts this month. And everything to gain!
~ Maggie J.