Today is the 7th day of Chinese New Year, known as 人日 (Ren Le) in Mandarin or (Yan Yak) in Cantonese. This means it is the birthday of all human kind.
Legend has it that in the very very old days thousand of years ago, it was recorded that God (Chinese God) made all kinds of different creatures during his 7 days project very similar to the Bible.
1st day was the chicken, 2nd day the dog, 3rd day the pig, 4th day the goat/lamb, 5th day the cow/ox, 6th day the horse and 7th day human.
Many will celebrate by making fish ceviche or 'Yu Sung' in Cantonese or 'Yu Shen' in Mandarin because the words ryhmes with 'birth' in Chinese.
We’ll be eating this “Yusheng”(鱼 生), a plate of colourful salad with strips of raw fish (a popular choice is salmon). As you know, Chinese like to give auspicious names to dishes, especially on big occasion like the Lunar New Year. In Chinese, “Yusheng” is interpreted as (余升)an increase in abundance. In Cantonese, it’s known as “lo hei” (捞起 | toss up), families and friends get together and toss the shredded ingredients into the air with chopsticks while saying auspicious wishes loudly to mark the start of a prosperous new year. The higher you toss, the merrier it will be. But some folks just become too excited over tossing “Yusheng” that you might get shredded food all over your arms, er… sometimes, you get it on your hair cos the guys just tossed it over your head!
HAPPY REN Le!