A meal to crow about

THE chefs at Tai Zi Heen Chinese restaurant in Pullman Kuala Lumpur City Centre Hotel & Residences have planned a sumptuous festive feast to crow about.
Executive sous chef Simon Sia, who joined the hotel in October last year, said he spent about five days creating the Chinese New Year menus that will offer guests something new for the festive season.
Sia, who has 16 years of experience as a chef, has come up with three nine-course menus for the reunion dinner on Jan 27 as well as throughout the 15 days of the new year celebration, that are priced from RM1,888 onwards for eight to 10 persons.
At a recent food-tasting session, Sia picked items from the different menus, so that we would get an idea of what is in store for diners when they bring their family or friends over to usher in the Year of the Rooster.
Yee sang, which is a must-have dish for the festive occasion, has been given a refreshing makeover. Instead of merely raw fish and vegetables, Sia has prepared a fruits and garden green yee sang.
This colourful dish features strawberries, pears, dragon fruit, mango, figs, guava, lettuce, radish and carrots, with a tangy strawberry sauce as dressing.
The usual accompaniments of crackers, ground peanuts, a dash of five-spice powder and a squeeze of lime have not been forgotten, giving this dish an interesting mix of textures and flavours.
The fruits and garden green yee sang with strawberry sauce is already available from now till Feb 11 for both dine-in or takeaway priced from RM68 onwards.
The braised crab meat and pumpkin puree that follows is a lovely warm soup that celebrates the sweetness of both the core ingredients.
Next is the steamed dragon-tiger grouper with shredded mushrooms and red dates, a lovely dish, complemented with a rich earthy sauce.
The wok-fried prawns with chef’s signature sauce gets the thumbs up as well, with large shelled prawns cooked in a yummy savoury sauce. Sia said this ‘secret sauce’ is made of, among other ingredients, dried shrimp, fried scallop, prawn roe and garlic.
Next is the fried organic brown rice with dried scallops and egg white. The nuttiness of the rice along with the savoury taste from the dried scallops make each mouthful a delight.
For dessert, there is the traditional nian gao (glutinous rice cake) but given a twist.
Sia has turned it into a three-layer cake, with the bottom layer made from yam, the middle a thick coconut cream, and the top, a golden crust of pumpkin and nian gao.
Rich in textures and flavour, this is going to be a real winner this lunar new year. That is, until the chef decides to offer us the chilled mango puree with sago and pomelo.
Served in a glass filled with dry ice at the bottom, this cold dessert also has a scoop of vanilla ice cream to add to the creaminess and richness of the puree. Once you start, you just can’t stop.
The desserts make for a nice sweet ending to the festive feast.
For more, visit the Pullman Kuala Lumpur City Centre Hotel & Residences website.