Min Jiang’s spanking new Chinese New Year menu is all about cherry colors, tangy tastes and eyebrow-raising excitement
Min Jiang has two outlets. One of them sits comfortably in the grandiose Goodwood Park Hotel, right in the heart of Orchard. The other spreads across a black and white colonial bungalow, deep in Rochester Park.
We were brought the signature dishes from both of these outlets, each with their own distinguishing flavour. The waitress skilfully drizzled the impressive array of side dishes onto the humble plate and slowly, Min Jiang’s Kanapachi and Tuna ‘Yu Sheng’ took onto a colorful form.
A flavour that stands out
This platter features a lofty stack of mesclun greens, strips of radish, carrot, red ginger, jellyfish and fried silver cod fish, pine nuts, topped with sweet potatoes and yam chips and finished off with ground peanuts, sesame seeds as well as “pok choy” (crunchy crisps) tossed in a balanced wasabi-lime juice sauce.
For me, the differentiating factor has to be the juice sauce. Most yu shengs taste pretty similar, save for the different add-ons, such as the fresh kanpachi and tuna in this case. Hence, the sauce provided a tangy touch that brought the dish together.
They even offered a refillable teapot of wasabi-lime juice, for the daring!
Can you guess what’s underneath?
An impressive centrepiece for the table, this handcrafted dish is adorned with two beautiful koi swimming in a sea of wealth that encases sumptuous sea treasures within. Invite guests to partake in “releasing” the bounty of good fortune by breaking open the salt crust!
Work for your food
Each participant will be given a hammer, which they are supposed to use to break apart the crust. Remember to shout out your blessings for the new year, before you drive the hammer down! Do you feel like a hungry Thor?
You will be rewarded for your efforts with a feast of scrumptious eel maw stuffed with dace fish paste, Australian 10-head abalones, dried oysters, dried scallops, flower mushrooms and “fa cai” (black moss). The abalone was intensely soft, packing flavour in every chew. The scallops had a wonderfully sweet aftertaste, with a creamy texture.
Vegetarian alternative to yu sheng
Isn’t the dish picture-perfect? The artfully arranged bloom of delicate plum slices are topped with pomelo-mango bits and enhanced with an assortment of dragon-fruit, mango, rock melon and cucumber. Crushed peanuts, sesame seeds, toasted pine nuts provide a crunchy contrast. The mustard dressing was a refreshing and appetizing finish.
By Nicole Lee
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