Since 2008, the Oriental Group of Restaurants started to hold their annual Grand Dinners. As the Group’s Executive Chef, Justin Hor explained – these dinners showcase the rich and vibrant culinary heritage of the Chinese and it’s something the Oriental Group is very proud to fête their loyal fans and gourmands alike.
This year, 2017 marks the 9th Annual Guest Chef Grand Dinner series and Chef Justin Hor is collaborating with Hong Kong-born Chef Peter Tsang of Si Chuan Dou Hua Parkroyal Singapore. Together, these two maestros have crafted two 8-course menus featuring classic Nanyang Cantonese dishes. In case you are wondering, the Chinese take “Nanyang” as generally the region beyond the south of China… which geographically refers to countries like Malaysia, Singapore and the rest of the Asian nations). Back in the 1970’s and 80’s when there’s a lot of people migration, chefs and cooks included, it’s not surprising that due to the cross-cultures and transfer of skills, fusion of Chinese and local cuisines was bound to happen. As a result, “Nanyang” flavours crept into Cantonese cuisine and vice-versa.
So, for the Grand Dinner series, Chef Justin Hor and Chef Peter Tsang have created the Majestic and Royal menus, priced at RM1,888 nett and RM3,888 nett respectively for a table of 10. At a special preview recently at Noble House, we had a chance to sit down with the 2 amiable chefs and tasted some of the dishes from the two menus.
Chef Justin Hor (left) & Chef Peter Tsang
Chef Justin Hor needs no introduction, well-known as the master chef of the Oriental Group of Restaurants. Chef Peter Tsang comes with 47 years of culinary experience, numerous accolades and have cooked for world leaders all over. With credentials like these, you can be assured of a grand time for sure.
Now back to the Grand Dinners, here’s a look at what’s in store. The Tapas Platter featured 6 dishes – what a grand kickoff!
Deep-fried Salt & Pepper Sea Cucumber
Chilled Chicken with Szechuan Peppercorn Sauce
Capsicum & Apricot Mushroom in Miso
Chilled Bitter Gourd in Sweet Chilli Sauce
Radish Cake Typhoon Shelter-style
Fragrant Black Sesame Flat Noodles
Pork Kyuri Roll with Spicy Sauce
No Cantonese meal is complete without a soup and the Double-boiled Haruan Soup with Fish Maw served in Paper Wok was superb. With its milky appearance, thanks to the haruan fish, the intense flavour of the soup was comfortingly delicious to the last drop.
Double-boiled Haruan Soup with Fish Maw
Both the menus feature splendid dishes and one distinctive dish is the Treasures Chest Duck braised with abalones and served with soft-boiled quail eggs. With 4 salted egg yolks, together with lotus seeds, barley, mushrooms, Chinese ham and herbs stuffed into the belly cavity, the duck has been braised for hours with abalones. Naturally the flavours and textures of the duck were amazing!
Treasures Chest Duck
In line with the grand theme, steamed fish cannot just be another run-of-the-mill dish and hence the chefs decided to present it as a “gift platter”. Just look at the creative presentation…
Crystal-wrapped Steamed Soon Hock with Radish & Green Ginger
As Chef Peter Tsang explained it, the Scallops in Golden Egg White Souffle was all about skills. A whole scallop was encased inside a “bag” of egg white souffle which was first deep-fried and then boiled till it’s all puffed-up.
Scallop in Golden Egg White Souffle
Chef Peter Tsang in action
The Yin Yang Rice with Lobster & Crabmeat in Superior Lobster Broth was truly impressive, as rice dishes go. Consisting one-third glutinuous rice and two-thirds puffed white rice, the rice were cooked in a robust lobster broth and lots of lobster and crabmeat. I can bet you even non-rice lovers would polish off every delicious grain – I did.
Dessert was a refreshing double-boiled snow pear with peach resin, served chilled…
Chilled Peach Resin in Snow Pear
We totally enjoyed the preview meal with Chef Justin Hor and Chef Peter Tsang for both the sumptuous dishes as well as for their entertaining company. Both chefs had so much to share – their stories and anecdotes kept us entranced for more than 3 hours and we didn’t even realise how those hours flew by!
Do try to catch the chefs and both Chef Justin and Chef Peter will be making their appearances at the series of grand dinners on:
21 August 2017 – Noble Banquet
22 August 2017 – The Han Room
23 August 2017 – Oriental Pavilion
24 August 2017 – Noble Mansion
25 August 2017 – Noble Banquet
Both the Majestic and Royal menus are available from 21 August till 30 September 2017 at all participating outlets in the Oriental Group of Restaurants. Diners can also enjoy the dishes on an a la carte basis from 25 August till 30 September 2017.
Do call ahead to book, to avoid disappointment and also because some of the dishes require time to prepare.
For more information, do visit their website here.