Lou Sang At Home – Natural, Healthy and Simple

Its the season of lou sang again! This unique Chinese New Year oriental salad toss is a must eat to usher in an auspicious Chinese New Year and ensure good luck for the rest of the year. While the colours of the assembled final dish is predominantly made of a few colors (red, green, white, among others) the ingredients included in this dish is getting more exotic year after year, with top notch lou sang from five star hotels offering luxurious sides such as lobster, shark fin and duck meat in addition to the raw or smoked fish slices.

So, taking a leaf from these five star hotel chefs, let the creativity juice flow! The sky is the limit! Include ingredients that are unorthodox to add an interesting twist to the homemade version. This year round we whipped up a session of lou sang for the pork lovers in us - by infusing bacon ham strips with the vegetable shreds, topped with sweet fried dough and a tangy lime-mustard-honey sauce.

The basic ingredients. Because I was lazy the plate was too small, I excluded the grapefruit.

How to grate the vegetables? Like this:

Helpful tips:
Grate in ONE direction only.
Grip the shredder properly and make sure it is placed on an even surface.
Do not grate small pieces of vegetables.
Make sure the ingredients are dry enough. Moisture will make the strips lumpy.
If they are really too soggy, wring out the veggie juice.

About the horn in the middle? I wanted to carve a rabbit but I don't have the knife skills. Pour in the sauce and... Lou! Lou! Lou!

Recipe for homemade lou sang, with bacon ham strips
Ingredients
1 carrot, shredded and drain excess juice
1 cucumber, shredded and drain excess juice
1/2 turnip, shredded and drain excess juice
3 slices of bacon ham, grill and cut into strips
A handful of fried dough
Chopped nuts (peanut, almond, walnut, pecan, macadamia, etc)

For the Sauce:
Mix evenly
Juice of 1 lime
2 tablespoons mustard
1 teaspoon honey
Taste sauce and adjust accordingly to get the preferred taste

Direction
Arrange on a big, flat plate
Pour in the sauce