Braised Grouper Fillet with Mandarin Orange Skin in Spicy Sauce - the citrus peel makes all the difference.
The Mixed Green Bean Skin with Shredded Roast Duck is a delightful dish.
PETALING JAYA, Aug 28 — The flat translucent noodles or “fun pei” heaped with shredded roast duck, and drizzled with a special sauce and chilli oil made a delightful appetizer at Zuan Yuan, the halal Chinese restaurant at the One World Hotel. I loved the texture of the noodles, and the flavours from the duck. I could taste sesame paste, some sweet duck roasting sauce and the veneer of hotness from the chilli oil in this Mixed Green Bean Skin with Shredded Roast Duck in Chef’s Speciality Sauce.
I enjoyed biting into the crispy ribbons of ginger sticky with honey in the Honey Glazed Boneless Chicken topped with Crispy Ginger Flakes. Later I found out from master chef Michael Chew, the ginger had been marinated in sugar and a little salt for a day, then lightly rinsed in water before being deepfried slowly over a medium fire. The aromatic ginger clung to the tender honey glazed chicken and they tasted so good together.
Vegetables to perk you up: Lai Pak Poached in Salted Soup.
The Braised Grouper Fillets with Mandarin Orange Skin in Spicy Sauce came hot in a claypot, having been finished with black mushrooms and gluten balls in a sauce with ginger slices, mandarin peel and whole fried garlic. It’s fish I could never tire of eating: the mandarin peel was a clever touch, giving a tangy zest to the fish.
At this point, I thought having dishes ordered off the menu seemed a better option for Muslims to break fast than eating from a buffet. The food didn’t take long to cook, and arrived quite fast, by which time they would have got to a comfortable level with their sweet drinks and are ready to eat. New, light dishes like these wake up the palate too. A little advanced planning and booking would make it even better.
For vegetables, we had the Stir-fried French Beans with Minced Chicken, Olive and Scallion. It’s a moist, softer version of the popular Sichuan dish called “sei kuai tow.” The fried beans had been tossed in a tasty sauce with minced chicken, and chopped olives. I couldn’t help thinking this would be so nice with white porridge, or even rice.
Good with porridge: A softer, moist version of the Sichuan French Beans with Minced Chicken, Olive and Scallions.
We wanted another vegetable dish, and the chef offered us the Vegetables Poached in Salted Soup. The combination of salted vegetables, and the spicy preserved vegetables (char choy) in it worked very well. There were whole fried garlic and ginger strips in this chicken soup, while wolfberries or kei chee, added a mild sweetness.
A dish to tittilate the palate... Honey Glazed Boneless Chicken topped with Crispy Ginger Flakes.
Again it’s soup to wake up the appetite, and the vegetables (lai pak) were a bonus. “If you cook this at home, you can add meat or sausage,” said chef Chew, who has been revamping the Zuan Yuan menu for about six months.
The sweets from the menu that are suitable for breaking fast include the Chilled Aloe Vera infused with Lemongrass and Pandan Leaf, the Chilled Creamy Avocado Paste with Aloe Vera or the Chilled Mango with Sago and Ice-cream, besides fruit juices. Then there’s the comforting Double-Boiled Fuji Apple with Lemongrass and Aloe Vera that should set everything right.
The Durian Combination -- pancake, deepfried durian ball and ice-cream.
The restaurant also has home-made Tau Fu Fah but we found Durian Pancakes on the menu. It wasn’t just the pancake that came on a long platter, but also durian ice-cream and a deepfried durian ball. The best of the lot was the thinnest pancake filled with durian flesh and cream. The durian ball had a thin crispy pastry, and the ice-cream just wrapped it all up exquisitely.
The prices: The Mixed Green Bean Skin with Roast Duck is RM18, Honey Glazed Boneless Chicken with Ginger Flakes RM26, French Beans with Minced Chicken RM18, Braised Grouper Filler with Mandarin Orange Skin RM28, Durian combination RM15. The restaurant also offers Crème Brulee and Chocolate Lava Cake.
Part of the Ramadan buffet in Zuan Yuan.
If you don’t fancy a la carte, you could still have a Chinese Ramadan Buffet at the restaurant, priced at RM78++ for adults and RM39++ for children four to 12 years. There are appetisers, salads, soups and desserts, and dishes like Mongolian Roasted Chicken with Garlic Sauce, Wok Seared Prawns with Superior Stock, Deepfried Boneless Chicken with Crispy Onion, Pan Seared Assorted Seafood with shallot and ginger flower in lemon sauce, among many others. There are also seafood and meats from the barbecue, vegetables, fried rice and noodles, making up in all – 40 dishes!
Zuan Yuan is at One World Hotel, which is connected to 1-Utama Shopping Centre in Bandar Utama, PJ. Tel: 03-7681 1159.
