Auspicious, Prosperity and Happiness at Wan Li

 

To welcome the dawn of the lunar Year of the Horse, Renaissance Johor Bahru invites diners to gather, feast and reconnect over reunion and celebratory meals hosted in Wan Li Chinese Restaurant.

 

Dishes served in the Wan Li Happiness set menu
at Wan Li Chinese Restaurant

It is that time of year again when the city comes to a virtual standstill as Chinese businesses take a break for a well-deserved rest and Chinese families gather to celebrate the Spring festival.

 

With shopping for new clothes and Spring-cleaning done, families travel back to hometowns for their annual family reunions over a sumptuous meal, often homecooked but now it is a special treat to dine out in a good restaurant.

 

It is also the time of year to dress up in red outfits that augur well for good fortune and indulge in festive snacks, delicacies and high-value food ingredients – just once a year – to pamper oneself for having worked hard throughout the year.

 

The Happiness set menu was
served at the food preview

As families and friends gather for a festive celebration over good food on the eve of the Chinese New Year, some Chinese companies also have a tradition in hosting an appreciation meal with their staff to mark the close of business for the year and/or for the reopening of business after their annual long break.

 

Legend has it that when Chinese chefs tried to cater to the fancy of Chinese businessmen, eager to achieve good fortune and prosperity, they created an auspicious salad toss for prosperity – the higher the better – dubbed, Yee Sang, a literal translation in Cantonese for ‘raw fish.’

 

This prosperity Yee Sang, topped with slivers of raw fish, has gained popularity not only in business circles but have become a staple dish during this season to usher in great wealth, better health and good fortune at the dawn of the Chinese New Year.

 

A serving of Wan Li's
Abundance Treasure Pot

At Wan Li, the culinary team led by Chef Jerry Tee, has crafted elegant set menus dubbed Auspicious, Prosperity and Happiness with premium takeaway items like the Yee Sang platter and Abundance Treasure Pot.

 

A closer look at their festive menus revealed that the Abundance Treasure Pot or Poon Choi (or ‘basin dish’ literally translated from Cantonese dialect) is part of the menu in the Wan Li Happiness Set.

 

I have learnt to appreciate the fine art of savouring this luxurious communal dish, layered with between nine to 18 courses of premium ingredients, braised in a rich broth and served like a banquet in a basin.

 

Pouring each topping over the platter of
 Prosperity Yee Sang accompanied by
traditional auspicious phrases

Over the years, my family and I have had the pleasure to savour Wan Li’s delicious Poon Choi where ingredients were separately cooked by stir-frying, deep-frying, boiling, braising or stewing before being arranged layer-by-layer into a claypot and further stewed for laborious hours to bring out exquisite flavours that are fit for Emperors. 

 

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. 

 

I learnt that 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. 

 

Piping hot bowl of Village Chicken 
and American Ginseng soup

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

 

At the preview of the Chinese New Year reunion menu, we were served dishes in the Prosperity Set and in the tradition of Chinese New Year celebrations, the first dish was Yee Sang, topped not with raw fish but with Crispy Fish Skin.

 

Also in the Chinese New Year tradition, their serving staff presented the various toppings onto the salad platter one-by-one while reciting auspicious phrases for the drizzle of oil, sprinkling of crushed peanuts, scattering of crispy flour puffs and the final whirl of plum sauce by saying, “Tian, tian, mi-mi” (Mandarin for ‘sweetness’).

 

Armed with chopsticks, everyone stood up to join in the prosperity toss of salad with repeated shouts of, “Huat-ah!” (Hokkien for ‘prosperity’) and other auspicious wishes in traditional Chinese phrases for good health, wealth and well-being.

 

The prawn dish prepared in two
flavours: Golden Salted Egg [Top]
and Mala sauce, de-shelled!

The Chinese have a tradition of drinking hot soups, so I took time to slowly savour the comforting taste of piping hot Double-boiled soup made with Village Chicken and American Ginseng.

 

For the poultry dish, it was a twin platter of tender pieces of Cantonese Roasted Duck and Herbal Roasted Free-Range Chicken, topped with crispy prawn crackers.

 

Wan Li understands that a whole fish – a Silver Pomfret, sourced locally from Pontian – was a prized dish in a Chinese New Year celebration as it represents, ‘abundance.’ This prized pomfret was served poached and topped with minced pickled Radish and Coriander with a hint of heat from chopped chilli.

 

Wan Li is also aware that diners wish to enjoy eating prawns for its auspicious significance but many may find de-selling the whole prawns rather tedious. So the prawns were served de-shelled and wok-fried in two flavours: Golden Salted Egg and Mala Sauce.

Braised heads of Abalone, Sea Cucumber
and Dried Scallops with seasonal vegetables
on a bed of Black Moss sauce

While connoisseurs may be familiar with the strong taste and numbing effect of the mala sauce – an acquired taste – my humble advice is to start with eating the prawns coated in salted egg before going on to tasting the prawns with mala sauce.

 

During this season, the Chinese not only indulge in eating high-value food ingredients but they often give ordinary food ingredients, extraordinary and exaggerated names just to raise the level of auspiciousness. I recall being pleasantly surprised to discover that ‘golden bricks’ were in fact, cubes of fried tofu.

 

I was pleased that Wan Li stayed close to tradition when I spotted the Black Moss in the sauce for the dish of Braised heads of Abalone, Sea Cucumber and Dried Scallops with seasonal Vegetables.

 

Imperial Eight-Treasure Fragrant Rice 
served on a lotus leaf

While black moss may resemble strands of wispy black hair, its auspicious name, Fatt Choy (Cantonese phrase for ‘prosperity’) makes it a highly-favoured ingredient to enhance the meaning of dishes during this festive season.

 

When I saw the rice dish in this menu dubbed, Imperial Eight-Treasure Fragrant Rice, presented with eight colourful toppings, it reminded me of the Korean rice dish, Bibimbap. But no, there was no sauce to add into this rice dish as it was so flavourful.

 

With each mouthful, I discovered tiny cubes of yam in the fragrant rice and took my time to identify the eight treasures in this dish.

 

As I ate the colourful ingredients, I managed to taste the braised diced chicken with flower mushrooms along with crispy fried shallots and dried shrimps, crunchy sweetcorn kernels, edamame, lotus nuts, gingko nuts, chestnuts and red beans.

 

A slice of gooey Nian Gao sandwiched
between slices of sweet potato, deep-fried
in crispy batter

After the savoury dishes, I looked forward to the sweetness in the double desserts served in this menu. And when they were served, I liked the refreshing taste of chilled Peach Gum with Snow Fungus, Dried Longan and Red Dates, followed by crispy Golden Fried Nian Gao.

 

When I sank my teeth into the layers of sweet potato that sandwiched a slice of gooey Nian Gao, I couldn’t help being amused as I thought about the traditions attached to Nian Gao, a sweet-sticky rice cake or kueh bakul which has a significant role in traditional Chinese families. I thought this should make an interesting conversation topic in family reunions and festive meals.

 

Chinese New Year gatherings at Renaissance Johor Bahru becomes a meaningful discovery, and every meal a celebration of tradition, togetherness and craftsmanship.

 

Two dining sessions are planned for Chinese New Year Reunion Dinner on February 16: Session One from 5pm to 7pm and Session Two from 8pm to 10pm.

 

Celebrate the season with Wan Li’s Abundance Treasure Pot or Poon Choi, presented in two sizes: Small at RM788 nett and Large at RM1,288 nett each. Available for dine-in or takeaway.

 

Prosperity Yee Sang platters are offered in two size options with topping choices for Abalone at RM148 nett (Small) and RM238 nett (Large), Fresh Salmon Fillets at RM128 nett (Small) and RM178 nett (Large) or Crispy Fish Skin at RM118 nett (Small) and RM168 nett (Large).

 

Wan Li presents three eight-course Reunion Dinner menus in two size options for 10 or six diners, that come with one Gift Box each, filled with Wan Li Chinese New Year goodies.

 

Wan Li Auspicious Set at RM2,388 nett for 10 persons, RM1,588 nett for six persons;

Wan Li Prosperity Set at RM2,888 nett for 10 persons, RM1,888 nett for six persons;

Wan Li Happiness Set at RM3,188 nett for 10 persons, RM1,988 nett for six persons.

 

To offer diners ample opportunities to celebrate the season, these festive set menus will be available from January 2 to March 3, 2026.

 

Wan Li Chinese Restaurant is on the lobby level of Renaissance Johor Bahru located at 2, Jalan Permas 11, Bandar Baru Permas Jaya, 81750 Johor Bahru, Johor.

 

For enquiries and reservations, Tel: +607 381 3388 or WhatsApp Tel: +6012 771 9056. Send email to: henry.lee@renaissancehotels.com