Min Jiang, Goodwood Park Hotel Z6730 1704 and
Min Jiang at One-North Tel 6774-0122 or online at festivepromotions.goodwoodparkhotel.com
Priced at $218 for six people. One working day advance order required
As far as reunion treasure pots go, the sight of Min Jiang's stewed pork belly and sea treasures doesn't intimidate you with its neat arrangement of melt-in-the-mouth sliced braised pork belly and accompanying delicacies like whole abalones, dried scallops, black moss, sea cucumber, mushrooms and Tientsin cabbage. The abalones have just the right bouncy-tender texture after being stewed for nine hours with firm tasty sea cucumber, large scallops and Chinese mushrooms, all in a thickened, not-too-gooey gravy. A ring of braised winter melon ups the vegetable quota and it's slinky-soft and infused with gravy too.
Majestic Restaurant
31-37 Bukit Pasoh Road Tel 6511 4718
Priced from $360 for six people to $568 for 10 people. One working day advance order required
If you don't want to go to a restaurant, let the restaurant come to you in the form of a complete set menu that you can just pick up and take home in time for your family reunion. Chef Yong Bing Ngen of Majestic and Jing Restaurants has put together a combo of favourites that include atlantic salmon yusheng, a classic treasure pot with whole abalones, prawns, fish maw and sea cucumber, and a new creation of smoked kampong chicken. The chicken looks a little like it was braised in soya sauce but it's got a delicate fragrance of smoked oolong tea leaves and the smooth texture and consistency of Hainanese chicken. Round off the meal with traditional lap mei or rice with waxed meats, and Chef Yong's signature nian gao (glutinous rice) layered with potent Mao Shan Wang durian cream.
Xi Yan
38A Craig Road Tel 6220 3546
Priced at $78 for truffle roast chicken and $40 to $108 for Teochew fried kway teow. Two working days advance order required
For the past eight years, this Hong Kong import has been dishing up modern Chinese cuisine in its "private dining" space in Craig Road. Also known for its luxurious yusheng creations that feature mountains of raw fish and shredded vegetables, its takeaway repertoire offers a few refreshing changes from the norm. Check out its fragrant truffle infused roast chicken where the fleshy bird gets an injection of flavour from both oil and bits of black truffle. The bird is served already cut up in bite size pieces and massaged with truffle oil so every mouthful gets a hit of upscale fungi. And for a twist on traditional lap mei where steamed rice is topped with preserved meats, Xi Yan's chef prepares wok-hei fragrant fried kway teow Teochew style, with preserved radish, fried egg and crunchy beansprouts. For that festive touch, he scatters a layer of sliced dried Chinese sausages on top.
Peony Jade at Clarke Quay Tel 6338 0305
and Keppel Club Tel: 6276 9138
Priced at $498.88 for six people. One working day advance order required
This isn’t so much a treasure pot as it is a treasure bucket - a juggernaut affair involving an edible scrum of whole sakura chicken being sat on by a throng of ingredients including seared baby lobster, pale Australian abalones (expect to do a fair bit of chewing on them), eel, roast duck, pork knuckle, mushrooms and thick pieces of fagao or fish maw (thick finger-sized versions with the texture of pork or deer tendons), crammed into an impressive wooden pot. Visually, it makes quite an impression with the sight of the lobsters, abalone and unagi sitting pretty in a Japanese wooden basin.
Ju Chun Yuan
#01-01 Far East Square Tel 6536 2655
Priced at $108 per portion (for one person) with sharksfin, $88 without. One working day advance order required
Priced at $108 per portion (for one person) with sharksfin, $88 without. One working day advance order required
If the sheer immensity of a traditional poon choi or treasure pot doesn't appeal to you, then find elegant satisfaction in the original luxury of Buddha Jumps Over The Wall. The dish originates from the tale of a monk who interrupted his own meditation and jumped over the wall to locate the smell of this slow-cooked braise of sharksfin, abalone, sea cucumber, mushrooms and the like. The real McCoy is prepared just the way it has been for centuries at this Fuzhou restaurant in Far East Square. Easily warmed up in the microwave, it's a convenient luxury for the new year and features a clean-tasting thickened broth that has just the slightest herbal tang, and is chock full of fork-tender fins, sea cucumber and abalone.
Supernature
#01-21/23/27 Park House, Orchard Boulevard Tel 6304 1338
Priced at $48 for roast pork belly and $88 for the roast poulet Bresse
Indulge with a conscience seems to be the mantra for organic store Supernature which kickstarted its Chinese New Year festive lineup with organic bak kwa made of free range pork that was sold out within days of its launch. But there's still time to get that healthy reunion takeaway sorted out with its newly launched steamboat farm box featuring organic vegetables, organic beef shabu platters and a range of roast meats. Its tie-up with Xin Cuisine restaurant means you get favourites like roast Bresse chicken pre-marinated in herbs and spices, left to air-dry in the fridge and then roasted. Despite being frozen, the French bird is cooked to retain its juiciness and boasts a tasty chicken flavour. Crispy free-range roast pork belly features crunchy skin that won't break your teeth, and the meat is well-brined and tasty albeit a tad dry on the edges.
