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“Masterchef Arron Huang and Hosting Chef Yong Bing Ngen combine medicinal herbs into culinary masterpieces”
As part of the World Gourmet Summit 2014 series, Eu Yan Sang has paired up with Majestic Restaurant to present Chinese dishes made with their premium herbs, based on this year’s theme of “The Classics”, but also to signify progress and moving forward through the times.
Joining a host of media and bloggers (you can see Bryan from TheSmartlocal laughing maniacally), we attended this media launch organized by Fulford PR to introduce the dishes you can expect for the World Gourmet Summit Eu Yan Sang dinner here on 31 March 2014.
A reinvention of traditional dishes infused with Eu Yan Sang herbs, international Masterchef Arron Huang works together with hosting Chef Yong Bing Ngen to present these dishes with medicinal properties I didn’t even knew existed.
This is going to be a very nutritious healing meal, and probably attempts to solve all my accumulated physical problems in one shot. Hope I don’t get a nosebleed.
Fried Roast Duck Breast and Shrimp with Chinese Angelica and Licorice. You can’t really see the duck breast due to the presentation but it’s under there. Licorice is added to add subtle sweetness to balance the bitterness of the Angelica herb. Tender lean duck breast and crunchy prawn with that good herb balance.
Chinese Angelica can nourish the blood and helps your heart, liver and spleen.
Double-Boiled American Ginseng Soup with Chinese Yam, Chinese Wolfberry, Whole Conpoy and Fresh Oyster. Always a huge fan of Chinese soups, this soup definitely didn’t disappoint.
There’s a light Ginseng taste due to the thin slice and American variation, making this herbal soup easy to drink. Chicken is added for more flavour, while fresh oyster is used instead of the usual dried one.
Fresh oyster adds that sweetness which is so much more refreshing and delicious than using dried oysters that have a musky, iron taste. Wolfberries and conpoy also further enhance the sweetness of the soup.
Ginseng clears ‘heatiness’ in the body and restores energy, and is good for your heart, lungs and kidney.
Baked Fish with Wild Gastrodia, Cnidium and Red Dates. Presented upon a sampan leaf for a more retro visual and not so much for taste. Sea Perch fillet is used here together with Cnidium (the black fungus looking one), a traditional herb in Chinese soups. Well cooked, and firm with the familiar taste of herbal essence.
Gastrodia can settle erratic wind and unblock stagnation, while Cnidium tonifies the lungs and nourishes fluids.
King Prawn with Tangerine Peel and Licorice Dressing. My photo doesn’t do this prawn justice, but this king prawn is huge- longer than my palm and finger tips.
The sweetness of prawn matches well with the Licorice dressing, but goes even better with the tangerine peel shreds for a citrus, sour cut through the sweetness of the sauce.
Licorice reinforces the spleen, removes toxic heat, expels phlegm and relieves cough.
Stuffed Black Bone Chicken Roll with Eu Yan Sang Gold Label Bak Foong Pill, Codonopsis Root, Brown Rice and Solomon’s Seal Chicken Jus.
The Bak Foong Pill is known to be beneficial for women, especially for menstrual discomforts and postnatal nourishment. This pill is ground up and infused into the rice and black chicken. I’m not too sure what effect it has on men, but I can say with absolute certainty that I didn’t have any menstrual pains after having this dish.
Slightly firmer brown rice contrasts with the soft black chicken skin for more texture, while the herbs add flavour to the otherwise dull taste.
The Wolfberries are HUGE and juicy, as they are not dried as much as other TCM shops, because Eu Yan Sang’s speed of sales allows them to minimize preservation methods that compromise quality.
Codonopsis Root, also known as poor man’s ginseng, aids the lung and spleen while supporting your ‘Qi’.
White Tremella Mushroom Herbal tea with Eight Treasures. The eight treasures include: Coix Barley, Euryale Seed, Dried Longan, Honey Date, Wolfberry, Boat-fruited Sterculia Seed, Gingko Biloba and Fresh Lily bulb.
Plus an odd addition of quail egg. I thought the egg was a little unnecessary to this combination. Frankly I’ve probably seen and ate these herbs many times, but I’m not at all familiar with their exasperated names.
A sort of deconstructed sweet soup, you can choose to eat them all individually or dump them into the herbal tea. I ate half the ingredients individually, then added the other half into the tea for a nice Chinese herbal sweet soup. There’s also a hint of mint leaf, if not the soup is actually pretty sweet by itself.
The World Gourmet Summit 2014 series in Singapore starts on 26 March till 5 April, promising a slew of imaginative dinners with exclusive masterchefs from all around the world.
I highly recommend trying this stop for WGS 2014, due to the uniqueness and medicinal properties of the dinner, rather than the usual self-indulgent, fine-dining fare seen so often.
The official Eu Yan Sang x Majestic Restaurant dinner is on 31 March 2014, and priced at SGD$188++
