EE CHINESE CUISINE
Lobby, Eastin Hotel,
13, Jalan 16/11, Section 16 Commercial Centre,
Petaling Jaya.
Tel: 03-7665 1111 ext 138 or 03-7628 7338
Business hours:
Noon to 2.30pm (Monday to Saturday),
10am to 2.30pm (Sunday and public holidays)
and 6.30pm to 10.30pm daily.
Pork-free.
Instead of having wine with your meal, why not try whisky?
AT its most fundamental, the two are completely different in that wine is usually made from grapes while whisky is made from almost any kind of grain such as wheat, rye or barley.
Both however, are produced through a fermentation process, with whisky going through a distillation process as well.
If you distilled base wine, you will get brandy, another favourite.
Drinking something alcoholic with one’s meal, a distinctly non-Asian custom, has gained popularity in recent years, hence the Whisky and Food Pairing Dinner at Ee Chinese Cuisine, Eastin Hotel, Petaling Jaya.
Executive chef Alex Leong said he had never tasted the three whiskies that accompanied the dinner until he was asked to come up with a menu for it.
Eastin Hotel Petaling Jaya executive chef Alex Leong.
“When I first tried them, I noticed that they had varying intensities. I focused on this and created a menu that matched it, so that the drink would complement the food and vice versa instead of one element overwhelming the other.
“The dinner starts off with the light courses and moves on to the heavier dishes, in harmony with the whiskies being served,” he explained.
A light dish, the pasta, was mostly memorable because of its presentation but the ostrich ragout and sundried tomatoes gave it the flavour needed to match The Glenrothes Special Reserve.
Our six-course dinner began with a dramatic plate of sashimi that came with its own “smoke” effect, thanks to some melting dry ice.
It was paired with a Japanese whisky, the 12 years Hakushu single malt that had a subtly sweet almost floral nose that has been described as green apple and pear and finishes dry and mellow.
The equally subtle fruit palate of this whisky made a nice contrast with the next dish, a Double-boiled Pigeon Consomme with Fish Maw, Sea Cucumber and Sundried Scallop which leaves behind a heavy aftertaste that the refreshing Hakushu washes down nicely.
Next came the triple-distilled Auchentoshan, a smooth number that delivers a punch in both the nose and palate in the first few sips but goes down smoothly nevertheless.
This whisky became more palatable and delivered an almost mild and sweet finish after a few bites of each of the next two dishes – the Roasted Stuffed Chicken Roulade (top pic) with Porcini Mushroom and Truffle Red Pepper Sauce and the Roasted Lamb Chop with Spiced Salt and Yam Ball.
A round of head-scratching accompanied the following course, the three-colour Angel Hair Pasta with Ostrich Ragout and Sundried Tomatoes, served as they were in cocktail glasses with the pasta wrapped around a pair of chopsticks (the trick was to push all the pasta off the chopsticks using the edge of the glass).
Despite the heavy dishes, most diners still found room for this tasty dish that was accompanied by The Glenrothes Special Reserve, a brand known for producing limited vintages.
The meal ended with the dessert trio of Vanilla Chocolate Praline Ice Bon Bon, Pistachio Raspberry Jam Ball and the Apple Celery Walnut Crisp, an unusual but memorable bite, that was very much like the entire meal, priced at RM288++ per person.
The apple celery walnut crisp, vanilla chocolate praline ice bon bon and pistachio raspberry jam ball are eaten in that order exactly and is from left to right in the photo.
This is the writer’s personal observation and is not an endorsement by StarMetro.
