How to make your own Lohei Prosperity Toss
Lohei, a much loved prosperity salad toss during the Chinese Lunar New Year. A refreshing & delicious salad, tossed with gusto and in joyful anticipation of the year ahead. Wishing all a healthy and wonderful 2020!
Servings: 5 pax
Ingredients
Main salad
- 2 cup green radish (shredded)
- 2 cup white radish (shredded)
- 1 cup orange carrot (shredded)
- 1/2 cup purple carrot (shredded)
- 2/3 cup pomelo
- Salmon sashimi - 8 to 10 slices( fr. Japanese mart) (substitute: abalone slices)
Dressing
- 1/3 cup Japanese Wasabi dressing
- 1 tsp raw honey
Condiments
- 1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
- 1/4 tsp ground black pepper
- 2 1/2 tbsp crushed peanuts
- 2 tbsp toasted sesame seeds
- 2 tbsp sesame oil
- 1 packet of crackers (150g) (substitute: crispy salty egg fish skin)
- 1 lime (cut into wedges)
Optionals
- 1 to 2 sprigs of coriander (roughly chopped)
- 3 tbsp Japanese marinated jellyfish (fr. from Japanese mart)
- 3 tbsp Japanese marinated seaweed (fr. from Japanese mart)
Instructions
Preparation
- Julienne the radishes and carrots into long elegant shreds.
- Using a clean towel, squeeze tightly and remove the water from the radish and carrot juliennes. Set aside to chill whilst preparing the other ingredients.
- Peel the pomelo and break them into itty bitty sacs. (See notes: this can made ahead if desired.)
- Spoon 2 1/2 tbsp crushed peanuts, 2 tbsp toasted sesame and 2 tbsp sesame oil into separate small dishes/glasses and set aside.
- For the sweet dressing, add 1 tsp of raw honey to 1/3 cup Japanese Wasabi dressing and mix well.
- Spoon 1/4 tsp ground pepper and 1/2 tsp ground cinnamon separately into two blessings red packets.
- Cut one lime into wedges.
- Optional, I also prepared some chopped coriander and Japanese marinated jellyfish and seaweed (ready-made).
Plating and Toss
- Plate the radishes, carrots, pomelo with the optionals.
- Line up the spices, sashimi, lime wedges, sweet dressing and crackers next to the Lohei platter.
- Lastly, position paper plates around the salad platter in an eternal circle of blessings to catch the mess and for easy self serving after the toss.
- Once the Lohei is all set up, as this is an auspicious salad, say the proverbial mandarin blessings (see notes below) as you add each ingredient.
- Toss heartily and Enjoy!
Video
Notes
Proverbial Mandarin Blessings:
To bring on the cheer and welcome the Lunar New Year, say these mandarin blessings as each ingredient is added to the salad. Symbolically, this is what each addition with the saying represent:
Spice 恭喜发财，鸿运当头 - a Prosperous and Blessed New Year
Lime 大吉大利 - wealth and prosperity in the year ahead
Sashimi 年年有余 - abundance and surplus
Peanuts and sesame 财源滚滚 - rolling in profits and wealth
Oil 顺顺利利 - smooth sailing in all things
Dressing 甜甜蜜蜜 - sweet dressing for a sweet life
Crackers 金玉满堂，片地黄金 - streets of gold with great riches and prosperity,
Tips:
• Main Salad Veggies
The main ingredients of Lohei are the radishes, carrots and the pomelo which are the mainstay of a prosperity toss.
Practically, these vegetables and fruit have a wholesome sweetness and are naturally tasty with a good crisp texture. Symbolically, each one is regarded as an auspicious ingredient and usually included in Lohei and New Year dishes in the hope of ushering in prosperity, wealth and blessings for the coming year.
So whilst you may toss out some and add other friendly veggies, I recommend to keep these main ones as they bestow a special meaning to the Lohei Prosperity Toss.
• Choose radishes and carrots that are bigger and longer
To get those long elegant Lohei shreds, go for the bigger, longer radishes and carrots. I would usually look for green and white radishes that are 10 to 13cm in length. Radishes of this size would yield beautifully long and elegant shreds when julienned.
• Get the Right Equipment
This Lohei recipe is simple but one needs to start with the right equipment. And what you require for this recipe to get those long elegant radish and carrot shreds is simply a good julienne peeler.
This is the blade you need
IMHO, unless you are a knife guru with amazing food cutting skills, don’t bother trying to cut it with a knife. It’s too time consuming and you sill won’t get those nice, long and consistent juliennes.
My record using the julienne peeler to make this Lohei Prosperity Toss for 50 pax was ~30 minutes of peeling. I was amazed myself! Start with the right equipment and you’ll get there quick and easy.
• Remove the Moisture
Radishes have a 95% water content (95.3g water to every 100g to be specific). Whilst the radish is a great addition for braised meats and stews where it can be simmered slowly to bring out the juices and not burn out; for Lohei, the huge water content is a bane, so remove it well.
Use a clean terry towel and squeeze well to remove the water from the radish julienne so that they would be refreshingly crisp and crunchy when tossed. Do this a couple of times to remove the moisture almost completely.
Do not skip this step; otherwise be prepared for a soggy weepy salad.
• Pomelo
I love pomelo and to me it’s a must have for Lohei. The sweet and tangy pomelo adds a wonderful texture and flavour to the toss. I usually quarter the pomelo which makes it easy to peel. Watch the recipe video at 1.33 minutes to see how it’s done.
The pomelo is a great make ahead. I typically peel and break the pomelo into itty bitty sacs and refrigerate a week before they are used. Honestly, these pomelo babies are usually half gone by that time and often need protection from midnight fridge raiders in this family.
If your household is anything like mine, double up on this make ahead and let the raiders have any remaining as fruit if they are not used.
• Dressing
I used this Japanese soy based wasabi dressing, added with a teaspoon of raw honey for the salad dressing.
Wasabi is Japanese horseradish which has a sharp spicy taste. I like this wasabi dressing because it gives a subtle kick with the spiciness of horseradish and is yet well balanced by the sweet of a little honey. If you are not a fan of wasabi, go with any light soy-based or vinaigrette dressing of your preference. It will still taste delicious. Just remember, less is more with Lohei. Do not over douse with dressing. Keep it crisp, light and natural.
• Storage
For absolute freshness, I like to prepare my radish and carrots on the day of the toss or just the night before. But if time is really running short, the radish and carrot juliennes can be prepared 2 to 3 days in advance. Store well in air-tight containers for freshness and kept refrigerated until use.
This is the blade you need
IMHO, unless you are a knife guru with amazing food cutting skills, don’t bother trying to cut it with a knife. It’s too time consuming and you sill won’t get those nice, long and consistent juliennes.
My record using the julienne peeler to make this Lohei Prosperity Toss for 50 pax was ~30 minutes of peeling. I was amazed myself! Start with the right equipment and you’ll get there quick and easy.
• Remove the Moisture
Radishes have a 95% water content (95.3g water to every 100g to be specific). Whilst the radish is a great addition for braised meats and stews where it can be simmered slowly to bring out the juices and not burn out; for Lohei, the huge water content is a bane, so remove it well.
Use a clean terry towel and squeeze well to remove the water from the radish julienne so that they would be refreshingly crisp and crunchy when tossed. Do this a couple of times to remove the moisture almost completely.
Do not skip this step; otherwise be prepared for a soggy weepy salad.
• Pomelo
I love pomelo and to me it’s a must have for Lohei. The sweet and tangy pomelo adds a wonderful texture and flavour to the toss. I usually quarter the pomelo which makes it easy to peel. Watch the recipe video at 1.33 minutes to see how it’s done.
The pomelo is a great make ahead. I typically peel and break the pomelo into itty bitty sacs and refrigerate a week before they are used. Honestly, these pomelo babies are usually half gone by that time and often need protection from midnight fridge raiders in this family.
If your household is anything like mine, double up on this make ahead and let the raiders have any remaining as fruit if they are not used.
• Dressing
I used this Japanese soy based wasabi dressing, added with a teaspoon of raw honey for the salad dressing.
Wasabi is Japanese horseradish which has a sharp spicy taste. I like this wasabi dressing because it gives a subtle kick with the spiciness of horseradish and is yet well balanced by the sweet of a little honey. If you are not a fan of wasabi, go with any light soy-based or vinaigrette dressing of your preference. It will still taste delicious. Just remember, less is more with Lohei. Do not over douse with dressing. Keep it crisp, light and natural.
• Storage
For absolute freshness, I like to prepare my radish and carrots on the day of the toss or just the night before. But if time is really running short, the radish and carrot juliennes can be prepared 2 to 3 days in advance. Store well in air-tight containers for freshness and kept refrigerated until use.