Stir it up: Chong tosses the Yee Sang at the table.CELEBRATE this spring festival and usher in good fortune and an abundance of wealth at the Royal Gourmet Restaurant the vibrant Premiere Hotel in Bandar Bukit Tinggi, Klang, from Jan 15 to Feb 17.
Award-winning Chinese chef Chong Chee Ming said that for the season, the restaurant was offering a fusion of Chinese and Japanese cuisine, with the freshest herbs and ingredients sourced on a daily basis to ensure quality and taste.
Yee Sang, a traditional dish among Malaysian Chinese, is the first to be served on the dinner table to start the Rabbit Year. This time around, it will be offered with a twist of Japanese flavours with high grade pickled salmon.
“Wasabi paste has also been added to the plum sauce for the Yee Sang that is a must have during the lunar New Year celebrations at the Royal Gourmet.
“I also prepared the peanut oil one month ago, and it has been kept in an air-tight ceramic jar to ensure no moisture gets in,” he said.
Chong added that the the signature Yee Sang comprises ginger, beetroot, carrot, radish, crushed peanuts and thin slices of salmon. He explained that the wasabi-plum sauce gave it a tangy and mildly piquant sensation.
“Our Yee Sang has a unique taste as the sour plum sauce is mixed with wasabi and the salmon is pickled unlike other restaurants where lime is just squeezed on it,” he said.
According to Chinese belief, Yee Sang is a dish that will bring wealth to those who are working or operating a business.
He added that the spices used in the Yee Sang left an aftertaste that complemented the starter — lobster meat stirred with wasabi and mayonnaise, green apple and mango.
“We serve the starter with crab meat dumplings in superior sauce and deep fried Innoki mushrooms.
“Our soup, which has a golden hue, is created with crabmeat, crab roe and pumpkin puree,” he said.
As for dining for the Reunion Dinner or celebrating the Chinese New Year with families, friends and business partners, Royal Gourmet has plenty of options available.
Chong, who has won culinary awards in Singapore and China, has a team of chefs to prepare lavish and flavourful dishes made with the freshest herbs and ingredients.
Royal Gourmet has lined up an array of flavourful prosperity dishes befitting the New Year celebration like steamed estuary garoupa in superior soya sauce, braised assorted dried seafood stuffed in golden money bag, Hong Kong fongsar roast chicken and steamed Mandarin kwai fah fish with fresh bean curd stick and black fungus.
This is the writer’s personal observation and is not an endorsement by Star Metro.