Photos of Lo Hei by Jeanne Gunsolus
Lo Hei is a traditional New Year’s dish eaten in Singapore. Though I’ve heard it has now spread to Hong Kong and Taiwan, I’d never seen or tasted it until I moved here. While lo hei is served as an appetizer, it is more complicated than a simple salad. The idea is that many ingredients – all lucky – are put together and then tossed by all participants at the table with chopsticks. At the same time you are tossing, you must utter lucky phrases about living a long life, being successful, and having a year filled with good fortune. The higher you toss, the better your luck and the higher your promotion in life.
Some of the critical – and auspicious – ingredients in this dish are peanuts (long life), pomelo (lucky), red pepper (wealth), oil (encourages flow of money), carrots (good luck), green radish (youth), raw fish (abundance), crab meat (academic success), and crispy square crackers (gold or wealth). How does it taste? I found it a bit too sweet, but I enjoyed the crunchiness and mix of fruit and vegetable.
Lo hei kits are available at supermarkets, so you can make this dish at home, but it is also served in many Chinese restaurants. In fact, a local guide explained that the lo hei tradition was started by four restaurant chefs who were concerned that people were staying at home to eat during the fifteen-day New Year’s celebration. To draw people out, they created this prosperity salad to serve during the holiday. Whatever its origins, it’s a fun custom that people of all ages can enjoy.
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