Chinese New Year Feast At Lai Ching Yuen

February 16, 2015

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Chinese New Year feasts in Chinese restaurants around the city have become the norm rather than a rare indulgence for many families. I like the variety of menus, each restaurant offers something unique even if they offer more or less the same menu. For example, you won’t find exactly the same “Yee Sang”, each restaurant has its own variation whether in the ingredients or the sauce.

During a recent food review, we had the opportunity to sample some dishes that are either part of Lai Ching Yuen’s CNY menu or part of their a la carte menu.

Yee Sang with Norwegian Salmon and Crispy Fish Skin

Now this Yee Sang looks so good and it’s the 1st time I’ve had Yee Sang with Crispy Fish Skin. It adds a whole different texture and dimension to this must-have CNY dish. Adding Crispy Fish Skin is a brilliant idea. The sauce for this Yee Sang is strawberry sauce, so fragrant and delicious! A welcome change from the usual plum sauce. 2 thumbs up for this amazing dish.

Double Boiled Dry Scallop Soup with Chinese Cabbage

The soup came in individual bowls, I much prefer individual bowls when it comes to soups since we get the same amount of ingredients. There was a plump dumpling in this soup and very tender pork. Fragrant and nutritious, this is a soup I could have yearnings for!

Deep Fried Prawns with Chef Heng’s Mayonnaise Sauce

Fresh and succulent, these deep fried prawns were a delight. If this was available during dim sum, I’d be the first to order it. The prawns were served to us on individual plates, no fighting over them!

Braised Pork Knuckle with Sea Moss and Dried Oyster

I didn’t expect the pork knuckle to be quite so tender but this was so tender that it melted in my mouth. No chewing required. Exceptional in that it exceeded all my expectations and the sauce was so delicious that I could have done with some rice. Yummmmmmmyyyyyyyy to the max!

Assorted Mushrooms in Bean Curd Bag

How many mushrooms can be stuffed into this bean curd bag? Quite a lot! I couldn’t believe how many mushrooms there were – very generous with the serving. Light on the palate, this is every mushroom lover’s dream dish.

Fried Rice with Assorted Chinese Waxed Meat Wrapped in Lotus Leaf

Presentationwise, this is one of the nicest lotus leaf fried rice I have ever seen. The rice doesn’t taste oily and there’s so much egg on top. I am not a fan of Chinese Waxed Meat though, have never been and will never be.

Hot Sweetened Cream of Green Beans

After such a tasty meal, this dessert was so welcome to bring some sweetness to the palate. The “nian gao” fried with sweet potato wrapped in banana leaf is so presentable and complements the hot sweetened cream of green beans which had some crunch, could it have water chestnuts too?

New Year “Nian Gao”

More of the “nian gao” fried with sweet potato but by this time all of us were so stuffed that there was plenty left over on the plate by the time we called it a night.

Chilled Mango Puree

Not on our menu, this is an extra which the hotel’s PR recommended we try. It’s my favourite dessert of the night as it’s so chilled, you can taste the icy bits. Marvelous in every way, cools you down immediately. The vanilla ice cream goes beautifully with the mango puree. I would return to Lai Ching Yuen just for this.

If you need to give someone some CNY goodies, consider the food hampers at Lai Ching Yuen.