IF the old doesn't go, the new won't arrive. 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.

TURNING OLD TO NEW: Ten years ago, chef Susur Lee created this yu sheng for Orchard Parade Hotel. Now, he sells an updated version at his New York restaurant to rave reviews. BT FILE PICTURE

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 at popular Chinese New Year haunts and in the media - the snaking queues for bak kwa.

Then there are the food suppliers who routinely jack prices up due to 'limited supplies' and chefs scrambling for publicity by doing all sorts of things to the fabled yu sheng 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 logical 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 barbecue meat industry.

Frankly, bak kwa is a heavy and rich snack. Just imagine the amount of soy sauce, sugar and salt they put 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.

Then there's this thing about yu sheng.

In these tough times, and even in better years, is this not a good and meaningful salad to have all-year round?

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, recently set up Shang, styled as a Southeast 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 the signature dish that is listed at the top of his fancy menu is the Singapore Slaw. I saw it on almost every table when I ate there last December.

I hesitated, then asked the wait staff to check with Susur, who was too busy in the kitchen, if indeed that was the Singapore yu sheng. 'You are spot on, sir', came the reply, within 3 minutes.

It came in smallish portions and was less complex and colourful than usual, but make no mistake about its inspiration.

He stacks and prettifies it with julienned vegetables, adds sashimi and tops it with crispies with that same plum sauce dressing. It flies off the kitchen table regularly.

But I forgot to tell him about the blasphemy in presentation - the waiter 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.

Makansutra, founded by K F Seetoh, is a company that celebrates Asian food culture and lifestyle. It publishes food guides in and around the region, produces a food television series, develops interactive mobile content and services, operates food courts and eateries, organises food tours and events, and consults on culinary concepts.

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