Ming Palace Chinese Restaurant,
Corus Hotel Kuala Lumpur,
Jalan Ampang, Kuala Lumpur.
Tel: 03-2161 8888
Business Hours: 11.30pm to 2.30pm lunch,
6.30pm to 10.30pm, dinner.
TAIWANESE food is a variation of Chinese cuisine, says Corus Hotel Kuala Lumpur executive chef C.W Ng.
“It is slightly different from your usual Chinese fare,” he said.
From now until Aug 31, Ng’s Taiwanese food promotional a la carte menu is available for diners at the Ming Palace Chinese Restaurant.
The limited menu, which features seven dishes, has an authentic stamp to it, although Ng admits that some recipes, in terms of presentation and ingredients, have been tweaked to suit the local flavour.
However, Ng’s interpretation did not run far from the original.
The dishes, priced between RM18++ and RM36++ per serving, are Fried Oysters in Scrambled Eggs, Three Cup Chicken, Poached Squid, Chicken Beancurd Croquette, Xiao Long Bao, Wor Tip and Crispy Shallot Puff.
“These dishes have a very home-cooked feel to it as they are simple, every day food,” he explained.
Healthy offering: Chef Ng’s version of the Crispy Shallot Puffs.
The Fried Oysters in Scrambled Eggs is an example of home cooking.
With batter made from sweet potato starch and eggs, it is pan-fried with oysters, chopped vegetables and flavoured with the chef’s special sauce.
The sweet potato base lends an almost creamy flavour to the dish and is best eaten when it is hot.
One of the highlights of the menu is the Three Cup Chicken.
This improvised version by Ng does not include sesame oil that the original recipe requires, because Ng felt the ingredients could over-power the flavour.
Tasty delights: The Wor Tip are fried dumplings,which are juicy.
Using lots of ginger and garlic to flavour the dish, other ingredients that lend flavour to the sweet and savoury gravy of the dish are rice wine, vinegar soy sauce and sugar.
Once cooked, the dish is presented in a claypot and topped with lots of basil leaves for an appetising aroma.
The thick gravy goes well with hot rice. Squid lovers might find the Poached Squid’s simple preparation interesting as it retains the mollusc’s freshness and flavour.
Using squids imported from Hong Kong, the preparation involves quick blanching and is served with sauce made with a blend of soy sauce and chicken stock.
“Squids from Hong Kong have the right texture — not too thick and they are chewy. The local ones are too soft and the Taiwanese ones can be too thick.
The Xiao Long Bao.
“The squids are sliced diagonally before they are blanched quickly without over-cooking. Otherwise, they would not be juicy and nice,” explained Ng.
Priced at RM18++ for six pieces per serving, the Xiao Long Bao (steamed dumpling with chicken centre), Wor Tip (a pan-fried dumpling with chives and chicken) and the Crispy Shallot Puffs are a good choice for those who are looking for a quick lunch or bite.
Ng’s version of the Crispy Shallot Puffs are not shaped flat as a biscuit like how it is supposed to be. Instead his are shaped into balls. With the skin made from potato flour, the inside is a combination of onions, dried prawns, chicken and chives.
The Chicken Beancurd Croquette is a very safe dish. It has simple, likeable flavours and it goes well with rice.
The croquette is made from soybean, chicken and dry scallops mixed with egg yolk before the pieces are fried. It is served over chicken stock- based gravy.
This is the writer’s personal observation and is not an endorsement by StarMetro.
