WEST LAKE GARDEN CHINESE RESTAURANT
Lobby Level,
Sunway Resort Hotel and Spa Persiaran Lagoon,
Bandar Sunway, Petaling Jaya
Business Hours: Lunch (Mon-Sat): noon to 2.30pm
(Sun & Public Holidays) 10.00am to 2.30pm
Dinner (daily) 6.30pm to 10.30pm
Tel: 03-7495 1888
IN RECENT years, the traditional Chinese glutinous rice dumpling has had various makeovers in terms of ingredients, shape and size.
The changes were made to cater to different demands by customers.
Heavyweight: Wu holding up the Superior Giant Glutinous Rice Dumpling.In these coming weeks, you will be seeing more of these dumpling as the Duan Wu Jie (Rice Dumpling Festival) falls on June 6. It is celebrated on the fifth day of the fifth lunar month.
At the West Lake Garden Chinese Restaurant, Chef Wu Chee Keong had concocted two dumpling recipes to complement three others by master chef Chan Choo Kean.
During StarMetro’s visit recently, Wu shared how he came up with the Steamed Glutinous Rice Dumpling with Yam and Lamb (RM23++) and Steamed Vegetarian Glutinous Rice Dumpling (RM18++).
“Usually, the dumplings you get come with chicken or pork. I wanted to have something new,” he said.
However, Wu, 37, said it was not easy to prepare lamb for the dumplings as the meat was known to be gamey.
Wu had to stew the lamb for four hours with Chinese herbs to get rid off the smell before stir-frying it with black pepper.
“Once the meat is tender and properly cooked, I take it out and mix it with glutinous rice, dried shrimp, mushrooms, chestnuts and yam,” he said.
Vegetarian option: The Steamed Vegetarian Glutinous Rice Dumpling comes with three varieties of mushrooms.The dumpling was left to boil for three hours. When the restaurant receives an order, kitchen staff will steam the cooked dumpling before serving.
As for the Steamed Vegetarian Glutinous Rice Dumpling, the main ingredients are enoki, abalone and black mushrooms.
The vegetarian dumpling also looked slightly different. It appeared lighter in colour and wild rice was mixed with regular glutinous rice.
“Nowadays many of our customers opt for a healthier choice when they dine out and more often than not, vegetarian choices seem to favour them,” said Wu.
Also on the menu was Chan’s Hong Kong-styled Steamed Glutinous Rice Dumpling (RM28++) which was filled with dried scallops, barbecued chicken, salted egg yolk, black mushrooms, chestnuts, dried shrimp and yellow peas.
Those who fancy a sweet finish can try his Steamed Glutinous Rice Dumpling with Sweet Red Bean (RM12++) which has creamy bits of red bean in it.
Lastly, Superior Giant Glutinous Rice Dumpling with Assorted Meat and Special Savoury Sauce (RM188++) makes a comeback.
The 3kg dumpling has an equal spread of dried scallops, dried oysters, barbecued chicken, lotus seeds, chestnuts, salted egg yolks, mushrooms, dried shrimp and yellow peas, all tucked in with a specially-concocted sauce.
The dumplings are available a la carte for lunch and dinner. A three-day advance request is recommended for orders beyond 15 pieces.
The promotion is available from now to June 6.
This is the writer’s personal observation and is not an endorsement by StarMetro.