XINJIANG COURT CHINESE RESTAURANT,
Klana Resort Seremban,
PT 4388 Jalan Penghulu Cantik,
Taman Tasik Seremban,
70100 Seremban.
Business hours: Mon – Sat (noon to 2.30pm)
Sundays and public holidays (10.30am to 2.30pm)
DELICATE morsels of seafood, meat and vegetables steamed to perfection and served in dainty little portions.
Who does not love dim sum — the tasty little snacks which are the perfect accompaniment to yum cha (tea drinking) sessions?
Some say the popular snacks are linked to the roadside tea houses that popped up along the ancient Silk Road for travellers to rest along their way.
Many people including rural farmers used to frequent the tea houses for a relaxing drink which led to tea house owners adding light food on the menu to satiate their hunger.
Dim sum may have its detractors but when I sat down with members of the media to a sampling of the tasty morsels at Klana Resort in Seremban recently, all the little steamer baskets and saucers of dim sum whether, steamed, braised or fried that we were served were picked clean.
Affordably priced at only RM30++ (per adult) and RM21++ (per child), the all-you-can-eat dim sum buffet at the hotel’s Xinjiang Court Chinese Restaurant offers more than 30 varieties of savoury and sweet treats prepared a la minute for guests.
Dim sum chef Ho Tooi Kit, who painstakingly creates these little wonders with help from his kitchen team, serves up healthy and delicious dim sum made from fresh ingredients.
“Quality is foremost for us as dim sum is often prepared with little seasoning meaning that the freshness of the ingredients is vital or it will not taste good.
“We also try to serve healthier alternatives by including vegetarian options or by minimising the use of oil or fat to encourage people to eat healthy,” he said.
Ho assures diners that the hotel does not stinge on ingredients and he was true to his word as even the prawn triangles (prawns in pastry puffs) we were served contained two medium-sized prawns each.
The dim sum are also prepared only when an order is placed ensuring optimum taste and preventing the dim sum from being overcooked.
On the menu at the restaurant are a variety of delectable dim sum including the popular steamed prawn dumpling, steamed BBQ chicken bun and pan-fried Shanghai style dumplings.
Buffet guests can also order a bowl of shark’s fin soup with seafood or shark’s fin dumpling soup to go with their meals.
Ho said besides the dim sum selection, accompaniments such as pan fried crispy noodles with prawns, braised yee mee with seafood and kuey teow with sliced fish in a creamy egg-based sauce are also included in the buffet.
“There is something for everyone from steamed dim sum to heavier dishes like noodles and sweet treats to round off your meal.
“I’ve added dim sum with a modern twist for the younger crowd such as cheesy prawn rolls, mango seaweed rolls and even an Italian-inspired steamed turkey ham roll with BBQ sauce,” he said.
During our recent tasting session, the 33-year-old chef also demonstrated how he makes one of the most popular desserts at the restaurant – the golden mini pumpkin.
The dessert, which is often quickly snapped up when offered on the buffet menu, is made using glutinous rice flour sheets flavoured with all-natural pumpkin paste.
Fillings including fruit, bean paste and even chocolate are added before the dessert is steamed and served.
On our table of ten, the most popular dishes were Ho’s steamed chicken feet Gui Lin style which was lip-smacking good, steamed dumpling Teo Chew style, stir fried radish cake and prawn triangles served with salad sauce.
Chicken feet is not for everyone but Ho’s double-boiled version coated in black bean and Szechuan paste won a few converts.
Another winner was the steamed dumpling Teo Chew style which was chockful of peanuts, chopped celery and sengkuang (yam bean) and flavoured with chicken broth.
Selected dishes such as the baked egg tart and sesame chicken puff can only be ordered on Sundays and public holidays so make reservations accordingly the next time you are hankering for dim sum.
The restaurant seats 180 pax and has five private rooms. For reservations, contact 06-766 7888 ext 333.
This is the writer’s observation and not an endorsement by StarMetro
