History of Yusheng (Raw Fish Salad)

During Chinese New Year, we will toss Yusheng with our family. Yusheng is a traditional Chinese dish that originated from China but SIngaporean chefs had added new dishes to make it uniquely Singapore Chinese. For my family, we do not toss yusheng during reunion dinner. Instead we have it on the last day of Chinese New Year. Now many companies will also have this yusheng tossing with colleagues in Singapore. 

On the 7th day of Chinese new year, my mum will cook a dish comprising of 7 different vegetables as it is a Teochew tradition to celebrate Ren ri (Human birthday) or 人日。Sometimes I think yusheng might just be started from Chaozhou as we eat 7 different vegetables but its all green vegetables instead of colourful vegetables in yusheng. 

From Wikipedia:

Fishermen along the coast of Guangzhou traditionally celebrated Renri, the seventh day of the Chinese New Year, by feasting on their catches.^[1] The practice of eating raw fish in thinly sliced strips can be traced back to ancient China through the raw fish or meat dish known as kuai (膾, kuài). However the present form of yusheng is believed to have started in Chaozhou and Shantou as far back as the Southern Song Dynasty.