Tung Lok Signatures

I guess Tung Lok doesn't need any introduction...a old name in high end Chinese cuisine in Singapore, this chain of restaurants have outlets occupying the entire strata of price ranges to suit one's wallet. From the high end and quite expensive Tung Lok Signatures, to the more down to earth Zhou's Kitchen and Lao Beijing...both of which are permanent favourites of the family.

But a celebration warrants a higher end location, with a higher end budget to match. It was my mother's 79th Birthday, so we decided to splash a little...at Tung Lok Signatures at Vivocity.

We started with an unusual grilled foie gras with sliced duck served on a light pastry:



Quite superb. The foie gras was lightly seared...the insides were beautifully smooth and creamy. The outside crisped a little. The duck meat was nicely done, though not spectacular. And the pastry light and very complementary to the duck. Interesting migration of French culinary style over to Chinese.

Next we had the Tian Jia style braised shark's fin. Yes, we still eat sharks fin...



Rather nice. There was generous combs of shark's fin...small strands, which are crunchy to the palate. And the gorgeous chicken and seafood stock which lifts the dish. The stock is no ordinary stock...I can tell its been prepared with long hours over the fire...causing the protein in the chicken and seafood to denature, and completely meld into the soup...giving it a thick, and slightly sticky collagen consistency.

Next were sauted prawns with greens and yam spring rolls:



Excellent dish too. The prawns were nice, fresh, crunchy. Good breath of the sea was evident in the prawns as one bites into it. The spring rolls were also nicely done. Even though deep fried, the skin remained crisp and dry. The insides, as one bites into it, releases the rich, creamy fragrance of yam.

Fish was next, and we had steamed soon hock:



Not much to look at this fish...but the steaming was very well done. The fish was firm, but yet tender and juicy. The doneness was such that at the core...where the bones are, it is slightly pink. But thouroughly cooked. The sauce is what makes or breaks a simple dish like steamed fish, and this was equally simple with a superior soy and ginger and chilli. Not my favourite for the evening, but nice.

Next dish was the interestingly named Bomber chicken...



It turned out to be a whole chicken done like har cheong kai. Decently done, but I have tasted better har cheong kai elsewhere...and indeed even at home. But while this passes the mark, not one to write home about.

Braised beancurd with spinach was next:



Served with snow fungus and some vegetables, the tofu was fragrant, and very soft within its leathery, slightly crispy outer skin. The sauce tempered the taste and brought it up a level. I liked this quite a lot.

The rice dish was lotus leaf rice with dried seafood:



I found this to be very good as well. As the lotus leaf was being cut, the wift of the gorgous fragrance enters one's nostrils and thrills. The rice seemed to be a combination of regular long grain fragrant rice and sticky rice. Beautiful dish.

The desserts: Chilled aloe vera gel with lemon sherbet:



Kind of western inspired as well. The aloe vera jelly was very nice. Had a springy consistency, and allowed the chunks of fresh aloe vera to shine. The sherbert was a lime sorbet, and I suspect home made...the ice crystals were a little irregular, but the taste authentic and very good.

As we were nearing Father's Day, the menu included a serving of Longevity Peaches:



These were quite good...the skin and pastry outer was nice and soft...like a light pau...the filling was ling yong. And was rich and creamy.

Of course, as this was a birthday celebration, we had a cake brought in. The Tung Lok staff are used to birthdays...they gathered around, sang the birthday songs. Had the cake delivered on a large plate with birthday greetings hand written on. And the the cake, or rather fruit tart which we purchased from Fruit Paradise Tart Shop.



The tart is superb:



Loads of fresh strawberry on fresh cream, on a marscapone filling a tart case. Beautiful.



Tung Lok Signatures
QB House - Vivocity
1 Harbour Front Walk, 098585
6376 9555
Subway: HarbourFront
Open Daily 11am-10pm

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.