Plates of Auspicious Goodness

By Tan Bee Hong

AT the Tung Yuen Chinese restaurant, chef Patrick Ng has designed a festive menu that includes all the must-have good fortune ingredients, writes TAN BEE HONG.

Auspicious dishes take centrestage at the Tung Yuen Chinese Restaurant to usher in the Year Of The Rat. Chef Patrick Ng Choon Meng has planned an a la carte menu to reflect the propitious occasion.

The restaurant at Grand BlueWave Hotel will stay open throughout the festive period, so forget about slaving over the stove this Chinese New Year eve and take the family out for the reunion dinner.

You can even get an early start on yee sang instead of waiting till the seventh day of the new year as Tung Yuen is offering yee sang from now till Feb 21. Don’t worry if you’re a vegetarian as there’s a vegetarian version available. But for those who like raw fish, there’s salmon and pear, abalone, jellyfish and pear and a special one with Pacific clam and salmon. For the latter, Ng uses water chestnuts instead of radish as he feels this complements the clams far better.

For the a la carte menu, every dish is designed with auspicious meanings. For instance, Teochew-style Steamed Pomfret is a must- have fish dish as the Chinese word for fish (yu) means abundance. A fish dish translates as abundance every year. Well-timed steaming ensures the fish does not dry out and that the flesh is soft and sweet. Adding pickled mustard and slivers of dried mushrooms to the dish gives it better flavour and a tanginess that makes it all the more appetising. And the sidekicks of cubes of tofu are slippery smooth and delicious.

If you don’t like pomfret, Ng says there is a choice of siakap and red coral trout too.

Baked Tiger Prawns (RM40) symbolise lots of joy and laughter as the Cantonese word for prawns, har, sounds like laughter. What better to start off the New Year than the sound of laughter? The prawns are baked and tossed with a really crispy oats mixture. Adding chopped chili padi and curry leaves gives it a mild spiciness and a lovely aroma.

Another must-have is Braised Abalone With Broccoli. Bao Yu sounds like “guaranteed surplus”, making it a popular ingredient in New Year meals. Priced at RM150 each, the abalone can be served whole or sliced.

For lots of surprises, the Stewed Assorted Seafood (RM60) is a treat as the claypot is filled with a combination of ingredients like sea cucumber, fresh scallops, shitake mushrooms, top shell (a kind of shellfish) and two types of fish maw – baked and dried. These provide a nice combination of textures and flavours that come together rather well.

I really love the Steamed Egg Tofu (RM35). With a golden brown coating, they look innocent enough but one bite and all the flavours of the stuffing bursts out. The egg tofu is filled with a combination of chopped celery and waterchestnuts to give it a nice crunch, carrot and dried mushrooms for aroma and prawns and fresh scallops for taste. A string of seaweed rolled around the centre portion of the tofu keeps the stuffing intact. This is served with baby bok choy or Chinese chards on the side.

Another dish to warm your heart is the Yam Dough (RM35). The crispy outside of the ring of yam keeps the softly mashed yam warm. Inside the yam ring is a stirfried mixture of cubed chicken with shitake mushrooms, carrot, capsicum and baby corn. The sauce is thick enough to cling to these without threatening to dampen the yam ring.

Apart from the a la carte menu, Tung Yuen will also serve a Prosperity All-You-Can-Eat dinner until Feb 21, except for Chinese New Year Eve. Priced at RM48++ (adult) and RM24++ (senior citizens and children 6-11), the menu includes a meat and seafood dishes as well as a selection of soups, rice and noodles, vegetables and dessert.

Or you can opt for lavish set menus from RM688++ to RM1,188++ for tables of 10.

For lunch, there is a Fatt Choy Dim Sum promotion. For RM58++ (adult) and RM29++ (senior citizens and children 6-11), you can pick as much of your favourites as you can eat from a list of 30 dim sum items and hot dishes.

TUNG YUEN CHINESE RESTAURANT (halal)

Grand BlueWave Hotel

Persiaran Perbandaran

Seksyen 14, Shah Alam

Tel: 03-5511 8811 ext 2616

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