Story & photos by Dr. Michael Lim The Travelling GourmetTM
Food styling of REAL food by The Travelling GourmetTM
The indomitable Travelling Gourmet goes to the Four Seasons Hotel Singapore to taste…
MARVELLOUS nouveau Cantonese cuisine by tall and friendly Chef Alan Chan, 40, from Hong Kong who has been in Singapore for 12 years. Chef Alan is the new Chinese Executive Chef of the Four Seasons’ premier Chinese restaurant Jiang Nan Chun.
19:18
Amuse Bouche
Peeled Australian Cherry tomato slow poached for 8 hours in lychee water, which gives it a tangy sweetness gracefully served in a glazed Romanesque goblet. At first glance I thought it was a sorbet. I really like this hors d’oeuvre! Ich liebe es sehr!
BBQ Meats Cantonese Style
Big 12mm slices of honey glazed sweet savoury Char Siew with purple flowers…OMG it makes you drool…like a hungry baby…
Tasty Drunken Chicken Roulade 12mm thick with wolfberries is a French take on a traditional Chinese/Shanghainese specialite with aromatic Hsao Xing wine. It reminded me of Club Jin Mao in Shanghai’s Jin Mao Tower where in the past ONLY high ranking Communist Party members could dine.
Andiamo! Let’s ROLL!
Cute cubes of Roasted Pork Belly with yummy ueber-crispy crust…the loud crunch reverberates in your head as you bite in. The crust is perfectly done!
The CRUNCH of Flavour!
Faintly jade-green chewy spinach pancakes for Peking Duck with tangy Hoi Sin Sauce, Spring Onions and Cucumber batons. This is the new wave Beijing Kao Ya pancake first pioneered in Pine Court restaurant of the Meritus some years ago, except the Chef fused fresh scallions for the flavour and colour.
“Greenie” Peking Duck!
Scallop Dumpling swimming in a bowl of green spinach sauce is a lovely Tim Sum. Guess what? They serve Tim Sum for Din-Din too!
Triangular Lobster Dumpling that looks like Napoleon’s cock hat was very light and super delicious garnished with red lumpfish roe on top.
White Sesame-crusted Char Siew Soh sphere with bacon paired well with Veuve Clicquot Ponsardin Rose Champagne 12.5% with its lovely salmon colour. It had a very good ‘attack’ and fine perlage. As an international Wine Judge and Educator, I have learned from long experience and many wine pairings and dinners, that Champagne matches extremely well with Asian cuisine and in particular Tim Sum especially of the Cantonese style.
Check out Sichuan super-spicy dumpling with chicken and chilli oil.
A Vegetable Dumpling comprising a filling of 2 types of Mushroom and celery was so cute topped with a smidgeon of carrot brunoise.
I loved the Mini Savoury Abalone as big as a kiwi fruit on top of Pork Siu Mai and wolfberry served steaming hot in a very cute bamboo steamer.
Golden Phoenix tea was served with main course.
20:53
Homely comfort food dish of Pumpkin soup made with stock boiled from chicken feet and bones, Kei Chi (red wolfberries) & garlic cloves. Lovely white fish slices. silky bean curd skin, chye sim.
Tonic soup made with a rich stock double boiled for seven and a half hours from lean Sakura chicken, with snow pear which dissolves in your mouth in an instant, conpoy & white fungus.
Red wine vinaigrette with fall off the bone Star Anise-spiked Wagyu Beef cheek slow-cooked for 3 hours topped with a big piece of 24-karat gold leaf on green spinach.
A ninja black Claypot arrived with super soft eggplant, spicy chorizo (instead of the usual salted duck egg yolk) sausage from Spain and really succulent lobster meat.
INteractive cuisine is all the rage now and not only in French haute-cuisine restaurants like Guy Savoy and Joel Robuchon…Crunch, into crispy Circle of Noodles with Morel mushrooms (instead of Shitake, nice touch) in a rich broth which is poured on and then…
Chef Alan kindly micro-planed a lot of addictive white Truffles on top for me!
TRIO of desserts!
Custard cream and crunchy sour plum bits inside a creamy slightly gooey snowskin sphere was refreshing, while a hot deep fried ball filled with Green Tea, Black Sesame and peanuts really satisfied.
“Bubur Hitam” Cantonese style with a quenelle of coconut and lavender sorbet was delicious without being overly sweet.
Perfumed and delicate “8 Treasures Tea” which has longans and red dates as well as other goodies, was lovely with the sweet delights!
Come here soon to enjoy “nouvelle” Cantonese cuisine in style and opulence. Bubbly Kim the Restaurant Manager from Malacca is very nice and helpful with recommendations.
Guten Appetit! {:-)
Jiang Nan Chun Restaurant
Four Seasons Hotel
190 Orchard Boulevard
Singapore 248646
Hours: Daily 12 to 2.30pm for lunch
6pm to 10.30pm for dinner
The Travelling Gourmet 