Celebrating with tradition at Qing Palace

Qing Palace, the award-winning Chinese restaurant at Pulai Springs Resort, is keeping traditions alive by celebrating with reunion feasts this Chinese New Year.

A banquet in a basin or Pen Cai is featured in
the Chinese New Year Reunion dinner menu

Reunions are not just for families but also among friends and colleagues, who wish to celebrate this festive season together with a sumptuous meal.

So Master Chef Lim Ming Chong and his culinary team have created a choice of set menus at Qing Palace for the eve of Chinese New Year on Jan 24 and from Jan 25 to Feb 8.

Pulai Springs Resort will be celebrating with a sumptuous spread of banquets and buffets, as well as traditional lion dance and dragon dance performances from 10.30am on Jan 27 – the third day of Chinese New Year!

At Qing Palace for a media preview hosted by the resort’s general manager, Sunny Soo and the Marketing & Communications team, I watch as that the lion dancers assemble themselves to give us a brief preview.

General Manager, Sunny Soo [Left] with
Master Chef Lim Ming Chong at Qing Palace

As the drummer strikes up the tempo for the pair of dancing lions, the walls of Qing Palace echo with the reverberating throb of the drums and clanging cymbals!

The flashes of Red in the prancing lions certainly matches with the menu of traditional dishes being prepared with symbolic expressions of good fortune, prosperity, happiness, good health and wealth and great abundance.

During this festive season, the Chinese in this part of the world have a tradition of tossing Yee Sang or lo hei to usher in greater prosperity at the start of the new year.

Diners may choose from four Yee Sang options that feature various ingredients offered in two sizes: Salmon RM68+ (small) RM128+ (large); Royal Abalone RM68+ (small) RM128+ (large); Dried Seafood RM78+ (small) RM138+ (large);  Smoked Duck RM78+ (small) RM138+ (large); Available from now till Feb 8.

Chopsticks poised for the Lo Hei tradition of
 tossing the Yee Sang salad for prosperity

A glance at the Reunion Dinner Set Menu served on Chinese New Year Eve showed that it featured an elaborate dish, the Qing Palace Special Pen Cai (Mandarin) or Poon Choi (Cantonese) which literally means a “banquet in a basin.”

A basin banquet may comprise between 9 to 18 courses of various ingredients that are separately cooked by stir-frying, deep-frying, boiling, braising or stewing. 

Traditionally, each layer arranged within a claypot may include high-value and exotic ingredients like abalone, prawns, roast meat, mushrooms, dried oysters, dried seafood, goose feet and vegetables. 

These ingredients are then assembled layer-by-layer in the basin and further stewed for laborious hours to bring out exquisite flavours that are fit for Emperors. 

Dancing Lions in Qing Palace to usher abundant good fortune

The art of eating Poon Choi is to savour layer-by-layer and it is good manners to help yourself to what is within easy reach instead of stirring or digging to the bottom of the basin. 

The aim is to savour each ingredient in separate courses and allow all the natural flavours and nutritious goodness to steep into ingredients arranged in the next layers.  

As I savour the tasty ingredients one after the other from the Poon Choi, I know that the kitchen team led by Chef Lim are applying their collective culinary skills to prepare this elaborate dish that involved marinating, brewing, braising, stewing and steaming to present a taste of tradition this Chinese New Year.

HongKong style Steamed Dragon Garoupa

Chef Lim is aware that after eating rich ingredients in the Poon Choi like whole abalone, whole prawns, broccoli florets, roast chicken and fish maw among other tasty ingredients, diners would already be feeling comfortably full.

So the menu served was just right, with two more dishes: HongKong style steamed Dragon Garoupa fish and glutinous rice steamed in lotus leaf, topped with chicken floss.

I’m happy that the meal ended sweetly with a festive dessert of deep-fried nian gao, a traditional Chinese New Year cake made from ground glutinous rice. 

Serving a portion of Glutinous Rice steamed in Lotus Leaf
topped with Chicken Floss

This traditional rice cake was prepared in a familiar recipe where one slice of nian gao is sandwiched between a slice of yam and sweet potato and deep-fried in light batter. 

On Chinese New Year Eve, Jan 24, the Reunion Set Menu are prepared for table of six persons at RM798+ and table for 10 persons at RM1,288+ served in two dining sessions at 6pm and 8pm.

From Jan 25 to Feb 8, three options of Chinese New Year 8-course set menus for tables of 10 persons will be available for lunch and dinner. They are Set Menu A at RM790+, Set Menu B at RM900+ and Set Menu C at RM1,380+ per table.

Dessert of traditional rice cake or Nian Gao sandwiched
between a slice of sweet potato and yam, and deep-fried

Pulai Springs Resort also offers an alternative dining choice at Cinta Terrace Restaurant in a Chinese New Year Eve barbecue buffet on Jan 24 priced at RM65 nett per adult and RM32.50 nett per child, served from 6.30pm to 10pm.

Reservations made before Jan 17 will save RM10 nett per adult from the original price. Groups of 10 persons or more will save RM12 per adult.

On Jan 25 and 26, Cinta Terrace Restaurant will serve Chinese New Year buffet lunch from 12pm to 3pm at RM45 nett per adult and RM22.50 nett per child.

On Jan 25, Chinese New Year Day, a buffet dinner will be served from 6.30pm to 10pm at RM60 nett per adult and RM30 nett per child.

GM Sunny Soo [Right] with members of Johor Collective Media or JOCOM, at Qing Palace

Pulai Springs Resort is at 20km Jalan Pontian Lama, 81110 Pulai, Johor.  Qing Palace serves food which is pork-free and without alcohol. 

For reservations, Tel: 607 – 521 2121, Email: enquiry@pulaisprings.com