Chinese New Year is the time of feasting. I have just had Chinese New Year lunch at New Ubin Seafood (CHIJMES) last week. This week we tried the Chinese New Year menu at PUTIEN.
PUTIEN is six-time winner of Michelin One Star award. I am curious to see what kind of surprises a Michelin one-star restaurant offers for Chinese New Year menu.
PUTIEN Chinese New Year Menu
There are two Chinese New Year sets, Prosperity Set Meal [S$118++ to S$528++] and Fortune Set Meal [S$188++ to S$968++]. The prices and number of dishes increases according to the number of people.
These are the dishes we had from the Prosperity for Eight [S$458++]:
The Dishes
The first dish is always yusheng, which is Prosperity Yushen (Abalone) 鸿运发财鱼生 (鲍鱼).
The abalones PUTIEN use are not the yellowish rubbery ones that come out of cans. The abalone have grey patterns on the backs, I think these are fresh abalones.
Everyone around the table stands up to toss the yusheng, saying words of blessing as you toss.
Pairing abalone and pork belly is such an ingenious idea in Braised Abalone with Pork Belly 鲍鱼红烧肉. The pork belly are cut into big chunks and deep-fried before braising so the meat not taste oily at all. The broccoli does an excellent job of providing some much-needed greens.
Yellow Croaker in Sweet & Sour Sauce 糖醋大黄花鱼 is definitely the most impressive in terms of presentation. Fish dishes are normally served with the fish lying on one side, but the fish is “standing” upright in this dish. It looks like it might swim away at any minute.
The croaker is deep-fried before being coated in sweet and sour sauce. The meat is tender and the skin is crispy, which creates an interesting contrast in texture.
Prosperity Prawns 富贵白灼虾 are simply blanched prawns to be eaten with the accompanying soy sauce and vinegar sauce. The bright-red prawns are plump and succulent, but it feels a little too simple to be on a Chinese New Year menu.
Deep-Fried Chicken with Garlic 脆皮蒜香鸡 tastes like any other roasted chicken. The only difference is in the fried garlic that is sprinkled on the chicken.
My favourite dish from this Chinese New Year menu is this Scallop & White Beech Mushroom in XO Sauce 白玉菇XO酱带子. The XO sauce amps up the sweetness of the mushroom and scallops.
Stew Muscovy Duck Soup with Black Garlic 黑蒜番鸭汤 is not a common dish in Chinese restaurants. This South American waterfowl is native to America. Muscovy duck meat is fat-free and less greasy than other duck meat.
Longevity Noodles 妈祖平安麵 is a traditional noodle dish that originated from Putian, China. The noodles is cooked together with peanuts, seaweed, French beans, eggs, vegetables and pork.
Dessert is a homely bowl of Peanut Soup with Glutinous Rice Balls 花生汤圆. The glutinous rice balls are the small ones without any fillings. The peanuts are cooked till mushy which goes well with the small glutinous rice balls.
PUTIEN
You can find the addresses and telephone numbers of all 19 PUTIEN outlets in Singapore and overseas here.
Website: https://www.putien.com/