Delectable dim sum

By ESTHER CHANDRAN
Photos by SIA HONG KIAU

ZUAN YUAN CHINESE RESTAURANT,
One World Hotel, First Avenue,
Bandar Utama City Centre,
Petaling Jaya, Selangor
Tel: 03-7681 1159.
Business hours: Noon to 2.30pm
(Monday to Saturday) and 6.30pm to 10.30pm daily.
Lunch on Sundays and public holidays
is from 11am to 2.30pm.

All in: Chef Chew has more than just Chinese New Year delicacies on the menu, dim sum will star as well!

PETITE dim sum often get bumped off the menu during Chinese New Year because chefs prefer to cook up seasons’ specialties than spend time deftly shaping the tiny morsels.

But this is not the case at Zuan Yuan Chinese Restaurant at One World Hotel Petaling Jaya.

This year, once you’re done tossing up the medley of yee sang mix, the array of tasty Chinese New Year dim sum options await.

Dim sum chef Chin Chee Heong said a selection of dim sum was specially created for Chinese New Year, incorporating the use of ingredients deemed prosperous and lucky by the Chinese community.

As Chinese New Year is all about ushering in good luck, prosperity and joy, the dim sum too has been labelled with auspicious names.

“We decided to offer dim sum for lunch on Chinese New Year so that our customers would have more options to feast on when they dine here,” chef Chin said.

On the cart are Steamed Seafood Dumpling with Superior Soup and Shark’s Fin, Steamed Prawn Dumpling with Crab Meat and Crab Roe, Steamed Fish Dumpling with Sea Moss and Green Pea, Steamed Siew Mai with Dried Oyster and Sea Moss, Deep Fried Prawn Roll with Banana in Katafi Pastry, Pan Fried Sweet Bean Curd Parcel with Teriyaki Sauce, Deep Fried Prawn Dumpling with Ebiko Salad Sauce, Deep Fried Spring Roll with Prawn Paste and Deep Fried Bean Curd Roll wtih Prawn and Spring Onion.

Celebration dish: Steamed Lotus Leaf Rice with Yam.

In prepping up the Chinese New Year menu, master chef Michael Chew Chee Peng has created the Chinese New Year Dim Sum Set Menus that has dim sum and must-have prosperity dishes.

Besides dim sum, the RM88++ per person menu offers Sauteed Butter Prawn with Pumpkin, Braised Dried Oyster with Assorted Mushroom and Vegetable, Wok Fried Diced Roasted Duck Meat with Dried Chicken Meat and Vegetable and Crispy Roasted Chicken with Fragrant Bean Sauce while the RM68++ per person menu can be considered less heavy weight.

Chef Chew’s yee sang specialty this year is the vegetarian Assorted Tempura Mushroom Yee Sang.

Plated out with a flurry of colourful ingredients, the chef has included the sharp tasting shitake, stalky shimeji and fan-like oyster mushrooms that have been dipped in batter and fried, to the dish.

“Mushrooms are used a lot in Chinese New Year dishes so I decided to highlight a variety of mushrooms in the yee sang.

“The sauce used to wet the dry ingredients in yee sang is also popular as we use a mix of plum sauce, peach jam and pineapple juice.

“The same sauce is used for our five yee sang offerings,” chef Chew said.

Lou Hei: Toss up the Assorted Tempura Mushroom Yee Sang at Zuan Yuan, One World Hotel Petaling Jaya.

Once you’re done with the lou hei bit and had your fill of either Fruity Vegetarian Yee Sang, Assorted Tempura Mushroom Yee Sang, Salmon and Shredded Sweet Turnip Yee Sang, Top Shell and Jelly Fish Yee Sang or Sliced Abalone and Snow Pear Yee Sang, a sumptuous line-up of dishes await.

Steaming hot or crispy fried, the kitchen crew will whip up tasty dishes like Braised Shark’s Fin with Crab Meat, Wok Fried Tiger Prawn with Fragrant Oat, Steamed Lotus Leaf Rice with Yam, Braised Dried Scallop with Diced Seafood in Money Bag with Garden Greens, Sliced Smoked Duck and Chicken Sausages and Slow Braised Marinated Village Chicken with Vegetable, just to name a few.

Chef Chin will do the juggling act as he oversees the making of the dim sum, then changes stations to ensure his number one dessert - Deep Fried Homemade Nian Gao with Sweet Potato gets all the attention it needs.

His nian gao version sticks in the mind like glue to paper because the sticky amber brown nian gao made of glutinous rice flour, water, wheat starch, oil, coconut sugar, coconut milk and brown sugar is supple and soft and only mildly sweet.

The nian gao is carefully placed between thin slices of Japanese sweet potato cake, dipped into batter to give it a crusty tasty overall finish.

The outlet’s set menus priced at RM1,388++, RM1188++, RM988++ for eight to 10 diners are available for lunch and dinner.