A Toast To An Auspicious Dragon New Year @ Si Chuan Dou Hua, PARKROYAL

Now that all December celebrations are done with; Christmas, NYE, it can only mean to make way for the upcoming big festive celebration of Chinese New Year! (Red packets & new clothes lai lai!) :D

Yee Sang - A wonderful tradition

The tradition that my family and I have been practicing since forever is the common gathering of family and friends at Chinese cuisine restaurants wishing everyone good wealth, posterity and happiness with a range of dishes and of course Yee Sang. Every year, we would meet up over lunch/dinner with relatives (near or far) and catch up with the happenings around them. I'm pretty sure most families practice this tradition and since it is such a wonderful harmonious tradition, why change it?

However, 

there is one tiny, little thing I wish to change in this tradition…

THE SAME RESTAURANT EVERY CNY!!

I understand how the elder folks love to visit good ol' restaurants to rekindle their tastebuds for the particular food they've fallen in love with so many years back and surprisingly, still taste exactly the same today.It brings back fond memories for them. Don't get me wrong, those reasons I fully respect because I do understand the reason behind it. But for those family (like mine! hehe) who visits the same restaurant year after year simply because 'everywhere else is packed' or 'it was good, no need for a new search'… a change of dining location would be great for once don't you think? ;)

This Lunar New Year, for a change, celebrate the gathering of family and friends at Si Chuan Dou Hua at PARKROYAL hotel in KL, with a line up of specially prepared set menus and prosperity Yee Sang for lunch and dinner to welcome in the Year of the Dragon! From January (5th) till February (6th), Chinese Chef Chew Chee Kuong brings blessings and prosperity to the table with lavish feasts of auspicious set menus with significant dishes. 

Elegant dining area

Comfortable seating arrangements

Just a week before the 2011 ended, the pre-blessings of the Year of the Dragon managed to make its way to my tummy as I was allowed to enjoy a taste of one of the set menus at the restaurant. Feeling all prosperous from the meal, I told myself I am ready to take on 2012's New Year resolutions! Hoo-hah!! 

Tropical Fruit Yee Sang

To kickstart the beginning of the New Year, we tossed in with the restaurant's specialty Prosperity Yee Sang creation. What makes this particular Yee Sang different is the addition of refreshing, sweet fruits together with the traditional ingredients of a common Yee Sang dish. Simple fruits like strawberries, dragon fruit, pineapple, rock melon (i think?) and etc. brought the dish to a whole new level as the sweet juices from the fruits burst in your mouth complimenting the sour, salty and bitter elements in the dish.

If you're not much of a fruity person,  you can opt for seafood favorites instead such as Abalone, Superior Shark's Fin, Pacific Clams, Soft Shell Crab, Salmon, Jellyfish or even Yellow Fin Tuna! All these delicately prepared Yee Sang are served with your choice of specially concocted sauce which includes selections of Sour Plum Sauce enhanced with Fruit Flavour, Spicy Plum Sauce with Mango or the traditional Sour Plum Sauce. 

Talk about a change in the traditional ;)

Braised Mini Shark's Fin with Sea Treasure in
Butter Cream Superior Stock

I am a fan of Shark's Fin soup but of course with the world crisis of Shark's being tortured (Ruthless people catches the sharks, cut their fins off and throw them back in the sea leaving them to die because they can't swim to protect/feed themselves), I always opt for the soup to be incorporated with the 'fake' shark's fin. 'Fake' in a sense that they used either gelatin or other parts of different fishes/vege to create the same texture. Like celebrity chef, Gordon Ramsay said a documentary of his determined strong fight for the sharks, the taste is in the soup, not the fins. There is always a replacement for the texture; its just a matter of wanting to find one or not.

Aside from the shark's fin issue, this dish is one of the tastiest soup I've tasted! Love the texture of the soup being not too diluted and not too thick, the balance of flavors is just right as you know, Shark's Fin soup is known to be very flavorful despite the quantity in a small bowl and some fail to control the flavors. 

Butter Prawn with Fragile Oatmeal

Also, another favorite of the night! The creaminess of the butter sauce was just right as it coated the prawns and not drown it. The amount of oatmeal sprinkled above the prawns added a perfect finishing crunch to the tender prawns. After a piece of two, your mouth itches for more of these buttery goodness and it definitely not because of prawn allergies! :P

Steamed Fried Spring Chicken with
Chinese Herbs and Sea Moss

First thought was, the gravy is so delicious! And the chicken was cooked to perfection as it was tender, juicy! Though the dish was cooked with Chinese Herbs to incorporate more flavors, and as you know Chinese Herbs can be too overwhelming due to its strong scent and taste… again, a well-balanced flavorful dish from the chef! 

This is suitable for children's tastebuds as well - I have relatives who get disappointed when their young ones are turned off by the strong taste of herbs in the similar dish. As you know young eaters tend to have limited food choices when it comes to set menus and usually the 'chicken dish' would be the most appropriate one among all. So no worries here!

Wok Baked Sea Grouper Fish with "Lao Gan Ma"
and Sichuan Chili Bean Paste

As the fish greets you well with its wide opened mouth (hehe!), you will be introduced to a burst of sweet and sour sparks along with a hint of spicy twitch at the end of every mouthful. As friends and family know, I am not a good friend to spicy dishes for my chili tolerance level is pretty low considering how Malaysian train everyday with super spicy sweat inducing dishes! But this dish, I can handle the spiciness and if I can, I'm pretty sure 5 year olds can too. :P

Fried Rice with Seafood and Pumpkin

  

Ever noticed that the common Fried Rice tastes so much better and more aromatic when served in Chinese restaurants? I've been enlightened before that it depends on the hot hot wok and the method of frying each ingredient and then incorporating it all together, wonder if that is true? I used to gobble up a bowl of rice together with other protein/vege dishes only to be too full when the Fried rice come; but I've learnt my lesson over the years. Eat everything else on its own and wait for the Fried rice!

The following dishes are not a part of the set menus but can be ordered through their daily menu! :)

Deep Fried Wan Tan

Deep Fried Spring Rolls

Red Bean Paste Wall Band

Tau Fu Fa with Red Dates Sugar Syrup

This is a must try when you visit Si Chuan Dou Hua restaurant! The Tau Fu Fa is so smooth if felt as though it melted right in your mouth!

Chilled Honeydew with Sago

8 Treasures Tea

And clearing our taste palettes dish after dish is the fragrant signature 8 Treasures Tea. The 8 treasures in this tea cup filled with calming aroma are Red Dates, Wolfberries, dried Longans, Chrysanthemum, rock sugar, dried Lily buds and Jasmine tea leaves and 'Mai Dong' (Lilyturf root). 

Spot the tiny differences in each dishes which makes a whole new enjoyable dining experience? To enjoy a bountiful feast with Si Chuan Dou Hua specially prepared set meals, there is the 'Chinese New Year' set priced at RM688++ for 4 people and RM888++ for 6 people. For a group of 10 people, the restaurant offers the 'Prosperity', 'Fortune' and 'Wealth' sets priced from RM998++ onwards. Not forgetting health conscious diners, there is also a Vegetarian set menu at RM898++ per table of 10 people. 

Yee Sang dishes are available for take-away or dine-in, priced from RM58++ (half portion) and RM88++ (full portion) onwards.

Yee Sang and set menus are available at Si Chuan Dou Hua daily for lunch (12 noon - 2.30pm) and dinner (6.30pm - 10.30pm). High Tea of scrumptious dishes during CNY at Chatz Brasserie from 12 noon till 4pm priced at RM59++ per person. 

For more enquiries or reservation, please call +603 2782 8303 or email

douhua.prkul@parkroyalhotels.com

PARKROYAL HOTEL,

Jln Sultan Ismail,

 50250 Kuala Lumpur.