Summer Pavilion

Springy yusheng

So few places offer yusheng with wolf herring these days. For food safety reasons, many yusheng fish are not even raw. Think smoked salmon, canned abalone and, for the upcoming Year of the Dragon, there will be a lot of lobster yusheng because lobster in Chinese contains the word for dragon.

If you are tired of these options, and of raw salmon yusheng, Summer Pavilion at The Ritz-Carlton, Millenia Singapore has a delicious one featuring geoduck (say gwee-duc). When sliced thin, as it is here, the salt water clam is so very springy.

Add to that the crunch of thin ribbons of white, red and purple radish, carrot, crunchy crackers and toasted nuts and seeds, and a dollop of caviar, and you have a perfect way to start any Chinese New Year meal.

What makes this Geoduck Clam With Black Caviar Yu Sheng ($238++ for small and $476++ for large) special is the very perky dressing. It is made with plum and lemon sauces and vinegar, among other things, and is mercifully not too sweet. I would like to do a takeaway, but this yusheng is available only for dine-in.

What you can order to take home is the restaurant’s Pen Cai ($480++ serving four and $960++ serving eight). It is a luxurious pot, with fish maw, fresh and dried scallops, roast pork, roast duck, abalone, black moss and mushrooms, among other ingredients. These are all napped in an umami bomb of a sauce that is not overly thick or gluggy.

The restaurant will also be offering six- to eight-course set lunches and dinners starting at $148++ a person from Feb 9 to 24.

Where: The Ritz-Carlton, Millenia Singapore, Marina Bay 7, Raffles Avenue
MRT: Promenade
Tel: 6434-5286
Open: 11.30am to 2.30pm, 6.30 to 10.30pm daily
Info: www.summerpavilion.com.sg

603 Tau Sar Piah

Homey cookies

The store might be called 603 Tau Sar Piah, but it stocks a lot more than the traditional Teochew flaky pastries filled with mung beans.

Aside from vegetarian tau sar piah with different fillings, the Ng family’s glutinous rice, curry puffs and chicken pies are also hot sellers.

For Chinese New Year, 603 Tau Sar Piah has two terrific cookies – Kueh Bangkit (from $16.80 a box) and Peanut Cookies (from $16.80 a box). Both have an old-school, homemade taste, a stark contrast to many Chinese New Year goodies.

The kueh bangkit is light and crumbles just so when you bite into it. There is a nutty flavour that comes from careful toasting of the tapioca flour with pandan leaves.

Similarly, the peanut cookie, from a family recipe that dates to the 1960s, is crisp and crunchy from peanuts shelled by hand, then roasted. Both make for compelling eating.

Cooking is such a pain during Chinese New Year and it is so easy to make a meal of 603 Tau Sar Piah’s Yam Cake ($28.80). It is packed with hand-shredded yam, dried shrimps, chicken lup cheong, dried scallops and shiitake mushrooms, and comes with toasted sesame seeds, sliced scallions and red chillies. Steam to reheat or, even better, pan-fry pieces of the yam cake for lunch.

Where: 603 Balestier Road
Info: The Lunar New Year range is available until Feb 9. Go to www.603tausarpiah.com/order to order. Delivery is free for orders above $200 and there is a 10 per cent discount on orders of $500 or more, made before Jan 26.

Aunty Hong

Fiery crackers

Aunty Hong, a Singapore purveyor of cookies and snacks, has a winning way with belinjau. The slightly bitter nuts are made into emping and cookies. I am a huge fan and always make a point to order the brand’s Handmade Emping Belinjau Cookies ($28 a tin) for Chinese New Year.

This year, aside from Himalayan Salted Classic Belinjau Keropok (from $17) and Sweet & Spicy Belinjau Keropok (from $19), there is the new Firecracker Belinjau Keropok (from $19). The crackers are glazed with chilli padi and are spicier than the sweet and spicy version. That said, the heat does not blow my head off, which is a very good thing. I finish half the packet before I remember to stop myself.

Another new offering is Coffee Butter Cookies ($28 a tin). These look a lot like those famous butter cookies from Hong Kong, although Aunty Hong’s version does not pack the same kind of coffee punch. They are aromatic and buttery enough for me to want to add them to my Chinese New Year snack tray.

Info: The Chinese New Year range is available until Feb 9. Order at least two days in advance from its website (www.auntyhong.sg/shop). Delivery is free for orders above $100 and costs $12 for each address for orders below $100.