Colour my life for CNY...Yee Sang to start |
“If you want 1 year of prosperity, grow grain.
If you want 10 years of prosperity, grow trees. If you want 100 years of
prosperity, grow people.”
May I add if you want 15 days of fabulous feasting, reserve a table at
Lai Ching Yuen. ;D
Pearl
scallops and mango chunks coupled with LCY's signature concoction of strawberry
and plum sauces lend a refreshing, luxurious dimension to the yee sang here.
The plump Ozzie scallops in their inherent sweetest glory went down a real treat
with the colourful salad.
Other
variants include Yee Sang with Soft Shell Crab, Salmon, Premium Abalone,
Geoduck Clam, Lobster and Vegetarian priced from RM58.00++ onwards for half
portion and RM98.00++ onwards for full portion.
Then
came the roast duck with deep-fried egg shreds. The restaurant has always been
famous for its roast duck which boasts crispy skin and tender, juicy meat.
These textures and the meat's subtle gaminess contrast nicely with the rich,
fine crispy egg bits.
Another
much lauded dish from CNY past is the braised semi-dried oysters with seamoss,
broccoli, mushrooms and tau kan (layered soya bean sheets). Everyone would
naturally want more of this sublime dish that denotes hou si (good tidings) and
fatt choi (prosperity).
Creamy and fruity accents dominate the deep-fried
prawns with fresh grapes and mayonnaise sauce.
The springy
crustaceans are irresistibly toothsome; their natural sweetness melding well
with the fresh, juicy grapes and gooey mayo dressing.
Evoking
a taste of hearth and home is Executive Chinese Chef Leong Weng Heng's rustic creation of steamed squash
stuffed with pork and prawn paste, and dried scallops. Traditionally most cooks
would avoid using gourds or squash but the chef prefers to call the subtly
sweet, soft discs as jade pendants.
More
homely nuances emerge in the poached marinated farm chicken with Chinese wine;
the yellow-skinned poultry succulent to the bite and similar to how our family
matriarchs used to prepare it.
No CNY meal is ever
complete without the perennial speciality of Chinese waxed meat rice. Again
Chef Leong has given it his own twist, adding yam into the equation and wrapped
everything up in lotus leaf, imbuing the grains with its earthy scent.
Naturally the meal finishes on a high with pan-fried
homemade nian gao (sweet, brown glutinous rice cake) as this sticky, chewy
treat marks yearly soaring progress in the Lunar New Year. Covered in crisp
batter, the sweet cake is sandwiched in between thin slices of yam and sweet
potato.
The
selection of dishes we sampled were drawn from Lai Ching Yuen's eight or
nine-course celebratory menus that start
from RM 1,388.00++ onwards for a table of ten persons. Available throughout CNY
but reservations are highly recommended by telephone or
by e-mail.