MID-AUTUMN 'JEWELS' IN ZUAN YUAN'S BOX

Honey Grapefruit and Mango, Low Sugar Wheat Grass and Green Tea, Low Sugar Royal Milk Tea and Charcoal, Low Sugar Qi Zi Tong Kwai and Chinese Almond and Pandan Lotus Paste are some of the innovative mooncake variants created by Dim Sum Chef Jordan Chin from Zuan Yuan, One World Hotel this year.

A total of nine baked mooncakes and eight snow skin mooncakes is now available to mark the upcoming Mid-Autumn Fest which falls on 27 September. Elegantly presented in beautiful packaging, the sweet confectionery from RM13 nett onwards is ideal for business associates, family and friends. The mooncakes are available ala – carte or in sets of four baked skin and eight snow skin mooncakes.

Chef Chin says “I usually begin experimenting with new flavours as soon as the Mid-Autumn Festival ends this year. Time is needed  to gauge which flavour combinations would work.”

Classical mooncakes to sample with Chinese tea include White Lotus and Black Sesame Paste with Single Yolk or White Lotus Paste with Single Yolk. Both are evergreen faves with traditionalists so they would always garner a following.

I enjoy the inventive fillings of Tiramisu and Walnut as well as the sublime Green Tea Lotus Paste for their delicate sweetness.

Those watching their waistlines may prefer the sugar-cane free Pandan Lotus Paste and White Lotus Paste with Mixed Nuts. One can easily guess what goes into the making of the Red Bean Paste and Pumpkin Seed, and Durian Lotus Paste due to the ingredients’ outstanding aroma and flavour profiles.

Executive Chinese Chef Michael Chew has also geared up for the major festival with his distinctive selection of exquisite delicacies for those who wish to celebrate with family and friends.

Like my good friend and food guide extraordinaire Tony Tan would say, the Deep Fried Wrapped Chicken is ‘gasp-worthy’ – bursting with the subtle gingery and briny accents once I bite into the juicy meat. Such a pity this traditional treat has all but disappeared from Chinese restaurant menus. Chef has cleverly baked the chicken partially before frying it so less oil is absorbed into the parcel.

The Double Boiled Fish Maw Soup with Papaya and Aloe Vera is truly soup for the soul; sweeten by the chunks of ripe papaya in it while aloe vera and spongy fish maw boost its textural interests.

Heeding the call for more fish into our daily diet, the good chef decides to serve us Sliced Seared Canadian Cod with Preserved Vegetable and Wolfberries. This hits the spot as the flaky, rich flesh amplified the distinct nuances of its simple, rustic toppings.

Carbo overloads appear in the form of Braised Ee Fu Noodles with Two Mushrooms, Yellow Chives, Crab Meat and Shrimp Roe and Fried Rice with Seafood, Fried Garlic and Golden Dried Scallop. Tasty and redolent with big, bold homespun flavours, what is there to complain?

Our happily ever after is the signature Chilled Osmanthus Jelly. Guilt-free and mildly sweet, its bright taste adds much lustrous shine to the Mid-Autumn Festival celebrations.

For information and details, call Zuan Yuan, tel: 03-7681-1111. Address: Lobby Level, One World Hotel, First Avenue, Bandar Utama CIty Centre, Petaling Jaya, Selangor.

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.