A JOURNEY THROUGH TEA AT NEWENS TEA HOUSE

The luxurious ritual of partaking afternoon tea goes creatively thematic at Newens Tea House this January to March.

Billed as A Journey Through Tea, Newens Tea House should be a compelling stopover for Anglophiles partial to Traditional English High Tea. Available daily throughout January, we had a sneak preview of the triple tier of classic afternoon tea favourites.

Splendid openers comprised delicate Finger Sandwiches with Salmon, and Beef & Cucumber, Cheese with Crackers and Scones served with Clotted Cream and Preserves.

Newens’ signature Maids of Honour Tarts in Chocolate & Apple variants were also part of the tea-rrific temptations. Airy-light yet crisp with a soft centre, legend has it the irresistible treat came from a 500-year old recipe confiscated by King Henry VIII. The king kept it under lock and key after he found the sweet-savoury tart made by one of Queen Anne Boleyn’s maids of honour very much to his liking.

 

The Traditional English High Tea also included shot glasses of Trifle, Red Velvet Cake and Lemon Meringue Tart accompanied by a free-flow of Orange Pekoe Tea. 

Come February, Newens Tea House will pay tribute to Chinese New Year with its Spring in China Tea. The selection of pastries highlighted a decidedly Oriental slant with scrumptious offerings of Shanghainese Sizzling Chicken Dumplings and Baked Crispy Chicken Puffs, accompanied by free-flow of Pai Mu Tan (white peony) tea – a subtly sweet, floral Chinese tea brewed from unopened tea buds.

Dainty portions of Osmanthus Flower Jelly with Water Chestnuts, Steamed Layer Cake with Custard Cream and Salted Egg Yolk, Baked Egg Tarts, Pineapple Tarts and Fruit Cake will also sweeten the festive coterie.

To herald the arrival of spring in March and the cherry blossom season in Japan, Newens will be serving Japanese-inspired tea Cherry Blossom Afternoon Tea. 

Exquisite morsels of California Hand Roll, Salmon Sashimi, Makimono Tamago (Omelette Roll), and Makimono Kani (Crabmeat Roll) will be paired with free-flow of aromatic Wild Cherry Tea. Completing the experience will be Sakura-Themed Mini Cakes and Pralines.

The above thematic tea experiences are available throughout each respective month at RM150 nett per set (for two persons), daily from 2.30pm to 5.30pm. Newens Tea House is renowned for their 300-year-old tea drinking heritage that has been re-imagined for the 21st century.

Guests who wish to order any of the thematic afternoon tea beyond the stated promotional period can do so with a minimum booking of 6 tea sets, for 12 pax. A minimum of 3 days advance notice is required.

The signature Maid of Honour tarts (RM12 each) are also available for takeaway in a gift box of either 4 or 9 pieces.

For more information or reservations, call Newens Tea House, tel: 03 2719 8550 or email: newens@ytlhotels.com.my. Newens Tea House is located at Starhill Gallery, Jalan Bukit Bintang, Kuala Lumpur.

HOT HITS OF HUNAN AT CHYNNA

 

Hunan which means ‘south of the lake’ is the birthplace of Chairman Mao. The age-old ‘land of fish and rice’ province is known for its Xiang cuisine, one of the “Eight Great Traditions” of Chinese gastronomy. Unlike Sichuan’s ma la (tongue-numbing hotness), Hunanese food slants towards xiang la - fragrant and hot flavours through the liberal use of chilli peppers, shallots and garlic. Fresh, dried and pickled chillies bestow bold, bright flavours to Hunanese dishes; often combined with the punchy tartness of vinegar and pickled vegetables, as well as the forthright brininess of fermented laba beans.

For the Hunan cuisine promotion, guest chef Wang Cheng Chun (right) from the Hilton Shenzhen Shekou Nanhai has been flown in and tasked to present the cuisine's true characteristics at Chynna, Hilton KL. The 30-year old chef from Changsha will collaborate with Chynna’s Executive Chinese Chef Lam Hock Hin to present an a la carte and set menu selection of epicurean Hunanese delights from 25 May to 7 June 2015.

Chef Wang's seven-course set menu (RM220 per person) will take you on an exquisite culinary journey of his native stomping ground. Sliced white radish in briny chilli oil - a popular cold appetiser in Hunan - primed our palate at the start of dinner. The crunchy radish's rounded salty-spicy tastes roused our tastebuds, leaving us eagerly anticipating the arrival of other dishes.

The stewed shank in chilli sauce was a labour of love as it has been steeped in 2.5 hours in a milieu of chillies, spices and other ingredients without overwhelming the beef's inherent gaminess. Cut into fine matchstick-size strips, the beefy batonettes came with coriander and cucumber strips for taste and textural contrasts amidst explosive bursts of chilli hotness.

Another labour-intensive speciality is deep-fried duck with white sesame seeds (top right). This traditional delicacy required the duck to be marinated and steamed beforehand. Once cooked, it's coated in foamy egg white and deep-fried to sumptuous crispiness dotted with white sesame seeds. Biting into the delicate slivers, you'd appreciate the deep-seated meaty-eggy-nutty flavours that burst forth. 

Occasionally, some Cantonese influences tend to surface in certain Hunanese dishes. Hardly surprising since part of the province borders Guangdong. This is evident from the sautéed lamb shoulder with romaine lettuce, a dead-ringer for sang choi bao or lettuce wraps. The minute dices of lamb, onion, bell peppers and pickled bird's eye chilli will send your pulse racing and cause you to break out in a sweat yet the whole package's unmistakably fresh and clear flavours bear shades of the Cantonese culinary approach.

We notice a similar trait in the hot & sour soup which is distinctly different from the fiery Sichuanese version. Brimming with Hunanese cuisine's spicy-fragrant characteristics, the thick, smooth broth boasts yummy morsels of fried minced chicken, strips of soft beancurd, bamboo shoot, wood ear fungus, black mushroom and pickled vegetable in it.

Using Hunan's famed fermented chopped chilli, the chef blew us away with his conversation-stopping steamed turbot with chilli sauce. Chef Wang deserves applause for amplifying the deep-sea fish's natural sweetness and enhancing the springy-soft flesh with the chilli's mellow fruity sweetness. The best part lies in the orangey pool of fish jus so make sure you lap up every sublime drop. We did.

On their own, the fermented laba beans taste surprisingly agreeable; the muted savouriness pleasingly coy yet compelling on the palate. Unlike our local taucheo which is soft and mushy, these beans retain their shape well with a firmer mouthfeel. Added into the dish of fried rice with laba beans & chicken, it brought out an additional dimension of 'freshness' from the hodge-podge of ingredients: chicken, carrot, beans and egg white.

The set dinner wraps up with a folksy dessert of deep-fried potato cakes with lotus seeds - a homely offering that every Hunanese matriarch worth her salt often prepares as a convenient snack. Lightly crispy on the outside, the subtly sweet, flat patties were chewy soft inside with a touch of discernibly lotus creaminess.

The Hunan set and a la carte menus will be served for lunch and dinner at Chynna throughout the promotional period. For reservations, call Hilton Kuala Lumpur, tel: 03 2264 2596.