ORIENTAL GROUP'S 26TH ANNIVERSARY GRAND BANQUET SERIES

 

The rich cultural and culinary legacy of pairing and infusing Chinese liquors into gourmet creations takes the limelight for Oriental Group’s 26^th Anniversary Grand Banquet Series.

Scheduled from 13 August to 9 September at different restaurants under Oriental Group, the exclusive Grand Banquet menu curated by Noble House Senior Executive Chef Wong Chin Leong, Oriental Pavillion and Noble Mansion Senior Executive Chef Paul Lee Kim Yew, Oriental Treasure and Han Room Executive Chef Jay Chan Meng Heng, The Ming Room and Ruyi Executive Chef Vincent Ong Chee Sin, and Oriental Pavilion BBQ Chef Kent Yam Kean Boon will flex the versatility of rose flower baijiu, Japanese plum wine, sake and whiskey in masterfully crafted dishes.

According to Dato’ Sri Philip Siew, founder and chairman of the Oriental Group, “the grand banquet series brings special dishes for our loyal clientele to savour whilst pushing the envelope and enabling our chefs to go beyond their comfort zone.

“Instead of inviting guest chefs this year, our chefs have created a special menu focusing on the use of wine and liquor in Chinese cooking which goes back thousands of years. Our chefs have experimented with Shao Hsing, Moutai (Chinese distilled spirit), sake, brandy and whisky, matching the liquors with premium and quality ingredients.”

At RM2,988++ per table of 10, discerning diners will be savouring the hallowed legacy of Chinese gastronomy, elevated by the artful harmony between food and spirits.

 

Delicate sweet-sour accents from umeshu (Japanese plum wine) tickle our tastebuds as we nibble on the pretty opener of Pickled Radish Roses. Immersed for 4-6 hours in umeshu, the crunchy radish slices leave a pleasantly rounded tartness on the tongue.

 

That paves the way for a classic handcrafted Spring Rolls with Chinese Wine. This painstakingly made appetiser consists of pig’s caul stuffed and rolled with handchopped pork mince, prawns and waterchestnuts flavoured with Chinese white wine. It's moreish, biting into the crisp outer layer before the delicious meaty filling hits the palate.

Balsamic vinegar pearls add playful pops of muted sourness to the Drunken Chicken with Vinegar Pearls. First marinated then poached with Shao Xing wine and baijiu, the chicken is then pressed until firm without affecting its succulent smooth texture.  

 

Due to logistical issues, we didn’t have a chance to sample the Chilled Japanese Sake Sea Clams but presumably the dish will undoubtedly delight food lovers.

More painstaking efforts goes into the making of the XO Cognac Stuffed Duck with Whole Abalones and Fin. Imagine a whole duck meticulously deboned, stuffed with shark’s fin, diced yam and whole abalones then braised for 6 hours. The duck bones are then simmered with base stock to make a flavourful gravy-like sauce.

Suffice to say the duck meat rendered with the distinct taste of XO cognac instantly captures our hearts and mind. We love how the varied textural contrasts of the impossibly tender duck alongside toothsomely resistant abalone and tender shark’s fin level up the dish’s sublime appeal. That sumptuous rich sauce pulls it all together superbly.

Instead of soy sauce, fragrant 8 Year Aged Hulu Shao Xing is used to infuse its complex, delicate sweetness to the Steamed Wild Sultan Fish. Although there’s barely sauce, the fine fish flesh oozes with sweet richness – a melding of fish jus and the aged Chinese wine. Perking it up further is aromatic chopped and oil-scalded spring onion.

Earthy and mutedly sweet nuances make the Stuffed Prawn Paste in Morel Mushroom especially enticing. Sautéed with House Made Dried Scallop Sauce, the heap of sauteed asparagus, celtuce, Chinese yam (huai san), ginkgo nuts, fresh lily bulb and baby corn levels up the enjoyment of nutritious vegetables.

Sticky glutinous rice with Mei Kwei Lou (distilled fermented sorghum spirit infused with rose) marinated chicken is rolled up with deboned suckling pig then roast until crisp for the Suckling Pig with Glutinous Rice Rolls masterpiece.

We also relish squares of delectable Cinnamon Whiskey Braised Pork; meltingly tender layers of fat and lean pork exuding enticing hints of cinnamon and whisky.

Doubled boiled for 3 hours in coconut, the next level Red Bean Paste with Guangzhou Aged Tangerine Peel wins the day with its timeless old is gold allure.

Oriental Group’s award-winning Taro Puffs complete the stellar culinary session. The Teochew style treat of airy-light pastry dome encasing decadent yam paste is rave-worthy; a most befitting finale to the grand banquet experience.

For more information or table reservations, call +6012 811 8812 or visit orientalrestaurants.com.my.

A TASTE OF MACAO AT YUN HOUSE

When Michelin-starred guest chef Anthony Ho of Zi Yat Heen, Four Seasons Macao joins forces with Chef Jimmy Wong of Yun House in Kuala Lumpur, the result is more than a collaborative menu—it’s a culinary dialogue, rich in technique, memory, and homage.

 
Held from 3 to 6 July to mark Yun House’s seventh anniversary, the four-hands menu (RM668 per person) is a study in refinement. A medley of traditional flavours refracted through a modern lens, each dish is carefully composed to honour the past with whispers of the future.

Chef Ho, a son of Hong Kong steeped in two decades of experience, begins with a poetic overture: Fresh Crab Meat with Japanese Pine Needles and Caviar. 

It’s a dish of startling clarity: the delicate sweetness of crab imbued by ephemeral herbaceousness of pine needles juxtaposed against the saline pop of caviar. An ode to the purity of good produce in the confident and deft hands of Ho.

Another masterful composition is his Teochew-style Marinated Mackerel and Chilled Razor Clams, a distillation of the restrained elegance of Teochew banquets. The mackerel, cured just so, sings with refined subtlety, accented by a tiny dollop of fermented bean sauce.

 
Partnering it are slivers of delicious razor clams, served chilled with scallion oil and a glimmer of ice plant. The succulent coolness a seductive textural contrast that delights.

Veteran chef Jimmy Wong, known for his contemporary finesse, responds with an enticingly comforting dish: Braised Fish Maw in Millet Broth with Black Truffle. Simmered for six hours, the broth is deeply nourishing—savoury, complexly flavourful and edged with the aroma of truffle. Each spoonful is a revelation; the gelatinous fish maw and tiny orbs of millet speak of the chef’s time-honoured and masterful techniques.

Ho’s unforgettable Wok-fried Lobster with Dried Shallots and Macanese Black Olives is a conversation-stopper. Here, the brininess of the olives—brought in specially from Macao—mingles with the sweetness of shellfish in a lush umami crescendo.

The Stuffed Chicken Wing with Foie Gras, Abalone and Glutinous Rice is at once nostalgic and daring. Channelling the spirit of classic banquet dishes, the stuffing of foie gras melded with sticky rice adds richness, depth and a touch of indulgence. The luxurious chew of abalone elevates the mosaic of texture.

 
Dessert arrives in two thoughtful creations. First, a Chilled Pumpkin Soup with Nostoc Pearls—a soothing, lightly sweet elixir, its texture lifted by the surprising presence of nostoc, a rare cyanobacteria prized in traditional Chinese medicine. Rich in protein and Vitamin C, this anti-oxidant and anti-inflammatory element casts the dessert broth in new light.

 

The final flourish: a golden and delicate Baked Egg Tart with Bird’s Nest and Saffron highlights saffron-scented custard with a topping of bird’s nest. It’s a befitting dessert exuding a sense of luxury without excess, a final flourish paying homage to a splendid set menu composed with world-class skills and a wealth of experience.

For reservations, please call Yun House, Four Seasons Hotel KL, tel: 03 2382 8602 or email: diningreservations.kualalumpur@fourseasons.com