Szechuan Court's Lucky Bunny Yu Sheng - too cute to eat!
Are we frantically working out ahead of the Lunar New Year feast-fest? I am, but perhaps to little avail, and I see myself hurtling into a whirl of intensive eating, snacking and drinking come 2 Feb when the Reunion Dinner is served, marking the Chinese New Year, and the Return of the Rabbit.
This year has added significance for me ‘cos my daughter has reached her first full cycle of the Chinese zodiac. Yup, she’s a bunny baby, and it’s been 12 years since I had her. So on that note, I am quite prepared to celebrate a little harder this Chinese New Year with even more goodies.
At the same time, the onslaught of CNY always presents the issue of getting all the CNY gifts – or ‘nian huo’ – for family and friends, particularly aunties. Every year, being the filial niece, I potter out to pick up all manner of traditional food gifts which I think the aunts would appreciate – dried longans, bak kwa, dried scallops, eight treasure tea, dried shitake mushrooms, waxed meats…yes, the usual traditional items. But that is pretty time consuming and this year, I've decided to make life easier and buy each a single gift from the swanky takeaway counters and be done with it.
Don't you just wanna take them dinky things home?
These lucky lavender koi nian gao are from Szechuan Court, too.
And while we’re talking about making life easier, I have finally seen the light and appreciate poon choy. My rather cynical mother had commented before that this huge vat packed tightly with braised foods seemed a little vulgar and crude and it never featured at her table. But when I ate it not too long ago, it dawned on me – okay, rather belatedly, but the scales took time to fall from my eyes – that cooked well, it is very indulgent in its richness. All you really need was one huge vat to feed a dozen hungry guests, add in a large yu sheng for fortune and fibre, a nice nian gao for dessert and you have all the essentials for a CNY feast.
So on that varied and wandering note, here’s what caught my eye for CNY goodies around town.
Szechuan Court's poon choy with a bunny that's not that lucky. It just got eaten!
The Fairmont Singapore can always be trusted to dish out novel yu sheng dishes. This year, its ‘Lucky Rabbit’ yu sheng (top) is, like my daughter said, too cute to eat. The white radish forms the shape of a bunny, and features beetroot and pomegranate. If you can stomach eating the luckiest animal in the zodiac, Szechuan Court is serving up a Spicy Sichuan Soup Pot with 18 Treasures and rabbit meat (from $198; above). Apart from eating the golden goose – or shall I say, the golden rabbit – the dish also serves up house-smoked abalone, beef tendon, fish belly, fish fillets, fish maw, fish cartilage, shredded fish lips, dried scallops, clam topshell, oysters, meatballs. I say, give me everything, just hold the bunny. If you want something really pretty for a gift, pick up their lavender-infused nian gao ($8 each) which also sports a sprinkling of coconut. See the lovely fishes? Aren't they just irresistible?!
Available 17 Jan - 17 Feb
Tel: +65 6431 6156 or email: dining.singapore@fairmont.com
Chef Hiew's unusual take on nian gao was inspired by a favourite
snack of one of China's famous Sung sisters.
If I were having the Reunion Dinner out, I’d make a reservation at Mandarin Oriental Singapore’s Cherry Garden. The classy restaurant is always so refined and its relatively small capacity keeps it intimate and elegant. Plus of course, the fact that it’s Chinese chef Hiew Gun Khong is very creative and talented. On the CNY menus, must have’s are the yu sheng with salmon and crispy fish skin, wok-fried spare ribs with mandarin orange and chocolate sauce, mini Buddha Jumps Over the Wall with cordyceps, and whole five-head abalone in traditional style, and end with snowskin nian gao dumplings with macadamia nut and coconut crumbs or the black glutinous rice with coconut crunch ice and mango.
Cherry Garden's so refined Treasure Pot isn't too expensive, surprisingly!
Set menus for a minimum of two persons begin at $118 per person, while set menus for a minimum of four persons are priced from $88 per pax – pretty good value compared to prices at fine western restaurants. Our internal sources reveal that many buy their reunion dinner in its entirety here, and bring it home. If you’re not planning to cook, make an order for the Cherry Garden Treasure Pot (S$238) featuring 13 ingredients, and the casserole-cooked jasmine rice with waxed meat and sausages (S$98). An intriguing gift is the Royal Steamed Red Bean and Nian Gao Layer Cake (S$26), Chef Hiew’s version of a favourite dessert of one of China’s famous Sung sisters.
Tel: 6885 3538 or e-mail mosin-cgdn@mohg.com
How cool and stylish can 'nian-huo' get?
This gold and black seasame nian gao from Mandarin Court
is as gorgeous as it is yummilicious.
You’ll find some unusual nian gao at Mandarin Orchard’s Chinese restaurant Mandarin Court this year, in particular Chef Sunny Kong’s brow-raising bak kwa nian gao ($38,80) which is an odd combination of sweet and savoury, and which proved a hit and miss. You either like it or loathe it. What was really good though in looks and taste were the black sesame nian gao (above), a controversial black, smooth confection with gold flakes and rich with the flavour of nutty black sesame, and the fragrant green tea and osmanthus nian gao ($33), all sweet and delicate.
The new chef has also rolled out a really fabulous poon choy. For $338, you get the Fortune Pot (left) packed with 20 delectably braised ‘treasures’ – fish maw, baby abalone, sea cucumber, prawns, clams, goose web, roast duck, etc. At $468, you get a poon choy with five-head abalone. Both serve up to 8 people and all these items are available for takeaway too.
Tel: 6831 6320
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