Hello, my name is Karen Ta. I was born and raised in Saigon, Vietnam. I immigrated to the United States when I was 16. Because of my husband's work, I moved to Yokosuka, Japan 3 years ago. I love Japan. It is a beautiful and interesting country. People here are very kind.
I teach Vietnamese and Hong Kong Style Chinese cooking. Besides that, I have a preserved flower business. Whenever time permits, I like to study Japanese and visit new places.
Karen Ta

• Lo hei yu sheng
• Coconut milk new year cake

I am introducing 2 Chinese New Year dishes: Lo Hei Yu Sheng and Coconut Milk New Year Cake.

Lo Hei Yu Sheng is a Chinese dish that originated in Singapore and became popular in Hong Kong. People in Mainland China do not eat this dish for New Year.
Lo Hei Yu Sheng is served as an appetizer to bring 'good luck' for the New Year, in a celebration known as “Lo Hei”. Families and friends gather around the table and toss the shredded ingredients into the air with chopsticks while saying auspicious wishes out loud to mark the start of a prosperous new ear.
Lo Hei means being promoted to a higher position at a job or greater fortune. In the celebration known as “lo hei”, families and friends gather around the table and proceed to toss the shredded ingredients into the air while saying auspicious wishes out loud to mark the start of a prosperous new year and it's customary that the higher you toss, the greater your fortunes!

Coconut Milk New Year Cake is called Nian Gao in China. Nian Gao is eaten by Chinese all over the world. While it can be eaten all year round, traditionally it is most common to eat it during the Chinese New Year. It is considered good luck to eat nian gao during the New Year because “nian gao” is a homonym for a Chinese phrase that means “May the year to come be higher and better than past years.”