CELEBRATION OF NEW BEGINNINGS AT LE MEI

If there’s a dish to soup up the upcoming Chinese New Year celebration, the excellent Shunde Style Traditional Shredded Fish Soup by Le Mei’s Chinese Executive Chef Lim Kian Meng will be the hottest choice.

Similar to a hearty bisque, the creamy white broth enhanced with fine slivers of wood ear fungus, snake gourd and carrot is to-die-for. Shredded seabass amps up its lush sweetness with crumbs of the deepfried fish give it a subtle crunchy finish.

This stellar speciality is one of the many show-stoppers featured in Le Mei’s three CNY menus: Wealth & Fortune Set RM3,388, Everlasting Prosperity Set RM2,388 and Spring & Happiness Set RM1,688 per table of 10 persons; available now until February 8. 

The customary Yee Sang (from RM50 upwards depending on variant and portion size) with salmon is par for the course. Personally, I find the salad platter a tad too sweet but it’s a minor hiccup easily remedied by reducing the sauce. Overall, the ingredients jive together well enough.

Pix courtesy of Chasingfooddreams.com

Chef Lim’s two decades of culinary experience from past stints in Macao, Russia and locally stands him in good stead. Gastronomic proof of his culinary prowess is apparent when you savour the Stewed Sea Cucumber with Free Range Chicken and Black Truffle in Claypot.

His judicious inclusion of black truffle paste prior to serving transforms a downhome offering into a raveworthy speciality. The discernibly musky scent of truffle coupled with the milieu of big, robust flavours from the toothsome, juicy chicken and plump mushrooms make this a divine dish to remember.

 

Wok-fried Scallops with Asparagus and Fresh Mushroom in XO Sauce maintains the impressive streak. Sweet and tender, the scallops imbued with a dash of the zingy house XO sauce will surely tantalise the tastebuds and get the thumbs up. 

Inspired by Hong Kong’s famed pei fung thong (typhoon shelter) style of preparation, the Fried Lamb Racks with Crispy Garlic and Chilli follow a similar approach. According to Chef Lim, the lamb is marinated with herb juice prior to being battered for frying. We find the blush pink lamb deliciously juicy; the crisp fried garlic and chilli bits setting the palate alight with bursts of flavourful piquancy.

 

Dense and firm, the meat of the Sabah Giant Grouper Steamed with Premium Soy Sauce is a winsome, classic way to ensure the pricey fish (loong da'rn in Chinese) fulfills the sumptuous and auspicious quotient for the festive table. 

Mindful of today’s health-conscious clientele, Le Mei serves Fried Organic Brown Rice with Seafood and Tobiko. Tiny Hong Kong dried shrimps, dices of fish, prawns and a generous topping of tobiko make the fried mixture of brown and white rice a surefire crowd-pleaser.

The sweet-ender of Pan-fried Glutinous Rice Cake is not your average nian gao. Dim sum chef Yau Fong Peng uses pheen thong (flat brown blocks of unrefined cane sugar) to ensure the festive CNY cake is lighter, less sweet and sticky.  Each slice is seared to give it a brown crust and amplify the caramel flavour. You can’t ask for a better way to welcome the Year of the Rat in 2020.

Picture courtesy of Le Meridien Putrajaya

For reservations, please call LE MEI, tel: 03-8689 6888/

6847/6868. Address: Lobby Level, Le Meridien Putrajaya, Lebuh IRC, IOI Resort City, Putrajaya, Sepang

EAT AND PROSPER AT TAO CHINESE CUISINE THIS CHINESE NEW YEAR

Looking for a healthy start to your Lunar New Year celebration? Executive Chinese Chef Wong Lian You at Tao Chinese Cuisine sets the right pace with his lei cha-inspired sauce for his creation of deep-fried Soft Shell Crab Yee Sang.

 

Available from now to 8 February, the wholesome, rainbow-hued salad platter includes deep-fried, crunchy fish skin. According to Chef Wong, the pesto-inspired dressing melds the herbaceous sauce used in traditional Hakka lei cha with plum sauce and sawtooth herb, resulting in a delightful yee sang sauce with citrusy-grassy nuances.

It’s a tantalising palate-teaser for the Opulent (RM2,388++) set menu for a table of 10 persons. Depending on your preference, more of the distinctive dressing is better in elevating the tastiness of the yee sang salad while the soft shell crab bestows extra crunch.

 

Chinese chefs are constantly looking for new ingredients to showcase on such auspicious occasions and Chef Wong found his inspiration from maca or Peruvian ginseng. A quick online search reveals the root with its numerous benefits are now all the rage hence its inclusion in the Double-boiled Chicken, Fish Maw and Baby Abalone Soup is timely and welcoming.

Redolent with the warm, sweet accents of Asian five spice and nutmeg, Toa’s signature Roasted Duck Hong Kong Style also takes pride of place in the celebratory set menu. No prizes for guessing why as the crackly-crisp duck skin coupled with juicy, tender meat is a stellar shoo-in.

Soused in aromatic soya sauce, the Steamed Whole Sultan Fish with Superior Soya Sauce is bound to score with diners too, not only for its symbolism of abundance and excess but also for the sweet, fine fish meat.

Chef Wong (right) says the farmed river fish weighs in at about 1.2kg each, primed for the restaurant’s expectations. “It’s pricey but the fine-boned fish tastes good when prepared the classic way, by steaming.”

 

The notable Tok Alang Wok-fried Tiger Prawns is irresistible; the dish appeal lies in the savoury sauce that transforms the prawns into a gastronomic treat.

 

Your search for happiness this CNY will come to fruition when you relish the speciality of Braised Sea Cucumber, Mushroom and Broccoli with Crab Roe Paste. You’d be smiling from ear to ear once your tastebuds are tickled by the delicacy’s QQ sponginess. Bound by the oceanic symphony of crab meat and roe melding with tender fungi and broccoli, it’s a dish to leave you filled with joyous satisfaction.

 

Embedded with salted egg yolk inside, the hearty portion of Steamed Rice in Mini Lotus Leaf should leave you replete. A rustic, homely offering evoking a sense of festive nostalgia.

 

Sweet ending to bowl you over features Double Boiled Snow Bird’s Nest with Lemongrass Brown Sugar Syrup and Glutinous Rice Balls accompanied by Pan-fried Ninko Dumplings with Sesame Seeds and Salted Bean Paste. Celebrants will like its auspicious meaning and good tidings to welcome the Year of the Rat.

Other set menus available at Tao include Harmonious (RM1,988++ for a table of 10) and Abundance (RM2,788++) in addition to a special a la carte menu. Five variants of Yee Sang: Lobster Claw, Soft Shell Crab with Lei Cha Sauce, Marinated Sea Cucumber with Vinegar Dressing, Fresh Atlantic Salmon and Crispy Rice will also be served, priced from RM88 upwards for half set and RM168 upwards for a full set.

Master Dim Sum Chef Lo Tian Sion (left) will also tempt you with 15 special Dim Sum creations from 25 January to 8 February.

For more information, please call Tao Chinese Cuisine, tel: 03-2782 6128 or email: tao@intercontinental-kl.com.my