Steamed Tiger Grouper has fish slices served on bittergourd and topped with soybean paste.
A RESTAURANT in Petaling Jaya is introducing a new menu that offers a creative spin on traditional Cantonese cuisine.
Head chef Teoh Hock Joo and dim sum chef Tan Kai Hin will be presenting new items to whet diners’ appetites at Zuan Yuan Chinese Restaurant, One World Hotel, Petaling Jaya.
The unique creations serve to showcase their prowess and experience in the culinary and hospitality industry.
First on the list is the chefs’ take on a popular fish dish, Steamed Tiger Grouper, with the key ingredient sourced from Sabah.
Teoh (left) and Tan are Zuan Yuan Chinese Restaurant’s head chef and dim sum chef respectively.
The fish is cut into bite-sized portions and served on slices of bittergourd, topped with a dollop of tangy preserved soybean paste, pine nuts and thinly sliced scallions and chillies.
“You have to eat all three layers at once to enjoy the spectrum of flavours.
“This is because the different ingredients are meant to work together,” said Teoh.
A one-day advance order is required as it is a time-intensive dish that needs prior preparation.
Next, comes Boiled Shark Bone Broth with Fish Maw served inside a coconut.
The well-made broth leaves a sticky sensation in one’s mouth.
The fish maw, which has been rendered soft and velvety, lends a fragrance to the dish.
“The stickiness comes from collagen in the fish maw.
“We serve the soup in a hollowed coconut because it gives off a special flavour,” said Teoh.
Giant Freshwater Prawn in Curry Sauce.
A dish that deserves special mention is Giant Freshwater Prawn with Curry Sauce.
The prawn, with its head full of rich orange roe, is drenched in a creamy, spicy sauce made from Waugh’s curry powder.
“We use this specific curry powder because of its unique flavour.
“It is not commonly used in a lot of local seafood dishes,” said Teoh.
The prawns are firm and sweet. The sauce, enriched with coconut milk, has a beautiful creamy texture.
A serving of deep-fried mantou is included for diners to lap up the gravy.
A personal favourite is the Cantonese Seafood Flat Rice Noodles.
The noodles are deep-fried until golden brown and have a crispy texture, reminiscent of prawn crackers.
Abalone Sauce Taro Dumpling from the new dim sum menu.
To ensure diners are able to enjoy the crispy element in the dish, the accompanying egg gravy is served on the side and only poured on the noodles just before eating.
“The flat noodles must be deep-fried piece by piece at 80ºC for 12 seconds to give the noodles that beautiful, puffy, cracker-like texture,” said Teoh.
A new addition to the dim sum menu is honeycomb cake, a steamed soft cake with a beehive-like interior that is also known as kek sarang semut.
Tan shared that the secret behind the flavourful confection laid in the patience required while caramelising the sugar.
“It has to turn brown, close to the colour of chocolates, during the cooking process,” he said.
A standout dish is Baked Barbecue Chicken Puff. It has an extremely buttery and flaky crust, and comes stuffed with chicken and mushroom.
A broad stripe of edible charcoal powder covers the top part of the pastry, lending a smoky flavour.
“The crust is made with an equal combination of butter and margarine.
“The strip of edible charcoal gives it a bit of colour contrast,” said Tan.
Other new dim sum dishes include Sakura Siew Mai, Abalone Sauce Taro Dumpling, Charcoal Mushroom Pastry, Scallop Dumpling and Foie Gras Fresh Wantan.
Zuan Yuan also serves an “all-you-can-eat dim sum” promotion on Saturdays, Sundays and public holidays.
There are two sessions – 10am until noon and 12.30pm until 2.30pm.
It is priced at RM128nett per adult and RM64nett per child (below 12).
ZUAN YUAN CHINESE RESTAURANT, Lobby Level, One World Hotel, First Avenue, Bandar Utama, Petaling Jaya, Selangor. (Tel: 03-7681 1113). Business hours: 11am-2.30pm (Mon-Fri), 10am-2.30pm (Sat, Sun and public holidays); 6pm-10pm (Mon-Sun).
This is the writer’s personal observation and not an endorsement by StarMetro.
