TEN SHIOK-ING CNY DISHES AT XIN

Toss Up Stirring Prosperity 

Try the Smoked Salmon Yee Sang for your customary lou sang if you’re squeamish about eating raw fish and the risk associated with it. This version has everything going for it in terms of colour, texture and flavour: some fresh ingredients alongside pickles, crisps, ground nuts, sesame seeds, etc.

Xin Cuisine offers six variants: Sliced Abalone, Norwegian Salmon, Bud Mushroom & Scallop, Jellyfish, Shredded Duck & Jackfruit Thai Style or Vegetarian with Snow Pear (from RM79 onwards for regular to RM265 large) to tempt you.

A Serving of Triple Liveliness 

The Chinese maxim sang sang mang mang comes to mind when I saw the platter of Abundant Three Hot Combination. I have always love this dish even from those old school wedding dinners which invariably featured this or the quartet of hot & cold combo.

Kinda like French amuse bouche but more substantial. Choice of items would depend on the chef’s whims so you’d never know what to expect. The triple treats of deep-fried yam with prawns (equated with happy laughter), kataifi-wrapped scallops (big monetary prospects) and stir-fried lotus root, asparagus, macadamia and bunashimeji mushroom packed varied textural and taste contrasts that were palate-pleasing enough.

Be ‘Souper’ Prosperous

Dried scallops, bamboo pith, sliced black mushroom, crabmeat and other goodies form a viscous milieu in the Prosperity Thick Soup with Dried Seafood. This slurpilicious broth can be a harbinger of brimming riches for the coming CNY.

Go for The Whole Hog 

The Chinese loves the piggy as this domesticated animal symbolises bounty to them. Likewise, they enjoy eating Crispy Suckling Pig Hong Kong Style – a revered main banquet course for its sublime crisp, crackling skin – as a fervent wish for bountiful life, be it for wealth, offspring or work prospects. Needless to say, this dish was wiped clean in a twinkling at our review.

Fish for Abundance

Surplus, excess and abundance is associated with fish so no CNY feast is complete without it. Mindful of children and senior folks in multi-generational gatherings, Xin chefs are proffering Steamed Cod with Garlic Oil for easier eating. Superior soya sauce, aromatic garlic oil and fresh coriander with spring onion proved less is more for the sumptuous cod fillets we sampled.

Laugh with Happiness

Just the sight of the dark, luscious sheen of Baked Fresh Waterprawns with King Superior Soya Sauce would be enough to make you LOL with gleeful happiness. Nobody groused about getting their hands dirty as the big-headed crustaceans tasted really shiok; the shells slicked with that deep-seated savoury sauce.

Fly High with the Phoenix

Downhome accents reign in the six Waxed Meat specialities found in Xin’s festive menu. Should you crave for nostalgic retro-style eats, rustic offerings such as Braised Chicken with Three Varieties of Chinese Sausages should leave you crowing with delight. As another auspicious mainstay for CNY as the chook symbolises the celestial phoenix, we delved into the serving with hearty gusto whilst resisting the urge to ask for plain rice to go with it.

Wax Lyrical for Good Fortune

Lap mei farn is a popular staple for most Cantonese folks and this speciality of Waxed Meat Rice in Claypot has gained wide appeal over the years in most Chinese restaurants. Waxed meat and sausages are cherished by the Chinese as the fatty stuffing denotes good fortune and wealth. Come CNY, few patrons at Xin would pass up on the chance to relish this festive dish so we felt fortunate such ‘riches’ came our way already.

Sweeten The Year Ahead

Who can resist such a cool treat which looks like a golden pool? Subtly sweet, the refreshing Mango Puree with Pomelo & Sago drew praises all round. Juicy pomela sacs and tiny sago pearls added to the dessert broth’s mouthfeel. Simple but sweet to ensure a great Year of the Monkey ahead.

 

Uplifting Progress & Prospects

Increase your work and life prospects by eating Nian Gao or steamed glutinous cake. Again, Xin is renowned for its Chinese New Year Sweet Treats (RM12.80 per portion)  such as nian gao coated in sweet potato with macadamia nut, waxed meat nian gao with chicken floss and peanut nian gao with pistachio. Each tasty variant signals upward increases in your annual income, career or business prospects and high marks for upcoming exams as well as personal growth. Now huat more do you want?

Prosperity menus start from RM1,618 onwards per table of 10. Reservations are advisable. Call Xin Cuisine, tel: 03-2144 8750.

HOI NEEN WITH CONCORDE KL

True to tradition, Concorde Hotel KL ‘opens’ the Year of the Monkey with great aplomb. Join in the fun on the 2^nd day of Chinese New Year (9 Feb) at the Hotel Lobby from 11am onwards.  Festive highlights include:

Image courtesy of Concorde Hotel KL

·         an awesome acrobatic lion dance by award-winning Kun Seng Keng

·         live Monkey King performance

·         Yee sang toss with the Hotel team

·         Entertaining Chinese acrobatic stunts

·         Photo session with JK & Shaki – two well-dressed monkeys

NEW SPRING FLAVOURS AT ZUAN YUAN

 

Preserved chicken lap cheong (waxed sausages) and edible peach gum (pix above) emerged as the intriguing specialities that snagged our attention during this year’s Chinese New Year dinner preview at Zuan Yuan.

 

For rice-loving friends who eschew pork, it is the perfect chance to sample lap mei farn. Wrapped and cooked in lotus leaves, the Steamed Rice with Yam, Preserved Meat and Chicken Sausages tasted similar to the real deal but I dare say it was less greasy. Studded with powdery, mushy yam dices, the soya sauce imbued grains were so sedap, most of us had second helpings.

Chef Michael Chew and Chef Lee Siew Hap also conjured up fresh ideas for the customary lou sang ritual by marrying the classic Caesar salad with yee sang, to create the winsome Caesar Salad with Salmon and Grated Parmesan Yee Sang (RM85 for half portion, RM170 for full portion).

Happily, it was a dream fusion which had balsamic vinegar drizzled on cos lettuce and a dusting of grated parmesan parked alongside more familiar yee sang ingredients (pickles, crisps and other condiments). After a thorough tossing, the distinctive salad drew nothing but praises from our dining party. Three other varieties of yee sang are served: sea bird’s nest with shredded sweet turnip, salmon and shredded sweet turnip or sliced abalone with snow pear.

More traditional Chinese folks still demand old school specialities like Braised Shark’s Fin Soup with Sea Treasures so this dish remains on the festive menu for now. Admittedly, times are a-changing with more and more of the younger ones giving the soup a wide berth and opting for alternative broths.

Like any notable Chinese restaurants worth its salt, roasts can make or break their reputation. Zuan Yuan is one resto that passes with flying colours as we swooped in and quickly made short work of the Roast Chicken and Duck platter with Marinated Jellyfish. Juicy and tender to the bite, it was a substantial, scrumptious platter to satisfy us fussy eaters. The crunchy jellyfish had a zingy bite thanks to some chilli oil infused in it.

 

Warm, spice nuances from Vietnamese five spice powder bestowed the Wok Fried Tiger Prawns with appetising flavour and finger-licking deliciousness. Slit in the back, the crustaceans’ clear sweetness stood out amidst the light coating of marinade.

 

Humble choi poh (preserved radish) together with garlic and chilli formed a simple but comfortingly homey topping to grace the Steamed Star Garoupa. If the fish wasn’t a tad overcooked, it would have tasted out of this world. Still, we picked everything clean so obviously that was a minor bone of contention.

  

The chefs are wise enough to leave the time-honoured Braised Sliced Abalone, Mushroom, Sea Moss and Beancurd with Garden Greens well alone. We had no complaints as the traditional dish came up to scratch, brimming with hearty woody-earthy-deepsea accents.

Clumps of reconstituted peach gum lent extra textural interest to the Chilled Sea Coconut with Lotus Seeds, Snow Lotus Seeds and Red Dates. The clumps of peach gum have to be soaked in water for 12 hours before use. In China, it’s used for cooking and baking. We found the mouthfeel similar to hasma; slightly gelatinous like watery agar-agar.

 

The monkey must have inspired the inclusion of banana cream into Zuan Yuan’s final dessert of Deep-fried Nian Gao with Banana Cream. Sheathed in a crispy yet light batter, I love the sticky glutinous rice melding with the sweet creamy banana mash.

Three Blossom of Happiness CNY set menus are available throughout the CNY period priced at RM1,738, RM1,980 and RM2,210 nett per table of 10 inclusive of two bottles of wine.

For reservations, call Zuan Yuan, tel: 03-7681 1159. One World Hotel, First Avenue, Bandar Utama City Centre, Petaling Jaya, Selangor.