Ms Skinnyfat

We're less than 1 month to the Lunar New Year! Here's presenting the decadent and indulgent dishes by Man Fu Yuan! Starting 18 Jan till 22 Feb, MFY has all your CNY needs covered.

The Yellowtail Yusheng with Monkey Head Mushrooms, Prosperity Flakes and Peach Dressing ($118 large size) is symbolic of the year of the Monkey. I didn't think the peach dressing came through to cut the oiliness of the gold leaf cornflakes. I found myself craving for some acidity in this one.

The Steamed Alaskan King Crab in Chinese red wine with rich chicken oil was certainly a highlight dish of the night. Such sweet sweetness from the meat and umami from the creamy broth. Chef Eric happily tossed in plenty of crispy pork lard for an added crunch and my dining partners were so hooked they had seconds and thirds of the crackling.

Following that was a succession of abalone dishes. The above braised green lip abalone was very tender and cuts like butter. However, I found it to be kind of fishy..

I very much preferred the Braised South African Abalone and Sakura Chicken in casserole ($198 serves 5) with a lovely Chinese wine sauce. The highlight was actually the super tender chicken and that sauce! These chicken are bred using a Japanese farming technology where chickens live in a temperature-controlled and clean environment, thereby producing really tender and moist meat. Give me a big bowl of rice with this please! Definitely one of my favorites!

CNY is not complete without 盆菜, a pot of braised delicacies in a claypot. Man Fu Yuan’s Deluxe Treasures Pot ($388), comprises over 18 ingredients including Whole Baby Abalone, Canadian Lobster, Fish Maw, Goose Web, Pig’s Trotter, Scallops, Dried Oyster, Quail, Flower Mushroom, Sea Moss and Roasted Duck. Prepared for over 12 hours, the ingredients would have soaked up each other's essence! My favorite bits? The veg, yam, soft abalone, braised juicy mushroom and that lup cheong (wind dried sausages and goose liver sausage)!! The sauce was a little on the sweet side though.

If this seem too much, and you love lup cheong like i do, then go for the Casserole Medley of Waxed and Liver Sausages, Salted Fish and Chicken with Rice ($88 serves 5). Hand over all the lup cheong!

Another one of my favorites is the Whole Suckling Pig stuffed with Glutinous Rice ($388). This is the best pork i've had in my life! The superbly crispy pork skin with a thin layer of slightly chewy collagen and rendered fats, and that salty firm meat! It was a match made in heaven with the slightly sweet sticky rice with more wind dried sausages and mushrooms. Died and went to pork heaven. 

The perfect way to end the meal would be with this Chilled Bird's Nest in Coconut milk. It's super light and refreshing! 

I also foresee that hottest Chinese New Year goodie of 2016 would be this Golden Egg Custard Pastry, which is crunchy, snappy, sweet and salty with the salted egg custard! Definitely get a few bottles of these for the celebrations! I also enjoyed the Osmanthus Nian Gao with Shandong premium red dates, and that light sesame dumpling coated with ground peanuts! 

Various CNY set menus have been crafted by Executive Chinese Chef Kwan Yiu Kan and his team, and ranges from lunches and dinners for two persons, to extravagant gatherings for up to 10 or more persons. Prices $108/pax onwards.