Chinese New Year 2013 Specials at Park Palace, Grand Park City Hall
Chinese New Year starts on 10 February, have you made your feasting plans yet? From 21 January to 24 February, Park Palace at Grand Park City Hall presents "Golden Treasures of Prosperity". I was invited to a preview of their offering.
Golden Shunde Yu Sheng @ S$88++
In Singapore, no Chinese New Year celebration is complete without tossing the prosperity salad known as Lo Hei Yu Sheng 捞起魚生 (also referred to as Yu Sheng 魚生). The ubiquitous Chinese New Year Lo Hei Yu Sheng is given a luxurious treatment here with a shimmering finish of gold dust and gold flakes.
Chinese New Year Lo Hei Yu Sheng
True to the cuisine from Shunde (a Pearl River Delta town in Guangdong province), that this salad is named after, fresh Yellowtail fish slices are used instead of stronger tasting options like salmon or abalone. The delicately sweet fish slices are served on a bed of crispy fried vermicelli, julienned ginger, spring onions, capsicums and ground peanuts. The salad does not have the cloying sweetness that is characteristic of most Yu Shengs neither does it have the flour crisps that are usually used to symbolise "gold". As I generally do not have a sweet tooth, I enjoyed the Yu Sheng for it's light and savoury flavour, drawn from a dressing of peanut oil and premium soya sauce. The Golden Shunde Yu Sheng here is a Must-Try!
If you'd like to know more about the auspicious phrases that are uttered during the assembly and tossing of the salad, refer to my old blog post here: CNY – How to Lo Hei Yu Sheng 捞起魚生
Imperial Suckling Pig @ S$238++
(needs to be ordered at least a day in advance)
Park Palace serves their Imperial Suckling Pig in 2 courses, like how Peking Duck is served in 2 to 3 courses.
Imperial Suckling Pig - 1st Course
For the first course, we were served thin squares of roasted pork crackling dipped on the fat side in Hoisin sauce and on a small steamed pancake. Suckling Pig served the traditional way. The crisp slivers of tender suckling pig skin yielded to each bite with a crunch and a little burst of moisture from the fat. This is a Must-Try!
Golden Happiness Crispy Garoupa
Next, we were served the Golden Happiness Crispy Garoupa, which featured deep-fried chunks of Garoupa flesh. The piece that I got was dry, perhaps the fish had been fried for just a little too long.
Prosperity Flambé Pen Cai
@ S$268++ for 6 pax & S$428++ for 10 pax
That was followed by Pen Cai, a dish comprising 18 Chinese delicacies arranged in layers within a claypot and slow-cooked with a rich stock. The ingredients include Sliced Abalone, Scallops, Sea Cucumber, Whole Conpoy, Prawns, Roast Duck, Roast Pork, Duck Web, Soya Chicken, Fatt Choy, Black Mushroom, Lotus Root, Broccoli, Radish, Beancurd Skin, Gingko Nut, Tien Shin Cabbage, Bai Ling Zhi Mushroom, Sliced Sea Perch Fillet and Wood Fungus. Park Palace adds flambéed Cognac just before serving for a touch of luxury and complexity of flavour. I was getting pretty full at this point so I didn't eat all 18 ingredients and simply enjoyed the rich flavours of conpoy, chicken, mushroom, lotus root, black fungus, beancurd skin and some radish. The portion we had was apparently meant for 6 people but as we'd eaten quite a few items before that, we felt the portion could easily serve 10 instead. The rich brown gravy fortified with Cognac was very tasty and would go perfectly with steamed rice if you intend to buy a pot home for a meal.
Imperial Suckling Pig (2nd Course)
Oven-baked with Lemograss
We were then served the second course of the Suckling Pig. It comprised chunks of suckling pig on the bone that had been oven-baked with a thick layer of sweetish sauce that had a strong, though not overpoweringly refreshing flavour of lemongrass. It was a change from the usual style of serving suckling pig where the rest of the pig is chopped into chunks after the skin had been taken off for the first course. However, I still prefer the traditional second course as I'm not a fan of sweet-tasting sauce.
Auspicious Glutinous Rice with Foie Gras & Preserved Meat
Park Palace has given a modern interpretation to a Chinese classic, Lap Mei Fan (Rice with Preserved Meats). The traditional dish comprises claypot rice cooked with preserved meats like Wind-Dried Sausages 腊肠, Liver Sausages (Yun Cheong) 膶肠, Waxed Pork Belly (Lap Yok) 腊肉 and Waxed Duck 腊鸭. Here, the preserved meats are chopped into little bits, stuffed within a glutinous rice patty, steamed and then pan-fried to replicate the crust that is often found at the bottom of the traditional claypot dish.
In another twist, a small chunk of pan-fried foie gras smothered in rich brown sauce tops each portion. In spite of how full, I was feeling, I found myself finishing up the savoury, sticky pearls of glutinous rice that had been infused with the flavour of preserved meat with added flavour from the foie gras and sauce. I preferred to eat the foie gras separately from the rice as I felt that the flavour of the foie gras seemed to enhance the slightly porky flavour of the dried sausages. I loved the smoky flavour of the crust. This is also a Must-Try!
Steamed Mini Pumpkin Dumpling with Green Bean Paste
We ended the meal with an adorable miniature pumpkin dessert that had been coloured with natural pumpkin juice. Sporting a chewy and firm dumpling skin, it reminds me of the Thai dessert, "Look Chob", which features an array of bite-sized miniatures of brightly coloured fruits stuffed with green bean paste. The dessert had a faint citrusy flavour of tangerine peel that helped to somewhat temper the sweetness of the green bean paste. Though I am not big on desserts, I enjoyed the dumpling immensely. This is worth a try if you like desserts.
Appended below is an indication of the prices for the Chinese New Year Set Menus. Click here for details.
- $78++ per person (a maximum of two persons)
- $288++ per table (for four persons)
- $438++ per table (for six persons)
- $588++ per table (for eight persons)
- $788++ to $2388++ per table (for ten persons)
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Blog Promotion:
- Complimentary bottle of house red wine per table of minimum 10 diners.
- Please state "superfinefeline" as your promotion code when making reservations via email/phone.
Early Bird Special:
Book now and dine-in from 21st Jan to 7th Feb to enjoy 20%off to Lunar New Year Set Menus or the a la carte menu.
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Park Palace Grand Park City Hall Level 2 10 Coleman Street Singapore 179809 Tel: (65) 6432-5888 Email: fnb.gpch@parkhotelgroup.com Website: www.parkpalace.com.sg Operating Hours: Daily: 11.30 am to 2.30pm & 6.30pm to 10.30pmPS: Thank you, Karen, Kelyn and Jean from Park Hotel Group for the kind hospitality.