Crystal Jade Golden Palace

Chinese New Year tastings have begun...Crystal Jade Golden Palace invited me to a tasting of their very innovative menu for the Year of the Horse.

Chinese New Year celebrations start with the now famous Yu Sheng...a tradition these days and a must have. And to differentiate, chefs have been innovating on the ingredients.

Here we have pine nuts, pumpkin seeds, sunflower seeds, white sesame and peanuts are added to a salad of fresh vegetables and slices of sweet mango.

Fresh salmon and amberjack fish slices, topped with gold leaf flakes are drizzled with Crystal Jade's special plum sauce and hazelnut oil. The mix is then tossed by the diners, and as each of the ingredients symbolice abundence, wealth and health, the participants get to enjoy the blessing for a great start to the new year.

A very interesting, and special fish is next

The Amadai fish is specially imported from Japan, deep fried to a golden brown and covered all over with crispy shimmering scales. The first time I ate fish scales was in Guy Savoy, a 3 star Michelin restaurant at their main restaurant in Rue Troyon in Paris. Amazingly, Crystal Jade's chefs have recreated a very similar dish...though the French dish was not deep fried and this was, the scales looked and tasted very similar. Very light, crispy, very delicately flavoured. The fish itself is elegant, mild and with shichimi powder...a harmonous blend of chillies, orange peel, peppercorns, sesame seeds, dried ginger and seaweed...the taste is sublime. Very nice. Wonderful mouth feel.

A lobster was next

The Chinese name for lobster is Dragon prawns, and dragons are auspicious to the Chinese. Canadian lobster, which I had once in Vancouver, and explained to me by the restaurant owner as superior to Boston as it is more flavourful, more tender meat, is used. The shellfish is seared with hot oil, and gently simmered in superior stock containing halibut. The chef describes this style as yin yang cooking, and explained that it ensures sweet flavours of luscious, firm, white flesh of the lobster sealed by the scalding, and then infused with the goodness and mildly sweet taste of halibut. Eating the lobster, I would declare he was very successful. Reminiscent of the one I had in Vancouver.

A pork dish was next

Wouldn't be much fun if its just plain old pork served, pan fried, right? And of course that won't be a case for the inspired team at Crystal Jade. Strips of kurobuta pork from Japan, sauteed with 2 different varietals of mushrooms, a tricolor of capsicums, and cordycep flowers. The dish is light, yet bursting and overflowing with flavours. The pork was very tender, and suitably mild, allowing the palate of the mushrooms, capsicum and flowers to highlight the dish. A light, organic raw extra virgin coconut oil permeates with a light, fragrant, and yet very creamy foundation. Very nice.

Having been delighted with the first 3 dishes, the fourth brings the meal to a crescendo

Scallops, seared and braised with sea cucumbers in a superior stock. With two sprigs of sauteed asparagus to provide a bit of colour and extra flavour. The combination rests on a bed of sweet corn, wheat and barley as a substitute for traditional rice as a starch. Beautiful flavours meld together in a very nice symphony.

And finally the sweets...a trio of the familiar, the traditional with a twist and the innovative.

First the innovative, black eyed pea cake, steamed

The traditional with a twist, steamed carrot cake

And the familiar with a twist...CNY glutinous rice cake, steamed

A truly superb meal. Worthy of a consideration for the upcoming Chinese New Year.

Many thanks to Samantha of Crystal Jade and JJ of Pinstripes for hosting and the invitation.

Crystal Jade Golden Palace
5th floor Paragon Shopping Center
singapore

Osia Bar and Restaurant at Resorts World Sentosa: Highly Recommended!!

I will come out up front and say it...I love the food at Osia. This bright, airy Resorts World Sentosa eatery has captured my gastronomic imagination like few others in Singapore. Chef Douglas Tay is a genius in creating incredible looking and tasting dishes, and I highly recommend this restaurant.

Having come up with the recommendation up front, I also declare up front, that I have eaten a few times at Osia, and always on invitation of Resort Worlds Sentosa who have hosted the tastings.

And this incredible meal is no different. A huge tasting lunch, with numerous courses. Starting with the Seafood Ice Experience, served in a set of test tubes, with 6 interesting iced creations.

Watermelon raspberry Vinegar, Amabi; Calamari mojito with Hokkaido scallop; Sourz apple with salmon trout; coconut with Maine lobster; pineappple rum with tuna and lychee martini with oyster. I found all the appetizer ices to be very good, but was particularly impressed with the coconut with Maine lobster to be the most outstanding of the flight. Very strong, beautiful coconut flavours and aroma, complemented nicely with the sweet, firm bite of the lobster meat.

Then follows 5 appetizers, starting with the HJokkaido Scallop:

Beautiful hokkaido scallop, citrus cured on a bed of cauliflower cream, black truffle salsa and seaweed vinaigrette. The flavours are marvellous. The scallop sweet, very fresh, and the vinaigrette provided the acidity to cut into the richness of the cauliflower cream. Very nice.

The next was a Fjord trout

the trout is cooked sous vide, a la confit in a 42C water bath. Served with spiced cashews, a pineapple vanilla rum jelly and cilantro butter gell. Again, very beautiful flavours, coming together very well. The trout was mild in taste, but the other ingredients lifted it to quite a nice aural experience.

A soup of Norwegian Prawn

The very fresh prawns, deshelled and cooked in an emulsion, citrus, fennel and dill...the emulsion soup tasted very much like a very good lobster bisque, and the prawns, being very nicely fresh was crunchy and very sweet, with a very nice crustacean flavour.

A beautiful slice of turbot was next

A slice of turbot, with broccoflower, snap peas, cheddar, salted lemon, surf clam volute espuma. Very mild tasting, with a light flavour. Although the list of ingredients in seems rather long, the fish remained very delicately flavoured. Very nice.

And razor clams with Atlantic halibut and Hokkaido scallop

supported by an able cast of black garlic paste, green onion puree, potato foam, Iberian chorizo and artichoke barigoule. I found the scallops to be very intense tasting, bursting with flavours the seafood is famous for...sweet, very nice. The razor clams were also very nice. A superb texture and sweetness. I found the halibut a bit lacking in this company, but still quite nice. Delicious!

Then came the main courses, of which there were 3. Starting with the incredible beef short ribs

Cooked sous vide, a favourite of Chef Douglas, who prefers to use second cuts, as it is less challenging to cook with premier cuts of meat. Topped with a chestnut porcini mousseline, and on a bed of pulverised cider vinegar, compressed apple sauce and black truffle sauce. The meat was certainly very tender....not melt in your mouth tender...Chef Douglas takes issue with that..."beef should not melt in your mouth, it is not butter, but should have texture, and a mouthfeel"...to which I heartily agree that he has achieved. The short ribs were very flavourful, with powerful beefy flavour, and magnificently complemented by the chestnut paste. Very very good dish.

We also had some grain fed Black Angus beef tenderloin

Again sous vide, then seared before serving on a bed of creamed sunchoke, basil cepe, Aquerello rice, tomato parmesan and a red wine sauce in the small glass by the side. The tenderloin was supremely tender. The cut selected showed the characteristic tenderness, and less flavour than a tougher cut. The rice provided a textural change to the smoothness of the paste and the beef, with a nice crunch.

The marvellous milk fed lamb short loun and brest was next

The dish was served with a Swede carrot puree, Romanesco crumble, garlic cream spelt and Tawny Port jus. I found the lamb breast, shown partly on the left of the photograph to be a bit bland, but centerstage taken by the loin was brilliant. The lamb flavours were apparent, yet very mild, and barely noticable...just enough to remind one that one is eating lamb. Beautiful marbling makes for a very tender piece of meat, Very nice. Very, very nice.

Then came the desserts, the first was a pumpkin

A curious lemon mousse which went surprisingly well with the mango, goat cheese and frozen red wine. Marvellous dessert, but the best is yet to be. The Macadamia souffle was absolutely a brilliant way to cap off a wonderful lunch

Beautiful souffle. Superb! With a chunky praline, banana custard and sour ice cream on the side. One of the better soufles I have eaten for a long time...though, as long time readers will remember that my all time favourite was still the one at Chez Dumonet in Paris.

Truly marvellous cooking. Inspired. The chef, Douglas is a true genius in mixing the various ingredients to make a wonderful meal. Two thumbs up! Highly recommended.

Osia Bar & Restaurant
Resorts World at Sentosa
#02-140/141
26 Sentosa Gateway
http://www.osiarestaurant.com/home/

A very special Themed dinner: The Dream of the Red Chamber by Crystal Jade Jiang Nan

The Dream of the Red Chamber is one of the monumental Chinese literary works. For one day, August 17, Crystal Jade Jiang Nan (Vivocity) will transform their restaurant into the Theme of the Red Chamber, and will showcase the food described in the book.

The banquet will feature iconic dishes that have tantalized the tastebuds of the characters in the Dream of the Red Chamber. The book describes some of the dishes in exquisite detail, and makes mention of many others.

This special Themed dinner is only available for pre-booking...make your reservations if you are interested. Seats are limited to 70 people each for lunch and dinner. The entire restaurant will be converted into the Red Chamber, and the wait staff suitably attired...our tea waitress in costume

To begin, a series of 4 snacks are served

Pumpkin seed, sunflower seed and pine nuts

The nuts are roasted separately on low heat in a frying pan for half an hour for a crisp texture and a nutty fragrance.

Sugar coated Chinese dates

Preserved Chinese dates stuffed with red dates and coated with a honey glaze. I found these really superb. Very nice to start a meal.

Chilled Cherry Tomatoes topped with sugar

Chilled for hours, the tomatoes are then served with raw, fine sugar. The tomatoes are very juicy, sweet on their own, but blossomed with a touch of a few grains of sugar.

Steamed roll with preserved fruits

The preserved fruits, diced in cubes, mixed with flour and made into rolls. Steamed for 20 minutes. Nice, soft to bite. Fruits providing the tiniest tinge of a sugar rush to complete the experience.

Then come the appetizers. Count them...six dishes! This is a real banquet!!

Chilled bitter gourd and sour plum powder

Bitter gourd is shredded, and sprinkled with sour plum powder to eradicate the bitterness.

Braised eggplant with pine nut and preserved cherry

Egg plant and preserved cherries are diced into cubes, marinated and braised for days. Pine nuts are then added. A beautiful combination, soft, chewy and crunchy textures meld together. Quite delightful.

Chilled crunchy jellyfish with sesame oil drizzle

Jellyfish chilled in cold water, and trimmed to form flower shaped pieces...a delight to the eye. The texture, I found to be very agreeable.

Smoked duck breast with red yeast rice

Sliced duck breast is marinated with red yeast rice, giving it a pink blush, then smoked. Magnificent. Smokey flavours permeate, and the meat is tender and juicy.

Chicken feet skin marinated with rice wine

Chicken feet are deboned, marinated with rice wine, wolfberries and served with wine cake pieces. I found this to be unlike any chicken feet I have eaten...the usual crunchy texture is not so apparent. The dish was a bit creamy and lush.

Marinted radish with deep fried gluten

Radish spahed like flower petals are marinated in vinegar. Deep fried gluten is strained with water and added. I found this dish a tad too sour, but the radish had a nice crunch.

So far, 10 dishes, and we have just arrived at six mains...

Deep fried live fish stuffed with multiflavoured fish ball and spinach sauce

This dish is described with some detail in the book. Some preparation liberty was taken by the Jiang Nan chefs, but the whole fish is sliced into shape...deep fried till crisp. Multi coloured fish balls are prepared by mixing vegetables with fish paste, wrapped with an egg crepe and stuffed into the deep fried fish fillets. A rich gravy of crab meat, spinach add the final touch.

Double boiled chicken soup with quail egg and button mushroom

Chicken broth is prepared by double boiling chicken for 6 hours. Quail eggs and button mushrooms are added, and a third boiling is done before serving. In the book pigeon eggs are called for, but AVA Singapore does not allow import of pigeon eggs, so a substitute of quail eggs are made. The eggs add a really rich touch. The broth is beautiful, clear, clean tasting.

Braised pork knuckle stuffed with Chinese Ham

Pork knuckle is stuffed with strips of Chinese ham, braised for hours, and complemented with bak choy cut into the shape of flowers and served with a magnificent, thick sauce. Very nice.

Braised whole sea cucumbr with spinach in brown sauce

A huge sea cucumber is simmered for days till it expands to about the length of a man's forearm. Then braised for hours till soft and served with spinach and a thick brown sauce. I found this dish to be very, very good. The brown sauce is also quite special...within the sauce is mixed in prawn roe, giving the sauce a wonderful punch. Very good dish!

Sauteed vegetables with pumpkin sauce

What a beautiful plating. Fan shaped, complementary colours comprising of bak choy, cabbage, carrot, dried mushroom and threads of egg crepe, and drenched with pumpkin sauce. Quite delicious.

Then finally, 4 courses of what is termed dessert, but not all sweet...

Baked crispy mooncake with salty minced pork

Looks like traditional cakes, and made like so. Layers of pastry baked into light and fluffy crust, within salty minced pork and spring onion.

Steamed crab meat and conpoy dumpling

A very special dim sum like dish, compoy is steamed for hours till soft and combined with crab meat, and wrapped in a dumpling, and steamed for 30 minutes. Very good.

Porridge with shredded salted duck and crispy sprin roll skin

Salted duck is marinated and cooked, porridge is boiled with duck bone and the hand shredded salted duck and crispy spring roll skin is added as the dish is served. The porridge did not quite have the consistency of congee, more like moey...but very fragrant and savoury. The duck meat provided a nice lift in taste and salt. And the spring roll skin a textural counterpoint.

Steamed osmanthus cake topped with gold flakes

A mixture of lotus root flour and osmanthus petals is steamed for 30 minutes resulting in a soft and chewy cake with the wonderful fragrance of osmanthus and topped with a gold flake for the extravagant touch.

Very interesting tasting. The themed event is certainly a very good way to make this special. The dishes are well prepared, and links back to the book. Crystal Jade collaborate with food writer Alan Ng, who will introduce the dishes and place them in context of the book. And for the event, a gu zheng player will be in attendance as well. Advanced booking is required. S$98++ per person, with a 15% discount for early bird special (ticket purchased before 15 July with Standard Chartered credit cards) and 10% discount for Standard Chartered credit cards.

Many thanks to Samantha of Crystal Jade and Hannah of Storey 3 for the invitations.

Crystal Jade Jiang Nan
#01-52 Vivocity

Li Bai, Sheraton Towers, Singapore

To celebrate my mother's 76th Birthday, she decided on a small party for the family. She had already decided that she wanted to have "Fu Tiao Jiang" for her birthday, so we narrowed down to the restaurants who are well known for serving this rare delicacy.

Immediately Spring Yu Chun Yuan came to mind. They claim to have invented the dish in Fuzhou in 1876. I even made a recce trip to Far East Square to look at the premises...which reminded one of an old Kung Fu school...it was housed in a temple like building, with a beautiful courtyard. But unfortunately for the date we had chosen, 15 June fell on a Sunday, and they are not open on Sundays. So we fell back to another perrenial favourite of fine Chinese cuisine: Li Bai in Sheraton Towers.

The restaurant is named after the Chinese poet who lived in Tang Dynasty famous for his Taoist peotry. Some years ago, when Sheraton Towers was first opened, the restaurant was infamous for its advertisement which boasted proudly that the dining experience in Li Bai was no small matter. Even the chopsticks were made of ivory, and jade platemats were used. This drew some flak from some quarters, and though they still use the same cutlery, the hotel is smart enough to keep a quiet pride about it.

We elected to an 8 course traditional chinese dinner.

First up was the amuse bouche. Interesting that these days, Chinese restaurants have adopted the French tradition of an amuse bouche - to amuse the palete before the main events. These are always little appetiser snacks, specially prepared by the Chef as an appreciation for the business. The amuse bouche in this case was pastry plums - which were steam soft buns, filled with lotus seed paste and egg yolk.



Detail showing the egg yolk. The lotus seed paste filling was smooth, sweet but not overly so. The bread was lightly steamed, so was fluffy.



The starter was barbequed boneless whole suckling pig wiht preserved bean sauce. Presented deboned, but laying on the plate arranged like a pig:



Detail showing the delicately roasted, crispy skin, a small layer of fat.



Then the entre, the main course was served. The Buddha Jumps over Wall or Fu Tiao Jiang as it is called is a seafood stew comprising of prized ingredients. The story goes that while the dish was being prepared, a passing Buddha, who is typically vegetarian, found it so wonderful that he jumped over the wall to sample the beautiful fragrance.



Served in a special porcelain pot, double boiled very slowly over a fire for many hours, the soup is made from the finest ingredients like sharks fin, whole abalone, chicken stock, sea cucumber, pig tendon, etc.

Typically this is the most expensive dish in a menu. A serving good for 10 people normally costs in the region of S$1000, and comprises of layers after layers of the good stuff. This version was no different. The broth was very fragrant and rich. The initial taste is that of a rich stock, but a bit bland. It takes a moment before the depth of the taste begins to develop. The palate then reveals the more complex flavours as the abalone, sharks fin, cured ham becomes more apparent.



The thrid course was sauteed fresh scallops and shrimps with asparagus. This dish had a delicate sauce, allowing the chef to show the fresh scallops and prawns in good stead. He had first singed both the fresh scallop and the prawn (yes, the menu described them as shrimps, but at this size, I think they should be called prawns), so there was fragrant wok hei.

The wok hei is a characteristic in Chinese stir fry cooking and is only possible in a commercial kitchen with the necessary high powered stoves. A typical stove is usually equipped with several, sometimes up to 6 jet like nozzles, where a mixture of kerosine and compressed air is injected. The resulting jet, is not unlike what gives the thrust on a jetplane, a very powerful, and intense flame. As such, most Chinese Chefs are male, as such a flame requires the cook to move the food at high speed, and often requires flipping the heavy wok...requiring much physical strength. A typical stove like this can generate some 150,000 BTU/hr. In comparison a regular home stove generates no more than 15,000 BTW/hr.



The next dish was the deep fried fillet of garoupa roll topped with crabmeat sauce.

The sauce was light, but had wat tan, a technique where a raw egg is beaten into hot gravy, cooking it in the process and creates floating streams of egg white and yolk within the sauce. This technique is commonly used also for hor fun. Crab meat and eggs were liberally scattered in the sauce.

The garoupa was fresh, and quickly deepfried so that it retains a succulent meat within a slightly crispy outer layer.



The chicken dish was the pompously named "Imperial Chicken with Ginseng". This was one of "jiak por" dishes...heaty, but nourishing. The presence of the ginseng imparted a bitter aftertaste to the chicken, which was poached.



Vegetables came served like a ying yang sign, signifying harmony. Baby pai chai were stir fried, and completely drenched in a rich, thick gravy of crabmeeat and shredded dried scallops. I personally liked this dish very much. The crunchy vegetables contrasted nicely with the smothering gravy, and the rich taste of the crab and scallops.



And for starch, as if, after a meal like this, we still needed more starch...was fried rice vermicelli (bee hoon) with seafood. This was also very well done, with good wok hei and a very fragrant gravy.



Dessert was a mixed platter of fresh fruits.