To best way to kick off the Year of the Tiger, which begins on Feb. 14, is to brave traditional Chinese foods, available at hotels across the city, in the spirit of the icon of courage.
One Chinese New Year's specialty is yee sang, also known as yu sheng, a colorful salad served with raw fish (usually salmon, jelly fish, lobster or abalone) and plum sauce. Literally, yu means fish and sheng means raw. Raw fish represents new life, and the word yu represents prosperity.
The salad is colorful because it is made from various fruit and vegetables, including melon, green peach, cucumber, ginger, red ginger, leek, carrot and fried sesame. With this mix of ingredients, yu sheng tastes sweet and refreshing, and looks great, usually presented together on one plate.
Whenever the waiters hold out a type of ingredient, they say something auspicious, such as "Gong xi fa cai" (Happy New Year) and "tian tian mi mi" (have a harmonious life).
Once all the ingredients are on the plate, the waiter will mix them with chopsticks and toss the salad into the air while exclaiming "Lo hei!", which literally means "mix" but also means "for everlasting luck". It is believed that the higher the yu sheng is tossed into the air, the more prosperous the diners will be.
Hotel JW Marriott will hold the annual Giant Yee Sang Tossing in the hotel's lobby on Feb. 13. Hotel Shangri-La's Chinese restaurant Shang Palace and the Four Seasons Hotel Jakarta's Chinese restaurant Lai Ching will also have yee sang on the menu.
Another Chinese New Year's treat is nian gao, or commonly known as kue keranjang in Indonesia, one of the traditional must-have cakes. Made from sticky rice flour and sugar, the sticky sweet cake is usually consumed on New Year's Eve for good business throughout the year.
Legend says that during Chinese New Year, the Kitchen God visits houses to evaluate the families and send reports to the Jade Emperor in heaven. The sweeter the nian gao, the higher the marks the Kitchen God will award the family because the sticky sweet nian gao will bond the Kitchen God's lips so that he can only smile in front of the Jade Emperor.
Hotel JW Marriott will provide the traditional nian gao and other flavors, such as coconut, milk and golden nian gao in the shape of koi (goldfish) and sunflower. Koi symbolizes year-long luck and prosperity, while sunflowers are said to increase your chances of receiving amazing blessings throughout the year. The nian gao counter is open at the hotel's lobby until Feb. 28 between 10 a.m. and 10 p.m.
Hotel Shangri-La will offer three flavors of nian gao: traditional, pandan and green tea, all provided during February in their Deli Shop, while the Four Seasons offers hampers containing kue satu (tapioca and almond flour cookies), kue keranjang, and macadamia nut chocolate bars, available between Feb. 8 and Feb. 14. at the Deli.
There are several dishes that people believe will bring prosperity and luck when eaten on New Year's Eve.
The word for oyster sounds like ho see, which means good business, and black moss seaweed is called fat choy, which sounds similar to "good fortune". Prawns symbolize happiness as they are called har, which sounds like laughter, while whole chickens symbolize the unity of the family. Giant pork meatballs or boiled eggs symbolize happy reunions because of their round shape. Therefore, for the New Year's Eve dinner, hotels offer set menus, containing a number of the auspicious New Year Foods.
For example, one of the Longevity set menus offered by Hotel Mulia is Steamed Bean Curd Bag Stuffed with Dried Oyster, Dried Black Moss and Mushroom in Oyster Sauce. Hotel Mulia will focus its Chinese New Year's dinner at its newest premises Table8, which will open on Feb. 8.
More celebrations will be on New Year's Eve, but guests can also enjoy Chinese New Year Brunch. For example, Hotel Ritz-Carlton Pacific Place will have a brunch menu consisting of, among others, House Made Scallop Siew Mai, Grilled Wo Lie Dumplings, Crispy Prawn Ban Xeo Pancakes and Kumquat Marmalade Souffl* Crepes. All provided at Pacific Restaurant & Lounge on Feb. 14, between 11.30 a.m. and 3 p.m.
Hotel Gran Mahakam's menus include Superior Shark Fin Soup in Clay Pot; Abalone Salad with Thai Dressing, Angsio Sea Food in Clay Pot and Bird Nest Ice, which will be available for the Chinese New Year Dinner and Brunch at Le Gran Cafe on Feb. 13 and 14.
During the celebration, some of the establishments also offer barongsai performance (Lion dance), free feng shui consultations as well as room packages.
