The “yee sang” or “prosperity toss” dish for the Chinese New Year celebration at Conrad Manila

Conrad Manila recently welcomed the Chinese New Year of the Metal Rat with a traditional eye-dotting ceremony, followed by a lion and dragon dance at the first floor lobby. The event was well-attended, the hotel courtyard filled with guests, SM executives and the media.Present were Conrad Manila general manager Laurent Boisdron with guests of honor—SM Hotels and Conventions Corp. executive vice president Peggy Angeles, Pasay Rep. Antonio Calixto and Pasay City Mayor Emi Calixto-Rubiano.

In his keynote address, Boisdron discussed Conrad Manila’s accomplishments in 2019, particularly its being named one of the best hotels in the world by Condé Nast Traveler’s Readers’ Choice Awards.

Other milestones, Boisdron added, are Conrad Manila’s third anniversary and the 100 Years of Hilton Hospitality.

“We look forward to 2020 and wish all of our guests peace, good health and fortune in the Lunar New Year,” he said.

After the festivities, executive Chinese chef Eng Yew Khor prepared a traditional yee sang or “prosperity toss”—Teochew-style raw fish salad. The dish is usually served on the eve of the Chinese Lunar New Year, and up to the 15th day after the celebrations.

Chef Eng YewKhor, Laurent Boisdron, Mayor Emi Calixto-Rubiano, Rep. Antonio Calixto and Peggy Angeles

Boisdron, Angeles, Calixto, Rubiano and Eng Yew Khor mixed and tossed the salad in front of the guests. The chef said that the higher the salad was tossed, the better the New Year would be for the person tossing it. And so Boisdron and the group tossed the salad higher amid cheers from the crowd.

Prosperity toss consists of raw fish (salmon in this case), shredded carrots, white radish, dragon fruit, red pepper, turnips, pickled ginger, sun-dried oranges, key lime leaves, chili, jellyfish, coriander, chopped peanuts, toasted sesame, fried dried shrimp, and more.

Added for flavor are plum sauce, rice vinegar, kumquat paste, sesame oil and five-spice powder—star anise, cloves, cinnamon, Sichuan pepper and fennel seeds.The dish has a refreshingly tangy, sweet, and savory taste.

The dessert station of the buffet spread took on an Oriental theme for the Chinese New Year. Chocolate gold coins where found everywhere. The pastries and other sweets were designed with Lunar New Year motifs. —CONTRIBUTED