The proverbial idiom, popular this time of the year, tells us that we should discard the old, so that it can make way for the new. I say this proverb must grow up and make way for relevance, especially with the impending rough ride ahead. Year in and out, it’s the same routine sold at popular Chinese New Year haunts and in the media – the snaking queues for bak kwa at Lim Chee Guan (or is it Lim Hock Guan, no..I think it Kim Hock Guan?), the food suppliers that routinely jack prices up due to “limited supplies” and chefs scrambling for publicity by doing all sorts of things to the fabled Yue Sang or Prosperity Raw Fish Salad (someone added beef in that prosperity salad, presumably believing that eating cow in the year of the Ox will actually generate goodwill from that sacred creature, despite knowing that many Chinese shy away from beef this time of the year. I am now counting the longevity of this new creation). To succeed in the Bak Kwa game, just join in logic sequence, any three of the following names, Lim, Lee, Kim, Chee, Hock , Fook ,Huat, Kwee, Siang, Hiang, Bee, Mei and Kee, and you would have taken more than that first step into that once-a-year-dog-eat-dog multi million dollar business of this sweet-savoury bbq meat industry. A simple old trick to fool simple new minds. Remember - stick to using pork, notice how the chicken versions are going extinct.

Frankly, Bak Kwa is a heavy and rich snack. Just imagine the amount of soy sauce, sugar and salt they induce in the meat and tout it as a “ traditional secret recipe” (note how caramelised it is). Yet, folks are prepared to part with hard earned bonuses each year just to tear into it for a week or so. It is really because of the name- in Cantonese it’s called “Long Yoke” or booming abundance meat. It tastes good and has wide appeal but so are many lesser-named Chinese snacks all around us. This habit, ain’t going away too soon because mummy wants to have it as a sign of thanks to the almighty forces that blesses her and her family each year (to be able to afford 600 grams at $30, you bet, is a sign you have arrived). Because, “if momma ain’t happy, ain’t nobody happy”, was what a black American friend once warned me about their culture. It’s the same here, year in and out. There is no “change we can believe in” here.

Yue Sang with a new twist

Then there’s this thing about the Prosperity Raw Fish Salad. Every able person makes a mess of this dish and devours it each year at this time auspicious season. In these tough times, and even in better years, is this not a good and meaningful salad to have all year round. Imagine starting a business luncheon with your partners regularly with this auspicious salad, moist with plum sauce, honey and lime. I will champion a movement to make this a national salad, perhaps done with a twist of Peranakan or Malay assam pedas (with tamarind and spices) accents. Susur Lee, the Canadian master chef who once helmed the fancy kitchens of the Tung Lok Group, has recently set up Shang, styled as a South East Asian tapas restaurant in New York. He touts “wu kok”, fried mashed taro puffs with curried corn beef fashionably presented on a long platter, and even kong bak pau with the fatty meat presented stacked like a pagoda. But what the number one signature and is listed at the top of his fancy menu, is the Singapore Slaw. I saw it on almost every table when I makan there last December. I hesitated, then asked the wait staff to check with the, too busy in the kitchen, Susur, if indeed that was the Singapore Yue Sang salad. “You are spot on, sir”, came the reply within 3 minutes. It came in smallish portions and less complex and colourful than usual but make no mistake about its inspiration, he stacks and prettifies it with julienne vegetables, adds sashimi and tops it with crispies with that same plum sauce dressing. It flies off the kitchen regularly.

But I forgot to tell him about the blasphemy in presentation- the wait staff tosses the salad for you. Aiyoh! But applause for Susur in taking this old great festival makan heritage and giving it longevity and style.

A very anointed lady in Thailand who adopts unwanted babies and sees many of them through university, told me “we all cannot choose fame and fortune, but we can choose kindness and compassion”. So may I wish for all, in this year ahead, the blessed wisdom to see it through with a heart of compassion.