MID-AUTUMN BLISS AT ELEGANT INN HK CUISINE

Apart from Chinese New Year, Mid-Autumn Festival has to be one of the most anticipated tai yat ji – a major festival in the Chinese lunar calendar. Such a significant occasion calls for a showstopping main course and Elegant Inn HK Cuisine, as usual, rises to the occasion with its South African Abalone Treasure Bowl Feast.

A most befitting headliner of the restaurant’s Mid-Autumn Bliss menu available now until 30 September 2019, I feel privileged to be able to savour the sumptuous treasures from that mini poon choi.

 

In keeping with the spirit of the traditional dish originally from New Territories in Hong Kong where villagers collectively pool their supply of food in big wooden or ceramic washbasins to celebrate key festivals and special occasions, Elegant Inn’s version comprises 9-head South African abalones, roast duck, plump shiitake mushrooms, sea prawns and broccoli.

Considered one of the best in the world, the frilly edge South African abalones taste divine; their smooth succulence gently seguing into chewier toothsomeness the more we bite into them. The resultant marine savoury-sweetness is sublime when mingled with the thick, almost gelatinous braising sauce of the base of pork trotter. Every morsel of the entire casserole is equally scrumptious: from the juicy roast duck and delectable prawns to the chunks of radish, broccoli and Chinese cabbage. We unhesitantly slurp up the deeply flavourful sauce too.

The opening salvo for the Mid-Autumn Bliss menu showcases an inventive appetiser of Silky Egg White with Bird's Nest paired with Seared Pork Tongue. A ‘bird’s nest’ fashioned from deep-fried rice vermicelli (meehoon) holds clumps of delicate bird’s nest complemented by a little cocktail spear of pan-seared pork tongue.

 

Marinated with a milieu of condiments including superior soya sauce and five spice powder, the deliciously tender tongue has a nice QQ crunch to it. According to restaurant proprietress Jeanette Han, only the centre – the tenderest part – of the pork tongue is used. For textural contrast, it’s accompanied by some snow fungus and Japanese cucumber.

Elegant Inn HK Cuisine's balcony is shaded and ideal for pre-dinner cocktails. There's a herb garden in the far-flung corner too where garden-fresh herbs are harvested for the resto's use.

Han, who firmly believes serving good food is a vocation for the conscientious, says “My team of 18 chefs have with Elegant Inn HK Cuisine for over 10 years. They are the stalwarts who understand my high expectations and have strived to meet my exacting standards.”

True to her credit, I cannot recall any occasion when the food at Elegant Inn has failed to impress. After 11 years in the business, Han still sources and buys most of the ingredients especially premium dried seafood and certain products like Chinese sausages herself from Hong Kong – it’s a form of quality control she steadfastly adheres to. “Great ingredients speak for themselves and their quality will shine through with the simplest preparation.”

A notable testament to that philosophy is the Double Boiled Soup of Deer Tendon, Dried Conch, Black Chicken and Murrill Mushroom (agaricus blazei Murrill or himematsutake in Japanese). In Han’s book, soup has to be ching teem i.e. clear and sweet; well-balanced without being too ‘heavy’ or cloying with any residual aftertaste.

Having undergone 4-6 hours of double boiling, the resultant bowl of restorative broth is lush and redolent with complex marine sweetness, slightly gelatinous and gamey from the various goodies in it. You can swap the deer tendon to fish maw (just add RM10+ per person) or luxe up the soup with superior shark’s fin (add RM38+ per person). It’s a heartwarming, nutritious offering to relish slowly.

The penultimate serving of Claypot Rice with Garoupa Fillet, Hong Kong Dried Prawns and Tung Choy proves a nice counterpoint to the succession of indulgent specialities thus far. Simple and appealing, it’s reminiscent of cooking from the hearth and home.

Teochew Style Tau Suan with Crunchy Sea Cucumber and Black Gold Custard Bun ensure a blissfully sweet ending to the celebratory menu. A traditional dessert of the Teochew community, the mildly sweet split mung bean broth is given an unexpected twist, with little pieces of crunchy jelly-like sea cucumber as accompaniment.

Again, the playful textures are paired off with a pillowy-soft charcoal bao filled with molten custard. This is one Mid-Autumn festival selection that will leave everyone abuzz long after the meal is over.

The Mid-Autumn Bliss Menu is priced at RM888 for 4 persons, RM1,288 for 6 persons and RM2,138 for 10 persons (subject to 6% SST).

For reservations, please call Elegant Inn HK Cuisine, tel: 03-2070 9399. Address: 2.01, 2nd Floor, Podium Block, Menara Hap Seng, Jalan P Ramlee, KL.

MARKET-FRESH SEAFOOD BECKONS FROM MAKAN KITCHEN

Locally sourced seafood and produce take centrestage at Makan Kitchen as part of Hilton’s commitment to emphasise on serving responsibly sourced seafood. Currently, Makan Kitchen enables diners to select their own seafood for the chefs to prepare a la minute, in 10 different Chinese cooking styles. Our sampling of the market-fresh seafood experience began with a free flow of Lemonade Mint.

DoubleTree by Hilton Executive Chef Eric Siew and Makan Kitchen’s Chinese Chef Chong Wai Yin explained to us the selection of market-fresh seafood dishes will be served in addition to the regular buffet every Friday and Saturday night until 25 November.

With so many tempting dishes available, it took us some time to make up our minds. It was a night of surprises aplenty but pleasantly so I must admit. While the yabbies have never held much appeal for yours truly, those little critters upstaged the whole undersea repertoire. 

Nestled in a bed of crispy strands of deep-fried rice vermicelli, the Wok Fried Yabbies with Soy King Sauce tasted scrumptious. Their natural sweet flesh melded so cohesively with the savoury sauce, we sang effusively high praises of them. They had a tendency to leave you hooked on them once you get going but hey, knock yourself out as there's no limit to how much you can order.

What looked like a standard-issue Steamed Garoupa with Hong Kong Style Soy Sauce also wowed us jaded landlubbers. The fish's doneness was on-point; the marble smooth flesh hitting the sweet spot with just the right amount of fragrant soy sauce.

Upping the flavour ante slightly, we landed another winner as the dish of Wok-Fried Tiger Prawns with Buttermilk & Curry Leaves coated our palate with a lush creamy saltiness. Touched with the bright, aromatic freshness of crushed curry leaves, it clinched the seafood showcase for us. A similar sauce minus the curry leaves again worked its magic for the offering of Fried Squid with Salted Egg.

 

We had such high hopes of the Fresh Clams in Superior Broth but alas, they left us a tad high and dry with their rather skimpy, rubbery meat that evening. The clear broth was nice though so hopefully, you’d have better luck when you order this.

 

I fell hook, line and sinker for the Fried Red Snapper with Pineapple Sweet & Sour Sauce. Never mind the disconcertingly orangey sauce…I like the depth and slickness of it which coated the chunky, flaky fish fillet evenly. Even the pineapple juiciness was discernible.

While the Steamed Scallops with Garlic & Glass Noodles weren’t impeccable, I was partial to the shellfish. Personally I’d prefer more restrained use of the fried garlic bits to allow the delicate scallops to shine. The inclusion of glass noodles was a masterstroke as a slippery canvas to soak up the speciality’s delicious nuances.

Although I didn’t pick the Chilli Crab, my dining companions readily vouched for it. Since taste is subjective, nothing beats a first-person experience of sampling the dish before dismissing it. Ditto for the Deep-fried Pomfret with Spiced Salt & Pepper, and Steamed Mussels in Ginger Emulsion.

Vegetable dishes such as Bittergourd with Salted Egg, Four Heavenly Kings (pix above - a mixture of eggplant, okra, long beans and stink beans flash-fried in zesty sambal) and Stir-fried Sweet Potato Leaves with Garlic among others are available to balance your meal. 

Makan Kitchen’s For The Love of Seafood promotion is available every Friday & Saturday from 630pm to 1030pm at RM165 nett per person inclusive of free flow sirap selasih, lemonade mint and lemongrass pandan. Enjoy 35% off when you charge it to your Maybank, CIMB, HSBC, Affin or Watsons card. Valid until 25 November 2017 subject to terms & conditions.

For reservations, call Makan Kitchen, tel: 03-2172 7272. Address: DoubleTree by Hilton KL, The Intermark, Jalan Tun Razak, KL.