Do you know that a messy table filled with colourful vegetables on Chinese New Year is a common sight in Singapore and Malaysia? This is all thanks to yu sheng (the mandarin name of the dish also know as raw fish salad in English).
In fact, the messier the table, the more huat the year right? Huat means prosper in Hokkien. It is probably the most frequently used word during Chinese New Year.
Review of Huat’s Up Card Game Created by Origame
With Chinese New Year round the corner, what better way to learn more about our local Singaporean or Malaysian culture of tossing a new year’s salad communally, or commonly known as Lo Hei (meaning to toss up good fortune).
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The tradition of Lo Hei is meant to bring good luck and prosperity for the upcoming year. In fact, the ingredients of Yu Sheng have been chosen because they sound like or symbolise something auspicious in Chinese culture.
How to Play Huat’s Up
While placing the ingredients into the salad, everyone shouts the associated blessing in unison to reap the rewards.
Once all the ingredients have been placed on an empty space, everyone tosses the ingredients together with their chopsticks, trying to bring the ingredients as high as possible to symbolise greater fortune , all while shouting “Huat Ah!” meaning to get rich in Hokkien.
This game, created by Origame, revolves around ushering in the new year with a game based on the custom of Lo Hei, while allowing families and friends to experience fun and togetherness.
The game deck consists of auspicious ingredient cards like pomelo, carrots, white radish, golden crackers, plum sauce, sesame seeds and crushed peanuts, pepper and five spice powder, raw fish and more.
One of the most interesting cards for us has to be their chopstick cards and also plate cards, all in different colours for players to choose from.
The game begins with players choosing their chopsticks and plate cards in their preferred colour.
With each player holding up an equal amount of ingredient cards in their hands, all players shout “Huat’s Up!” and toss their ingredients into play area in the middle.
The fun part begins as players use their chopstick cards, each in one hand to search for ingredients in their colour and place them onto their plate card, all while shouting the new year blessing written on the card.
Once a player has collected eight different ingredient pairs in their own colour, he or she must shout “Huat Ah!” to claim the win.
Our Take, As a Family of 4
We loved the challenge of picking up the ingredients with our chopsticks and the fun of disrupting each other by elbowing to pick up the ingredients.
It was also a wonderful way to practice saying these auspicious new year blessings before we toss like a boss this new year and huat all year through!
To get your own copy of this game, you may head to this site.
