How do you spread maximum goodwill during lo hei and Chinese New Year?
How do you avoid offending people?
Answers
1 LO HEI
Organise or attend a reunion of family or friends or a club at which Lo Hei is served at the start, middle break or end of the meeting. Lo Hei is Chinese New Year dish of colourful mixed vegetables, often mixed up in front of the diners, adding each colour and symbolic food in order. You can buy Lo Hei sets in supermarkets. You can look on line to find the best prices.
Gold and Prosperity
The little oblong puffs symbolise gold or prosperity.
Fish
The fish might be prawns, king prawns, smoked salmon strips, dried salmon skin.
Story
At a Toastmasters meeting I attended at Toa Payoh Community Centre, the organiser had the list of ingredients and what they symbolise on her mobile phone (in Chinese characters). So she was able to read off instructions to others who were opening the food packets and tubs provided.
Jewish, Seder and Order
If you have ever been to a Jewish seder night or watched one on the internet or read about it, you will notice that the Seder service also takes different symbolic foods in order, symbolising sweet and sour events in history, drawing your attention to the different tastes (and colours). The word seder means order.
Fish Or Vegetarian?
Ideally last you add fish on top, in small strips, and mix it in so all diners get some. Before adding fish check if your diners include, vegetarians and those allergic to fish or shellfish. If so, you can either add the fish separately, or give them a portion before adding fish.
Left Or Right Hand
In Asia you use your right hand for eating and handling food, your left for dirty jobs, washing the floor or handling genitals when going to the toilet. Do not hand food to people with your left hand.
Chopstick Tips
When separating pairs of chopsticks and handing them around for a lo hei, make sure you open the packet at the end with the thickest part of the chopsticks, or allow each person to open their own, or to separate the sticks, or hand them from the thick end, so you are not handling the pointed end which goes in their mouths. (In fact, you are not supposed to put the pointed end in your mouth, because it goes back into the communal bowl to pick up the next piece, but I still don't like to see somebody's fingers on the ends of ht chopsticks which some Westerners will put in their mouth, and which everybody will put in the communal fish.
Chopsticks and Rice
Easy To Eat
If you don't like rice, or can't handle picking up grains of rice with chopsticks, then Lo Hei is a great dish. All the food is shredded and mixed together so you don't have to cut or mix or pick out anything.
Chopstick - flat or upright?
If you are given rice earlier or later, do not end by putting your chopsticks upright in leftover rice like incense sticks. This is only done for offering food to your dead ancestors. So to leave chopsticks upright in rice is offensive, upsetting and confusing for others. Don't do it even if you are not with Chinese friends, or if you are at home, because it sets a bad example to other Westerners and children who are then likely to do it in public restaurants where they will get wary looks from waiters, and be admonished by Chinese friends.
Chopsticks Resting Flat
When you have finished eating, lay your chopsticks flat. In restaurants you are given a chopstick rest on which to place your used chopsticks.
Tossing High
When tossing the Lo Hei before you all start to eat, the story goes that the higher you toss, the greater the prosperity. The Chinese seems to regard this as great fun.
Tossing Carefully To Protect Carpets /Floors
However, in some places the owners of the building might not appreciate having food on the floor. (A nuisance for staff to clean up. If your room is a dance hall, or yoga hall, the barefoot dancers won't want your food or grease on the floor. Food on the floor also attracts insects.
Several possible solutions:
Provide an edge to the bowl - such as paper table cover.
Place a larger flat platter underneath the central bowl.
Ask everybody to toast carefully and explain why.
Tell everybody you will need everybody to help clean the floor afterwards - and hope this discourages them from making a mess they have to clean.
Bring kitchen towel to clean up the floor.
Giving And Receiving Advice
Don't worry about doing things wrong and being informed or corrected. Speak and think positively. For example, "Thank you so much for telling me!" "I'm so glad you told me / helped me / warned me (mother-in-law / teacher / guide / my friend). You have saved me so much possible confusion / embarrassment!" "I do love learning about foreign / other /Chinese culture."
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