Chinese New Year good luck salad (yee sang) recipe

Toss the salad together for good luck.
Toss the salad together for good luck. Photo: William Meppem

This salad is also known as yee sang. The higher you toss this salad, the more good luck you'll have for the New Year!


65g dried glass noodles

120g sashimi-grade ocean trout, sliced finely (or use sashimi-grade kingfish or snapper)

2 lebanese cucumbers, julienned

1 small carrot, peeled and julienned

100g white radish, peeled and julienned

40g munyeroo (native purslane), leaves picked (or use coriander leaves)

30g Bower spinach, picked (or use baby English spinach leaves)

10g pickled ginger, julienned

½ cup roasted macadamia nuts, finely crushed in a mortar and pestle

100g fresh black fungus

70g fresh bean sprouts

1 large red chilli, finely sliced

3 tbsp freshly squeezed finger limes (or use cheeks from 2 fresh limes)

300ml ginger and tamari dressing (recipe here)


1. Make the ginger and tamari dressing (recipe here)

2. Soak noodles in boiling water for 15 minutes, drain thoroughly.

3. Arrange all ingredients on a large round platter in separate piles, with the noodles in the centre, and the sashimi slices arranged on top of the noodles.

4. To serve, place platter in the centre of the table, make sure all guests have a pair of chopsticks, and pour 300ml of the dressing over the salad. Everyone must reach into the salad to mix and toss it with their chopsticks, saying very loudly "loh hei" (literally "to move upwards"). The higher you toss the salad, the better your New Year luck.

Serve alongside my crab and ginger dumplings and deep-fried duck as part of a banquet. Here's how my family celebrates Lunar New Year.