PUBLISHED January 25th, 2016 04:46 am | UPDATED June 19th, 2020 04:08 pm
A Different Kind of Lo Hei
Lo hei – or yusheng – is a longstanding tradition happening at the reunion dinner table as long as I can remember. A few years ago, restaurants started coming up with the most fanciful yusheng imaginable due to the stiff competition; sadly, not all of them were palatable.
This year we’ve seen some unique and tasty yushengs to welcome the New Year with.
Shellfish fan? Try Summer Pavilion’s chilled sea whelk and salmon caviar yu sheng ($138 for 4-6 pax, $276 for 8-10 pax), where the sea whelk is braised in a special abalone sauce and the orbs of caviar add bursts of savoury flavour. Or if you love seafood in general, check out Oceans of Seafoods’ version of this crunchy Chinese salad ($128, 8-10 pax), which includes boiled rock lobster, salmon, kanpachi (greater amberjack), and mejajiki (swordfish).
Those with family members who aren’t able to take raw fish can opt for Nara Thai’s Rolling Gold Yu Sheng (starts from $30.80), which sees crispy golden soft shell crab as the main ingredient. Vegetarians can also join in the tossing fun with sea coconut, dried berries, and honey walnuts in The Westin Singapore’s Flourishing Prosperity Yusheng ($48 for 4 pax, $88 for 8-10 pax).
Sugar & Spice
This is where we spend most of our calories, #amirite? Well, if you’re going to savour them anyway, might as well choose your consumption wisely, eh?
Founded by local pastry chef Daniel Tay as a tribute to his father who was also a baker by trade, Old Seng Choong’s inaugural collection of Chinese New Year cakes ($23.80 each) includes a very delicious Red Date Cake and lip-smacking Yam Cake. The smell of the Carrot Cake was too strong for me, unfortunately.
Love the combination of sweet and savoury? Try Bloomsbury Bakers’ classic butter cookie selection ($25, 250g) – flavours include Pork Floss Seaweed and Bak Kwa Sesame. More mouth-watering goodness can be found at Pies & Coffee. The Salted Egg Yolk Cookies ($22, 420g) and Parmesan Cheese Cookies ($22, 360g) are their best sellers!
My personal favourite, however, is definitely The Fullerton Hotel’s Yam Paste Nian Gao Tarts ($28 for 8). These little pastry shells filled with smooth and fragrant yam paste topped with chewy glutinous rice cake are simply divine.
Drink Up
Whether or not you’re Chinese, there’s no better way to wash all that sweet stuff than with Chinese tea.
TWG Tea’s Jasmine Monkey King Tea ($40) is inspired by the Chinese legend of monkeys being trained to scale steep mountains to pick the finest tea leaves from the top of the tea plant, resulting in only the best harvests. Expect a fragrant blend of green tea and sensual night-blooming jasmine. If you’re looking to gift tea, consider Gryphon Tea’s Golden Nugget Flowering Tea ($6.80 each). Covered in gold dust, each nugget is an infusion of green tea, jasmine, and mandarin – watching it unfold is pretty much visual art.
Even the folks at Tiger Beer are getting festive with their Chinese New Year variant of the Tiger Radler, which now comes in a Mandarin Orange version ($17.80 for 6 cans).
Top Image: Gryphon Tea