Pleasure-filled packets

By ALICE CHIN

Zuan Yuan
Lobby Level, One World Hotel
First Avenue, Bandar Utama City Centre,
Petaling Jaya, Selangor.
Tel: (03)7681-1159
Pork free

Zuan Yuan Restaurant’s dim sum chef Chin Chee Heong gives a new twist to the Chinese rice dumpling.

Like the proverbial early bird that catches the worm, One World Hotel’s dim sum chef Chin Chee Heong believes in planning ahead. The current Rice Dumpling Festival running until May 28 is yet to run its course, but already the 32-year-old chef is thinking ahead to next year’s event.

“I prefer to work ahead of time as it makes life much easier,” says Chin.

“For major Chinese festivals such as the Rice Dumpling Festival and Mid Autumn celebrations, I would be cracking my head to come up with new flavours as soon as the current selection is approved by the hotel management. My ideas for the three varieties of rice dumplings we are presenting this year were conceived last year,” he reveals.

Chin, who hails from Raub, Pahang, says he first picked up cooking when he was just 12 years old.

“My parents were busy working to support us (children), so we had to learn how to fend for ourselves,” he explains.

Chin’s foray into the professional kitchen was purely by chance.

“After I completed secondary school, I went to work in a restaurant. I actually started out as a service staff — until a dim sum master chef persuaded me to join his kitchen team. Under his tutelage, I slowly acquired the art of dim sum making.”

Today, he bemoans the fact that few young chefs are keen to learn similar skills.

“Making rice dumplings demands patience and meticulous attention to detail. It’s becoming a lost art, which is a pity as rice dumplings have long been part and parcel of Chinese culture. People are also eating less choong nowadays as the speciality’s available all-year round.”

In keeping with tradition, Chin still produces the customary delicacy for Zuan Yuan Restaurant to mark the Rice Dumpling Festival which falls on June 16. He says the restaurant’s rectangular, pillow-shaped choong is made according to the Hong Kong variant. Weighing about 600g each, the savoury rice dumplings are substantial enough to be shared with two or three diners.

We take an instant liking to the Glutinous Rice Dumpling with Wild Rice (RM25++ each). The dark, long-grained rice lent the dumplings a nice textural contrast, giving the sticky dumplings firmness and a mild nutty flavour. The indulgent filling includes pieces of roast chicken and duck, sweet barbecued chicken, dried shrimp and dried chestnuts.

Wrapped in layers of lotus leaves, the huge Zuan Yuan Abalone and Dried Scallop Glutinous Rice Dumpling (RM32++ each) takes seven hours to prepare. Tucked within the soft glutinous rice dumplings are assorted goodies like abalone wedges, dried scallops, salted egg yolks, sliced chicken ham, dried shrimp, dried oyster, smoked duck, black mushrooms and lotus seeds.

The Sweet Black Glutinous Rice Dumpling with Pandan Paste (RM8++ each) is yet another labour of love, requiring up to four hours of preparation. Once devoid of its bamboo leaves wrapping, the dainty dumpling’s dark, glossy appearance may come across as a little ho-hum. However, they turn out to be better than expected.

Although each dumpling has a mildly sweet pandan-flavoured filling, it tastes better with a drizzle of honey.