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TO most people, raw fish is mainly associated
with Japanese sashimi. Less widely known is
the tradition of using raw fish in Chinese cuisine
in the traditional Spring Festival dish called
Feng Sheng Shui Qi, generally believed to be
the forerunner of sashimi. Legend has it that over 2,000 years ago in a seaside village in Guangdong, there lived two poor orphan brothers. One Spring Festival, the brothers went fishing but got only two fish for the whole day. They took the two fish to the market to sell them, but since everybody was home eating a wonderful festival meal, they could not manage to sell it. The brothers were so poor that they had no firewood at home. So they just sliced the fish and ate it raw. This was their Spring Festival meal. From then on, they were always able to harvest full nets of great amounts of fish. They became rich, got married and lived a happy life. But one thing remained: they would eat raw fish at Spring Festival. The Chinese for raw fish is sheng yu, which also sounds like another word which means wealth or prosperity. Over time, a name for the raw fish dish was coined - Feng Sheng Shui Qi, meaning "wind grows and waves surge," implying a perfect time to harvest fish. The dish spread to many parts of the country and became very popular in the Tang Dynasty (618-907). However, the dish disappeared from most dinner tables in the 1950s and 1960s, due to health concerns related to the consumption of the raw river fish used to prepare the dish. Yet in Singapore, Malaysia and Hong Kong, the Feng Sheng Shui Qi has made a comeback to Spring Festival tables, largely due to the current availability of high-quality Norwegian salmon, which renders the consumption of raw fish carefree. Norwegian salmon's excellent red colour, and the ideal environment in which it is raised - the pristine waters of Norway's cold seas and strict government hygienic monitoring - combine to make it a top, healthy choice for the traditional Chinese New Year dish. One of the highlights of eating Feng Sheng Shui Qi is the tossing ritual. The action is believed to bring good luck - those who toss the raw fish highest will have best fortune in the coming year. The dish has now arrived in Shanghai. I had the honour and pleasure of tossing the Norwegian raw fish slices with Torill Oftedal Sjaastad, the Norwegian Consul General in Shanghai. "To taste the wonderful Chinese Spring Festival dish Feng Sheng Shui Qi prepared with Norwegian salmon is a happy encounter in which ancient meets modern, east meets west," said Sjaastad. Restaurants that offer the Feng Sheng Shui Qi meal in Shanghai. (1) J.C. Mandarin Hotel (Tel: 6279-1888) (2) Lee Garden (Tel: 6445-3538) (3) Changhang Hotel, Lidu Restaurant (Tel: 6416-7777 ext 6052) (4) Shenji Restaurant (Tel: 6361-1777) (5) Merry Lin Restaurant (Tel: 6270-8000) (6) Merry Lin - Hongqiao (Tel: 6262-9977) (7) Merry Lin - Siping (Tel: 6521-9417) (8) Merry Lin - Wuning (Tel: 6246-3788) Shanghai Star |
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