Chef Hiew Gun Khong
Silver Lining was invited by Mandarin Oriental Hotel for a preview of Cherry Garden Restaurant’s Chinese New Year Menu for 2011. Though it’s way in advance of Christmas we weren’t complaining!
To usher in the Year of the Rabbit, Executive Chinese Chef Hiew Gun Khong, who helms the kitchen at Cherry Garden Restaurant, has specially crafted 11 set menus featuring innovative creations alongside traditional Chinese New Year favourites.
Cherry Garden’s CNY 2011 menu has been months in the making. Chef Hiew spent the time experimenting with candies, traditional sweets and even tracking down the recipe of the favourite dessert of Soong May Ling (read: one of the famous and rich Soong sisters).
Our meal commenced with Triumph Yu Sheng with Geoduck Clam. So there we were tossing Yu Sheng in the middle of December, tossing to big year-end bonuses and gorgeous Christmas gifts…
Triumph Yu Sheng with Geoduck
Unlike syrupy sweet Yu Sheng that tends to be the norm, Cherry Garden’s Yu Sheng pulls off the right combination of cold, fresh, sweet, tart and crisp. Chef Hiew’s special Yu Sheng also promotes good health – it comprises organic rosella flowers and olive oil with spring onion sauce. The geoduck was to die for.
Next we had the Double-boiled pearl chicken soup with superior shark’s fin and cordyceps flower. Chef Hiew explained that “pearl chicken” is imported from Malaysia and is like the kampong chicken – only better. That Chef Hiew managed to boil the chicken to a tender while maintaining its taste is no mean feat. The cordyceps flower had an interesting crunchy texture. The soup is like home-cooked Cantonese soup taken up ten notches thanks to quality ingredients.
The next dish was Wok-fried spare ribs with mandarin orange and chocolate sauce and Crisp-fried Prawns with creamy spicy pumpkin sauce. We’re not sure if you identify with this: we often find eating spare ribs with chopsticks in a nice restaurant a challenge. Finding a way to maneuver a piece of meat attached to a bone into the mouth without making a mess and looking unglamourous is always pressurising. But once again, Chef Hiew puts his magic touch into the spare ribs such that the meat detaches itself easily from the bone at a prod of the chopstick. The mandarin orange flavouring and chocolate sauce complemented each other well. Also, it may have been luck and coincidence that orange chocolates are a personal favourite.
Chef Hiew strongly abides by the belief that Chinese New Year must be marked by an abundance of food so by this time we were hardly done with the meal.
Next we were served Braised baby abalone with sea cucumber, fish maw, conpoy, mushrooms and vegetables. Each ingredient had its own distinct taste and texture; it was overall a decadent combination. The abalone was cooked nicely. Of the entire dish, the sea cucumber stole the show. It had an enigmatic, almost truffle-like taste to it. Couldn’t stop eating it.
Cherry Garden Treasure Pot
Finally: desserts. Chef Hiew likes to experiment and perhaps the most experimental aspect of CNY 2011’s menu are the desserts. The Snowskin nian gao dumplings stuffed with macadamia nut and coconut crumbs are cute as they come – these are nian gao in the form of bite-sized mochis with a filling. A lighter alternative to the usual way of preparing nian gao (pan-fry in an egg batter). Chef Hiew’s twist on Soong May Ling’s favourite dessert is the Royal steamed red bean and nian gao layered cake and don’t leave without trying the Black glutinous rice with refreshing coconut crunch ice and mango.
Red Bean and Nian Gao Layer Cake
Other highlights at Mandarin Oriental Hotel
Take-home Chinese New Year Treats (available 8 Jan – 17 Feb ’11)
Savoury
Cherry Garden Treasure Pot ($238)
Jasmine Rice with Waxed Meat and Sausages and Mushrooms ($98)
Jasmine Rice with Waxed Meat and Sausages
Sweet
Nian Gao Dumpling Stuffed with Macadamia Nuts and Coconut Crumbs ($38 for 16 pieces)
Royal Steamed Red Bean and Nian Gao Layer Cake ($26)
Coconut and Pineapple Sable Cookie ($42)
Coconut and Pineapple Sable Cookie
For reservations or enquiries, please call Cherry Garden at 6885 3538 or email mosin-cgdn@mohg.com.
Silver Lining Says 
silver reader
December 15, 2010
haven’t been to cherry garden in a while… looks interesting