A must-have for Lunar New Year, Vegan Yee Sang is a fresh and vibrant salad served with a delicious plum sauce.
To me, Lunar New Year isn’t complete without Yee Sang! I recently found out that Yee Sang is a Malaysian and Singaporean tradition, and that makes this dish even more special to me.
This prosperity toss salad contains many different components. Traditionally, it usually includes fish (I think I’ve even had a jellyfish version) but since this is a vegan yee sang we’re omitting that. There really isn’t any rule when preparing yee sang, as long as the end result is colourful and delicious! I’ve even seen people also make yee sang just with different types of fruit.
Read more about what each yee sang ingredient represents here.
In my opinion, a good yee sang should have fresh vegetables, a crunchy element, fruit and a sweet tangy dressing!
What’s in my vegan yee sang
- jicama/sengkuang
- carrots
- cucumber
- purple cabbage
- pomelo
- fried yam
- fried dumpling wrappers
- a plum dressing made from plum sauce and sesame oil
- crushed peanuts
- 5 spice powder
Food colouring is often added to jicama to make it colourful, but I prefer using ingredients like purple cabbage and carrots instead.
How to eat yee sang
Once the yee sang has been assembled, everyone gathers around the table. Armed with a pair of chopsticks each, we toss the ingredients up while expressing well wishes for the year ahead. This act is called “lou hei” in Cantonese, which means “moving forward”. The idea is that the higher you toss, the more prosperity you’ll receive! The table usually ends up being very messy, but it’s such a fun and interactive dish.
After doing so, the ingredients should be very well incorporated. Everyone settles down and digs into the delicious salad!
Make it your own with these variations
- vegetables: green/red/yellow capsicum, spring onions, pickled ginger, carrots, purple cabbage, jicama, cucumber, coriander leaves, kaffir lime leaves
- fruits: mandarin oranges, pomelo, mango, dragon fruit, papaya
- nus: crushed roasted peanuts, toasted sesame seeds, sunflower seeds, pumpkin seeds
- crunchy element: fried dumpling strips, fried wonton strips, fried wheat crackers, fried yam
- dressing: plum sauce, sesame oil, sweet and sour sauce, pepper, 5 spice powder, lime
If you liked this Vegan Yee Sang, here are more recipes to try:
If you made this recipe, do leave a comment and rating below because I love hearing your feedback. Make sure to tag me on Instagram @eatwkriss so that I can see your recreations!
Vegan Yee Sang/Prosperity Toss Salad
Ingredients
- 100 g pomelo white pith removed
- ¼ small jicama/sengkuang julienne
- 1 small carrot julienne
- ½ cucumber sliced thinly, then julienne
- ¼ small purple cabbage julienne
- 4 dumpling wrappers
- 100 g yam cut into matchsticks
Plum dressing
- 2 tbsp plum sauce
- 1/2 tbsp sesame oil
- 1 tsp water more to thin
Garnish
- roasted peanuts crushed
- 5 spice powder
Instructions
- Mix together plum dressing ingredients, and prepare all your fresh vegetables. Store in the fridge until ready to assemble.
- Cut the round dumpling wrappers in half, then cut them into strips. Deep-fry for 30 seconds until light golden brown. Deep-fry yam sticks for 1-2 minutes until golden brown.
- On a large platter, arrange all your ingredients nicely. Sprinkle crushed peanuts, toasted sesame seeds, 5 spice powder, coriander leaves and drizzle the dressing.
Notes
