As we end the year and welcome CNY 2020, Crystal Jade is all set to impress diners with its auspicious Chinese New Year offerings.
Group Executive Chef Martin Foo and his kitchen brigade has curated a new set of celebratory dishes, prepared in keeping with the brand’s core principles of Chinese cuisine influenced by modern gastronomy.
Gather your family and experience fine dining at any of its restaurants, or take away your selected specialties and celebrate at home.
For more convenience, you can go online at estore.crystaljade.com to shop for your CNY 2020 festive goodies.
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Prosperity Golden Lobster Yusheng 祥龙飞舞百花飘香捞生 ($168 for large, $98 for small)
Available at Crystal Jade Palace, Crystal Jade Golden Palace, Crystal Jade Pavilion and Crystal Jade Dining IN for dine-in and takeaway from 6 Jan to 8 Feb 2020. Available online at estore.crystaljade.com from 18 Nov 2019 – 4 Feb 2020
This premium Yusheng creation is a new item in the menu, specially made with wholesome, house-made ingredients. Exclusively available from select outlets, the Prosperity Golden Lobster Yusheng comes in two sizes, ie large for 8-10 persons, and small for 5-7 persons.
Texture, flavour, and aroma interplay is central to this festive dish, combining home-made pickled items and a variety of fresh, natural ingredients.
You’ll find thinly sliced pickled cucumbers, marinated plum tomatoes, pomelo, ice plant, lily bulbs, and red dates. Crushed kaffir lime leaves add an intense citrusy fragrance, and for crunch, walnuts and sesame seeds join the bunch.
This beautiful assembly is accompanied with succulent slices of local lobster, topped with ikura, aka salmon roe.
I loved the mixture of dressings – flower blossom syrup made with olive oil, and plum sauce – which gives a refreshing fruity taste without being too sweet. Indeed, it feels like spring is coming.
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Festive Feasting at Crystal Jade Fine-Dining Restaurants
Still planning how to celebrate Chinese New Year this 2020? Crystal Jade’s fine-dining and casual restaurants offer a wide range of dine-in set menus, takeout bundles, and even an online store for utmost convenience. Some of the highlight dishes include:
Hakka Yam Abacus Seeds with Boston Lobster 波士顿龙虾算盘子 ($15 per 100g of lobster)
Available at: Crystal Jade Palace (Takashimaya Shopping Centre)
Customarily eaten during festivals for it symbolises wealth, the Abacus Seeds is a yam-based Hakka dish that requires painstaking preparation.
The abacus seeds are shaped from a hand-made dough made with steamed and mashed yam combined with tapioca starch. Once formed into soft little nuggets, they are stir-fried over high heat with dried shrimps, minced shiitake mushrooms, fa cai (black moss), and other seasoning.
Crystal Jade Palace conveniently offers you a quicker and more decadent version of this traditional dish by adding nice and juicy chunks of Boston lobster.
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Double-Boiled Abalone with Conpoy, Sea Cucumber and Fish Maw Soup served in Teapot 鲍鱼佛跳墙茶壶汤 ($24.80 per person)
Available at: Crystal Jade Jiang Nan
Premium ingredients come together for this soup, a take on the classic Buddha Jumps Over The Wall.
Served in a teapot to create an interactive dining experience for diners, the double-boiled abalone is served together with some dried brine cured scallop or otherwise known as conpoy, protein-packed sea cucumber and prized Chinese delicacy fish maw.
I liked that we could take small sips off the teacup. Because while the soup looked clear, it was packed full of flavour with the essence of the premium ingredients. After drinking, you can literally feel it going down, warming the belly.
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Braised Cod Fish Sphere in Golden Thick Soup with Ibérico Ham 金汤鱼球配西班牙火腿 ($28 per person)
Available at: Crystal Jade Pavilion (Crowne Plaza Changi Airport)
Taste a different rendition of “lion’s head” (shi zi tou) at Crystal Jade Pavilion using a buttery cod fish meat instead of pork.
The tender and moist fish sphere is hand-made from a blend of hand-chopped cod fish and minced water chestnuts. Fatty pork is added to the mix to impart a savoury and meaty taste.
One of my personal favourite components is the accompanying rich and creamy sauce poured all over, which takes a golden hue from the blend of carrots and pumpkin and superior stock.
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Braised Whole 10-head Abalone with Homemade Black Moss ‘Goldbar’ Beancurd 蚝皇10头鲍鱼自制发财金砖 ($28.80 for regular)
Available at: Crystal Jade Hong Kong Kitchen
Each order comes with three blocks of soft home-made tofu topped with black moss and a whole 10-head abalone. Served with accompanying broccoli and goji berry.
These bean curd gold bars are cloaked in an umami-laden abalone-infused braising liquid.
Prepared by simmering abalone in a superior stock, the golden sauce seeps into the tofu enhancing its flavour and texture.
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Classic Claypot Rice with Duck, Cured Meat and Chinese Preserved Sausage 油鸭沙煲腊味饭 ($118 for 4-6 person, $188 for 7-10 person)
Available at: Crystal Jade Dining IN
The lap mei fan or Chinese preserved meat claypot rice is a good-for-sharing dish that is enough for 4 to 6 diners.
A comfort food for many, this celebratory dish comes with steamed rice topped with slices of lap ngap (Chinese preserved duck) and waxed meat.
Instead of the usual dark soya sauce, this version comes with a specially prepared fragrant sauce with fresh pork lardons which you can pour into the claypot itself, or add little portions into your own bowl for that added flavour.
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Crispy Brown Sugar and Coconut Glutinous Rice Cake ‘Nian Gao’ 脆皮鸳鸯年糕 (from set menu)
Available at: Crystal Jade Palace (Takashimaya Shopping Centre)
Though we have eaten many different types of sweet nian gao, this sweet treat is rather inventive – chewy and bouncy, made with alternating layers of coconut and brown sugar glutinous rice cake.
Together they are wrapped in a spring roll skin and deep-fried to achieve a light crispiness, accentuated with black & white sesame seeds.
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Crystal Trio Dumpling (Yam, Peanut & Sesame) in Brown Sugar Ginger Soup 黑糖姜汁三色水晶汤圆 ($5.20 for 3 pieces)
Available at: Crystal Jade La Mian Xiao Long Bao
Slurp up this sweet soup for dessert, infused with ginger and the caramel notes from the addition of brown sugar.
Swimming in the golden liquid are gorgeous semi-translucent crystal dumplings in three flavours – creamy yam, nutty peanut, and roasted black sesame.
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Salt-Baked Dang Gui Chicken 纸包当归盐焗鸡
Available as part of Auspicious Reunion Feast Festive Takeaway Bundle ($418 for 5 pax, worth $482, or $668 for 10 pax worth $728) or $36.80 for whole.
This Hakka-style chicken is one of 5 quintessential CNY dishes within the new Auspicious Reunion Feast Festive Takeaway Bundle.
Prepared whole, the chicken is seasoned with the Chinese herb dang gui, covered entirely in coarse salt then baked.
The heated salt helps maintain a constant baking temperature, resulting in moist and tender chicken meat.
Make your reunion dinner fuss-free and get this all-in-one takeaway bundle, which also includes Bountiful Abalone Treasure Pot, Reunion Yusheng with Smoked Salmon, Eight Treasures Glutinous Rice Wrapped in Lotus Leaf, and a 7” Prosperity Carrot Cake.
Chinese New Year dining at Crystal Jade restaurants* will commence from 15 Jan 2020 (all outlets will be closed on 25 Jan 2020 – CNY Day 1). Takeaway orders can be made online at estore.crystaljade.com from 18 Nov 2019 to 4 Feb 2020, and available at outlets from 6 Jan to 8 Feb 2020.
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* This entry is brought to you in partnership with Crystal Jade Group.