Gems of festive food at Xin Shan Long

This Chinese New Year, Chef Ho Teck Vun has planned a choice of three festive menus to serve at Xin Shan Long Chinese restaurant in Le Grandeur Palm Resort Golf & Country Club.

Enjoying the prosperity toss of Salmon Yee Sang,
Raw Fish Salad in the Lo Hei tradition

And when I received an invitation from General Manager, Jef Kong, to enjoy a Chinese New Year lunch with him and his management team, I did not hesitate to accept.

It’s really no secret that the food quality served in this Chinese-Japanese fusion restaurant is so well maintained that I often forget that it is a Halal restaurant!

From handmade dim sum, Teppanyaki to dishes from the ala carte menus and even the festive menus dubbed, Gold (RM988 nett), Pearl (RM1088 nett) and Emerald (RM1388 nett).

Chef Ravi and I at Xin Shan Long,
Le Grandeur Palm Resort Golf & Country Club

I arrive at Xin Shan Long and am ushered to the table, invited to sit next to my friend, Chef Ravi Retnam, better known as Chef Ravi, Senior Executive Chef with the resort.

Dining with the resort team again feels like a reunion because I’m familiar with the resort and in August 2011, I had the privilege to share a Portrait story on Chef Ravi.

My story revealed another side of the affable chef, how he used to walk to school and enjoyed stopovers at the shop next to our grandfather’s house at Jalan Ngee Heng.

And one of his revelations was the nickname his classmates gave him to describe his scrawny size.

Chef Ravi has certainly outgrown his nickname, so he was ready to tell me about his mates in their all-boys school who mercilessly dubbed him Ravi Tikus!

Ravi and I had a good laugh because we are enjoying a sumptuous meal together to usher in the lunar year of the Tikus, the Malay word for Rat!

Steamed Chicken in Chinese Herbs

When the Salmon Yee Sang is served, GM Jef invited us to enjoy the “Rainbow Yee Sang” probably because he saw the colourful combination of ingredients.

Once again, I witness how our multi-racial community represented in the resort’s management team, have embraced the Lo Hei tradition of tossing the raw fish salad together for greater heights of achievement.

I like how this menu includes a rich soup prepared with Braised Fish Lips in dried seafood broth. The gelatinous texture of this soup is not unlike that of traditional Shark’s Fins soup and these alternative ingredients clearly compliments a festive menu.

Deep-fried Prawns in Salted Egg

A Chinese New Year meal is not complete without poultry, fish and prawns as well as vegetables and dried ingredients that have auspicious names and meanings.

The whole chicken is steamed with a variety of Chinese herbs and served in sheets of lotus leaves. While the meat is already tender, we have the privilege of Chef Ravi helping us carve the chicken before the portions are served.

In recent years, the humble salted egg has been elevated as a popular ingredient used to enhance recipes for meat and seafood and even snacks.

Braised Dried Seafood in a Claypot

Chef Ho prepared deep-fried whole prawns – still in their shells – coated with salted egg batter and served them plated in an unusual arrangement, with the prawns lying on their backs and their tails pointing upwards!

The crispy prawn shells are so crunchy and tasty that I probably got myself an extra dose of calcium from munching them…

The next dish, Braised Dried Seafood in a Claypot, is a welcome softer contrast from crispy and crunchy with ingredients like green vegetables, mushrooms, carrots and snow peas braised with whole deshelled prawns, slices of sea cucumber and fish maw.

My portion of Ho See Fatt Choy

HongKong style steamed Dragon Garoupa on a bed of superior soya sauce is a popular item in the Chinese New Year menu which everyone can agree upon.

This is probably because eating a whole fish ushers in prosperity for the whole year.

In fact, traditional families will deliberately leave some leftovers of the fish because the word for ‘surplus’ sounds same as the word ‘fish’ and nobody minds having something extra to enjoy in the coming year!

Another popular dish in the festive menu is Braised Dried Oyster with Fa Cai (Mandarin), black fungus, or its more familiar name in Cantonese, Ho See Fatt Choy.

Steamed Glutinous Rice in Lotus Leaf looks so Green!

While the black fungus may not be visually appealing, its rarity and high value as well as its name, Fatt Choy (Cantonese), adds value to this ingredient because this phrase literally means, ‘to gain greater wealth.’

When the Steamed Glutinous Rice wrapped in Lotus Leaf is served, I cannot help but notice that this is the first and only serving of Lotus Leaf Rice (in all previews!) that looks so Green!

This is because of the creative plating where Chef Ho decided to decorate this mound of tasty rice with a ring of lettuce and carrot Julienne around it!

This delightful meal comes to an end with twin desserts.

Chinese desserts to enjoy with sips of hot Chinese Tea

Red Bean Soup, where the red beans are blended into the soup and flavoured with a hint of dried orange peel, comes with glutinous rice balls stuffed with black sesame puree.

A separate serving of Sweet Fancy Pastry is made up of two Chinese pastries: a slice of pancake rolled in red bean paste and a sesame-seed ball or chin-toy.

This sweet ending pairs perfectly with a cup of hot Chinese tea.

Xin Shan Long - Sobasei, the Halal Chinese-Japanese Fusion Restaurant at Le Grandeur Palm Resort Golf and Country Club, is located on the lobby level, at Jalan Persiaran Golf, off Jalan Jumbo, 81250 Senai, Johor.

For reservations, Tel: +607 – 599 6000 Extn: 8607. Website: www.palmresort.com