ONCE IN A BLUE MOONCAKE FROM DORSETT

 

Once in a blue moon, something emerges to catch our attention for major festivals like the Mid-Autumn Festival. This year, bunga telang or blue pea flower extract is the star ingredient chosen by Chef Alex Chan of The Emperor Chinese Restaurant, Dorsett Grand Subang for his handcrafted mooncakes.

 

The natural floral extract gives the Crystal Skin Pandan Lotus Paste with Single Yolk mooncake that distinctive Dorsett blue. Available until 4 October, you can buy the halal mooncakes in boxes of 2 or 4 pieces. 

In line with current health conscious times, the lotus paste is not overly sweet and just a small wedge or two of a well-made mooncake should be amply satisfying. Dorsett Grand Subang also has 3 new baked mooncakes to offer: Six Coarse Grains Paste, Coconut Pandan Paste with Single Yolk and Green Tea Paste with Single Yolk for those who want something inventive yet familiar in taste.

Walnuts, melon and pumpkin seeds, rolled oats, black sesame seeds and sunflower kernels packed healthy crunch into the Six Coarse Grains Paste mooncake. Again, the confection is less sweet on the palate and rich in Omega 3 from all those nuts and seeds.

Fragrant pandan leaves and the inherent sweetness of coconut combined to create the unique Coconut Pandan Paste mooncake. Locals will find great appeal from the enticing pandan aroma and lush coconut creaminess when they bit the festive treat.

Green tea paste is rather common in modern mooncakes but nobody would complain since green tea is a much vaunted antioxidant and high in Vitamin C. We loved the mild astringent tea aftertaste of this mooncake paste.

More trad versions such as salted egg yolks embedded in low sugar white lotus paste are also available alongside red bean paste and pandan lotus paste. 

The mooncakes come in a pretty Dorsett blue and matt gold box adorned with whimsical motifs. Prices start from RM27 per piece onwards depending on your choice of mooncake flavours. 

For information, call tel: 03 5031 6060 x 1954. Besides Dorsett Grand Subang, you can buy them from Dorsett Kuala Lumpur, Dorsett Putrajaya, Silka Maytower KL and Silka Cheras KL.

9 BRUNCH DISHES TO EAT AT THE DAILY GRIND

Fluffy Waffle & Fried Chicken (RM22++) for brunch? If the thought of hunky crispy fried chook paired with waffles leave you crowing with delight, then make haste to The Daily Grind for your share of this delectable dish every weekend from 9am to 2pm.

 

This long-standing casual eatery has a cheerful and laidback vibe about it so feel free to saunter in with your brood or besties in tow for a good chow-down.

Served with spicy tomato chutney and maple syrup, the boneless chicken fillet was flavoursome; the outer layer of skin coated with crumbly, crunchy batter. Several slices of briny beefy 'ham' drizzled with maple syrup complete the delish platter.

 

Top placing went to crumbly Smokin' Seaside Scones (RM28++) - a creative, savoury permutation of classic English scones which formed a solid flavoursome basis for a pair of poached eggs with hollandaise sauce alongside smoked tuna and swordfish, and fresh peppery rocket.

My personal fave of Goddess Bowl (RM22++) edged in at third place...it could have easily trumped the rest just on looks alone especially the generous pool of smooth house-made Vietnamese yoghurt in plain and blueberry flavours. A milieu of colourful edible flowers, fresh berries, mango dices, macadamia nuts, pumpkin seeds, goji berries, oats, coconut flakes and berries coulis surrounded the lush, tangy yoghurt.

Neck to neck in terms of subtly sweet appeal would be Pancake Soufflé (RM23++). The stack of pillow-soft pancakes resembling soufflé drenched in lemon cream was feather-light, with textural interest lent by scatterings of wild berries and assorted nuts, and shards of honeycomb. Ideal for the sweet-toothed without loading up on too much guilt.

  

Named after two historical heavyweights, the Napoleon & Churchill (RM25++) was anything but. A fallback for those who prefer their brunch along the perennial pairing of sausage and eggs, this plate of savoury cheddar cheese-filled crepes drew us in with seared chicken sausages and a salad of fresh rocket and green apple slices with romesco aioli.

The savoury crepes made a nice change from the usual bread or potato hash found in most brunch platters. A shoo-in for less adventurous eaters who like the tried-and-tested with just that slight twist. 

Tickle the funny bone of prankster friends or family members with a sense of fun and humour with The Mockery (RM18++). It looks like a classic English breakfast but doesn't taste anything like it at all! Suffice to say we had a good laugh digging into the inventive, mind-bending creations.

Since The Daily Grind's reputation is built on burgers, it's inconceivable something like Burger Me Breakfast (RM27) would appear in the brunch array. Burger fans can rejoice for this delectable dish comprises brioche bun bearing a juicy beef patty and crisp slices of beef bacon, livened up with tomato jam and hollandaise sauce. Satisfying fare to start lazy Sundays with.

Salty and sweet accents reigned in the Herb Brioche Pudding (RM29++). Laden with salted caramel, walnuts, sultanas, air-dried beef and rum, we were nonplussed by this unconventional speciality. Frankly, I wasn't gaga over the busy mixture of flavours but go ahead, give it a go and decide for yourself.

Rum & raisin ice cream is so hard to come by these days that I'd steer towards Captain Morgan's French Toast (RM23++) in all likelihood. Studded with plump rum-soaked raisins, the heady, faintly spicy sweetness was splendid once it started to melt onto the thick slices of French toast. Crushed pistachios and maple syrup provided the finishing touches.

 For brunch reservations at The Daily Grind, please call: 03-2287 6708. Address: LG8, Lower Ground Floor, Bangsar Village 1, Jalan Telawi, KL. 

THE CHYNNA MOONCAKE CONNECTION

 

Fiery Phoenix (RM29) – an Asian inspired snow skin mooncake takes flight this year at Chynna. Hilton KL’s dim sum chef Chan Teck Woo takes the bold step by combining lemongrass, five spice powder, bird’s eye chilli and tom yam paste with chicken floss, dried shrimp and sun-dried scallop in lotus paste into a white snow skin mooncake streaked red with natural colouring derived from red yeast rice. 

The resultant sweet-spicy-savoury accents seem odd at first bite quickly grow on you; teasing the tastebuds with a robustness reminiscent of sambal heh bee (dried shrimps).

It is unlikely to dethrone the all-time Heavenly Gold (RM42) - the hotel’s signature Musang King durian mooncake. Pale yellow snow skin with a noticeably pungent filling which underscores the presence of luscious durian flesh extracted from Raub’s famed Musang King durians harvested from matured trees, one either love this variant passionately or avoid it like the plague.

More sedate versions making a comeback this year are Blue Moon (RM27) - Snow Skin Amaretto Lotus Paste with Blueberry Cheese Feuillantine and Flower Drum (RM27) – Snow Skin Lotus Paste with Soft Custard Egg Yolk.

Also available until 27 September are Hilton KL’s halal-certified baked mooncakes (RM27 each) in Lotus Paste with Single Yolk, Pandan Paste with Single Yolk, Red Bean Paste with Almond Flakes or White Lotus Paste with Single Yolk.

If you prefer something nuttier, the Five Nuts variant is perfumed by the citrusy scent of kaffir lime leaf. The Red Bean Paste with Almond Flakes is made with quality red beans while all natural colourings such as blue pea flower juice and purple sweet potato are used to give the snow skin mooncakes the desired colour.

This year, the hotel is offering lim­ited edi­tion prestige boxes inspired by Louis Vuit­ton trunks with stitch ef­fect in red (RM105) and pink (RM188) to cart those mooncakes home or for gifting purposes.

For more information, call CHYNNA, tel: 03-2264 2405. A mooncake kiosk can also be found at the Hil­ton Kuala Lumpur, 3, Jalan Ste­sen Sen­tral, Kuala Lumpur.