Zuan Yuan Chinese Restaurant @ One World Hotel Petaling Jaya

Sizzling Hot and Tea-licious Dishes for July

For the month of July, discover a treasure trove of tea-licious and sizzling dishes by Executive Chef Tommy Chan Hoo at Zuan Yuan Chinese Restaurant at One World Hotel Petaling Jaya! The award-winning restaurant is renowned for authentic Cantonese cuisine as well as dim sum.

If the opulent ambiance of Zuan Yuan don’t impress you, the menu certainly will. The spacious and elegant restaurant interior is perfect for fine dining and entertainment. Diners can opt for their main dining area or the many private rooms available.

The July sizzling promotion is featuring four masterpieces served on hot lava stone, imported from Turkey solely for this occasion. Chef Tommy has curated premium meat and seafood cooked on the hot lava stone and accompanied by assorted vegetables and sauces of your choice. Indulge in premium Australian Grass Fed Beef (MB4) Steak, U.S. Angus Beef Steak, Australian Premium Lamb Cutlets and King Tiger Prawns.

The U.S Angus Beef Steak (RM68/100g, minimum order of 200g) is marvelously tender as it cuts like butter. The beef is also deliciously tasty, so much so that even if it is not served with a sauce, diners would certainly enjoy the steak and its natural flavours. Chef Tommy does go all out and serve three sauces – Black Pepper, Mongolian and BBQ with the grilled steak just to make sure our Malaysian diners enjoy their sauces.

Another sizzling dish that we checked out was the Australian Premium Lamb Cutlet (RM48/100g, minimum order of 200g). Juicy and well-trimmed lamb cutlets are well seasoned and grilled to perfection with a tinge of pinkness.

Moving on to a Tea-licious treat, Chef Tommy executed the Crispy Prawns with Yam and Pumpkin with Green Tea Dressing (RM65 per portion) with perfection. Large prawn bounded with shredded vegetables in a crispy batter is simply moreish with that silky and creamy green tea dressing. Certainly, a crowd-pleaser for diners of all ages…

Soup is always an important element in any Chinese meal and the Double Boiled Abalone and Fish Maw Soup with Chrysanthemum hits all the right soothing notes. The broth had a rich essence of seafood and chicken. Coupled with the premium seafood of whole abalone, fish maw, dried scallop, cordyceps flowers and chrysanthemum, every spoonful of the soup was utterly delicious and comforting.

The Smoked Village Chicken with Oolong had a lovely deep golden hue, an indication of a gentle smoke technique to richen up the chook. Oolong has a subtle aroma that compliments the tender and succulent chicken very well. A side of classic ginger and spring onion sauce elevated the flavours even more.

Last but least, the Stir-Fried Rice with Green Tea and Assorted Seafood Hakka Style was so moreish, the dish won many votes from the table that day. Most of the diners took a second helping as the fluffy rice was so tasty from the basil and pine nuts addition. Inspired from the classic Hakka Thunder Tea Rice, Chef Tommy cleverly incorporated the elements of the dish into this rice and jazzed it up with abundance of large prawns and plump scallops.

Complement the epicurean fare with Zuan Yuan’s premium tea collection available at the restaurant. Both Sizzling Hot and Tea-licious promotion runs for a limited period for the month of July and are available for lunch from 12.00pm to 2.30pm and for dinner from 6.00pm to 10.30pm.

For more information or reservation enquiries, please call 603 7681 1159 or email zuanyuan@oneworldhotel.com.my.

ZUAN YUAN CHINESE RESTAURANT

One World Hotel

First Avenue

Bandar Utama City Centre

47800 Petaling Jaya

Tel: 03-7681-1159

Website: www.oneworldhotel.com.my

Facebook: www.facebook.com/#!/OneWorldHotelPetalingJaya

Tetley Tea – Tea-ing Up with Sebastian Michaelis

The Art of Tea Blending with The Tetley Tea Master

Tea is enjoyed all over the world. Said to originate from Southwest in China, according to Wikipedia, it was introduced to Europe during the 16th century and only became fashionable among Britons in 17th century.

When an invite from Tetley Tea came for a session of The Art of Tea Blending with The Tetley Tea Master, Sebastian Michaelis, it was an invite I couldn’t refuse simply because I have always enjoy my teas. Tetley Tea, the largest tea company in UK and Canada, is also the 2nd largest tea brand globally with over sixty branded tea bags. Despite its popularity internationally, Tetley has only recently reached our shores not too long ago. With 180 years of heritage in perfecting the art of blending tea, Tetley also sources its tea from 11 countries across 3 continents.

Our tea master, Sebastian greeted us the moment we walked into Cocott Restaurant with a charming smile. The world-renowned tea master chatted with us briefly of how he never gets tired enjoying a good cuppa tea! When asked if he has a preference of tea, he aptly replied that he has none simply because he enjoys different tea depending on the time of the day as well as the moment.

Rajat Kumar, Global Head Business Development Tata Global Beverages, kicked off with a speech.

Our tea session began with Sebastian giving us an insight of how tea is cultured all over the world. Tea is made from young leaves and unopened buds of the plant Camellia Sinensis. Doesn’t matter what type of tea it is, all teas comes from the same plant but is processed differently. Due to environment, tea leaves differs in flavour and aroma as well as color.

Tea cultivation is hard work. Tea leaves are still carefully handpick by hands today and is a labor intensive agriculture. Tetley, the founding members of Ethical Tea Partnership, is committed to be socially fair and environmentally sustainable by sourcing 100% of their tea from Rainforest Alliance Certified™gardens. Whether it’s China, India, Africa, Indonesia or Argentina, Sebastian travels across the globe, making valued relationship with all the tea plantations globally to secure the best quality of tea possible for Tetley.

There are two kinds of processing cut for tea leaves, CTC or orthodox. CTC method is a faster way of producing a standard quality of tea rather than the orthodox method as it is more time-consuming and require more human labor.

CTC method uses a CTC machines which crush, tear and curl them and process them in a period of just two hours. This method produces consistent tasting and produces strong, dark liquor with a distinctly astringent flavor profile which can accommodates the addition of condiments like milk and lemon far better than orthodox teas.

Orthodox method has every batch of tea leaves treated to a precise amount of withering, rolling and oxidization, all regulated by trained tea professionals to extract the best flavors from the leaves. This method offers the most authentic tea experience, hence often more expensive than the tea produced with the CTC method.

My favorite tea – Chamomile

Darjeeling – one of the more exquisite orthodox teas

It takes at least five years to become a qualified Tetley Tea Taster. Sebastian has over 10 years of experience among his team. He also showed us that each tea master has his or her own spoon engraved with their names on it once they are qualified as Tetley Tea Blended. All Tetley Tea is taste tested eight times before they make it into the final production for sale.

The quality of a tea blend is graded using a unique language called Uhuru. Sebastian proceeded to show us how he assesses tea leaf with four factors of Sparkle, Colour, Body and Zing. Since no tea crop is ever the same due to environmental conditions, tea tasting and blending requires skills and continuous learning process. In fact, each Tetley Tea Blender gets his taste buds insured for 1 million pound!

All black tea leaves are graded with addition of milk except green tea leaves as advised by Sebastian.

Tea tasters goes through the process of slurping brewed tea and spitting it out to assess and grade as well as blend their teas. Sebastian showed us how it’s done and handed me the first opportunity to try this. Not as easy as I have seen him do it, it certainly takes practice to be able to execute what a tea taster does daily. Every Tetley Master Blender tastes over 40,000 cups a week as their daily job. I certainly can’t imagine what that would be like and to still enjoy teas after that is surely a salutation for Sebastian…

We also learned that the perfect tea brew is made with only once-boiled water around boiling point. Black tea is best brewed with boiling point water whereas green tea is best brewed with boiling water cool down after two minutes. Steep your tea bag longer if you prefer a stronger tea note for black tea while the green tea only needs less than 2 minutes.

After our tea session, Sebastian challenges us to making our own tea with Tetley and a few other fresh ingredients. I made mine with ginger and basil with a hint of lemon. Cheng Yi aka FatBoyBakes walked off with the prize with his tea, picked by Sebastian to be his favorite of our group… Congrats again Cheng Yi!

A group photo with the Tetley team and Tetley Tea Master, Sebastian Michaelis

After the tea session, we all sat down to enjoy a lovely High Tea of mini savory and sweet bites with Tetley teas. A fruitful and informative session of tea with Tetley Tea Master Sebastion Michaelis!

Tetley Teas are available at all leading supermarkets. For more information on Tetley Teas, visit www.tetley.com

DCOVA @ Logan Heritage, Penang

Sumptuous Italian Fare

Penang is so renowned for its abundant of street food that cafes or bistro takes a rather understated backseat to all the food commotion in the island. There are plenty of cafes and bistros that do deserve more attention such as DCOVA.

DCOVA is located in Logan Heritage row at Bishop Street, a heavily business populated area. House in an old building DCOVA has been around for a few years, discreetly serving coffee, pasta and desserts to plenty of locals. Word of mouth gets out and many continues to flock there to hang out at the quaint ambiance of the bistro.

Owned by several partners, DCOVA is a result of several foodies’ vision of a bistro where one can relax and enjoy great food and drinks. We got to know about DCOVA from owner, former Foodsion editor Lean Hooi. He and his partners wanted to serve quality food to Penangites as well as other foodies and opted to focus on a menu filled with Italian favorite pastas and artisanal desserts.

DCOVA feels like home, comfort in another word. The moment you walk in, the ambiance at DCOVA makes one feel at ease. High ceiling echo space around the long café. The minimal interior exudes contemporary wall art and graphical pieces with a simple industrial furniture and banquette seating.

We met with other foodies while on a trip to Penang and was certainly very pleased with our meal at DCOVA. The bistro serves a nice range of premium tea infusions from Tealeaves besides coffee and other beverages. We tried the Organic Chamomile (RM17.90) and Shanghai Rose (RM17.90).

Served with a timer, one should infuse the tea leaves for just the right timing to avoid the tea releasing its bitterness. The Shanghai Rose was exceptionally soothing and has such a plush rose aroma that releases happy endorphins in me.

Our little one had this amazing icy slush of Summer Strawberry (RM14.30), a tall glass of creamy and fruity strawberries. Mommy stole a taste and kept going back for a few more of this yummy and refreshing drink.

The Affogato (RM10.05) is also very commendable. Looking rather pale, we were rather surprise by the strong coffee note in this thick velvety smooth coffee blended with ice cream. I would order this again...

Tuck into a generous lean and green dish of Teriyaki Chicken Salad (RM18.90) at DCOVA for a healthy option. Crisp greens topped with tender and juicy savory teriyaki chicken is very satisfying and easy to enjoy without the guilt.

Pastas are their signatures at DCOVA and truly yummy to the very last strand. I am quite a food snob and is particular with my pasta being cooked al dente. At DCOVA, they also share the same thoughts and serve all their pasta with a very good al dente bite, as how it should be. The Spicy Seafood Aglio Olio (RM23.90) blew our taste buds the moment we tried this dish. Sufficiently moist and a good kick of heat worked wonders with pasta, prawns and squid. I would love more garlic to be added for extra oomph!

The Carbonara DCOVA (RM20.90) was very luscious, each strand heavily coated with cream and egg yolk. Served with lean back bacon, make sure to eat this fast as cream can get cloyingly rich when it cools down. Worthy of every calorie it has…

Generously dolloped with lots of fish roes, the Ebiko Alfredo (RM23.90) with prawns is sublime. While others think it’s a tad salty from the generous crowning glory of ebiko, I certainly didn’t mind it at all. The popping sensation of the ebiko gave the dish a delicious textural component to the pasta and prawns. Lots of umami notes that tantalized the palate to keep going back for more.

Toss in a light lashing of garlicky cream sauce and served with back bacon slides and asparagus, the Bacon Al Dante (RM19.90) is pretty decent in flavours. The bacon is still yummy despite it being lean and the asparagus were cooked just right with a little crisp texture.

More ebiko again, I am beginning to think there’s quite an ebiko fan base here at the bistro. This round, it’s crowned on Pasta Alnero di Seppia (RM27.90). A jet black squid ink tainted pasta served with squid rings, cherry tomatoes and lots of ebiko. The paste is very moreish and delicious. No heart feelings but it’s not a dish to order on a first date since it will taint your teeth with its color and flecked by orange speckles of roes… nevertheless, I really love the pasta a lot.

After a first taste of Riz Alnero di Seppia (RM28.90), I wanted to hog this whole dish to myself. Rice cooked al dente and flavoured with the moreish squid ink and seafood broth, the dish is completed with two large fried prawns and squid rings. Not only does the dish looked divine, it tasted pretty fabulous in every spoonful. My favorite dish of the evening at DCOVA.

My little one opted for the Cheese Baked Rice with Sausage (RM22.90) and polished off this whole dish by himself happily. When asked how the dish was, he simply said very cheesy and yummy! There’s also versions with tuna and prawn.

DCOVA offers desserts from Passionis, an artisanal dessert house on the island. The Strawberry Shortcake looked too pretty to be eaten. Its light and creamy mousse with layers of sponge and fresh strawberries make a light and sweet ending to a meal.

On the other hand, chocolate lovers will swooned at the Double Chocolate Hazelnut Praline, a decadent slice of layers of dark and milky chocolate with a hazelnut feuilletine base, finished with a mirror chocolate glaze. Every bite is dark, rich and sinful…

DCOVA is good enough to warrant many returns as the dishes are quality and prepared well. Not only do we love the quaint ambiance, we also enjoy the drinks and the company that evening. A great bistro worthy of visits… now if only they would open an outlet in KL for me!

DCOVA

Logan Heritage

No. 4, Lebuh Bishop,

10200 George Town, Penang

Tel: +60 4-261 3121

Facebook: www.facebook.com/dcovalogan/

Business hours:

Sunday to Thursday 10.00am - 10.00pm

Friday & Saturday 10.00am - 12.00am