Jee Whizz: Chef Siu makes Ying Jee Club a prime seasonal destination…

With the Chinese New Year celebrations coming to a close, restaurants and businesses across the city are preparing to reopen following a hectic festive celebration. One particular Michelin-starred restaurant, however, kept their doors open to usher in the new lunar year, serving traditional Lunar New Year features that are not only delicious but also brimming with symbolism and auspicious significance.

Ying Jee Club, the Cantonese fine-dining establishment set in Central’s Nexxus Building, is helmed by Executive Chef Siu Hin Chi – who previously helped ensure another high-end cuisinery, T’ang Court, achieved two Michelin-star status, brought home a second star for Duddell’s in 2015 and even helped this particular eatery secure its first star just four months after it opened – the restaurant’s beloved menu was enhanced with a special Lunar New Year spread for the period between 12-18 February.

Summing up the dishes that comprised the exclusive menu, Chef Siu says: “The food we’ll be serving for the holiday majors on iconic festive flavours, further heightened by the finest ingredients. What’s more, each course had been specially renamed to signify good luck and fortune, all in the hope of bestowing blessings on our diners.”

As part of our own tasting menu, we sampled five of the menu’s star turns, beginning with a bowl of Imperial Bird’s Nest Broth with Fish Maw, Conpoy and Chicken. Comfort food at its very finest, the hearty chicken broth was enhanced with complementing textures of gelatinous bird’s nest and crunchy fish maw, while the conpoy bequeathed a deliciously oceanic tinge to proceedings. Subtle yet palate-pleasing, the various ingredients blended together in a wholesome and wholly satisfying manner.

Next up was the Crispy Suckling Pig with Goose Liver Pate and Wok-fried Prawn with Salted Egg Yolk, the Chinese name of which equates to wishing diners a prosperous, gold-enriched home. All in all, the yolk-battered prawns were beautifully golden-hued – symbolising wealth and prosperity – and packed a major umami punch, while the crispy skin of the suckling pig was enhanced with the unusual addition of a small steamed bun and a layer of opulent pâté. Undeniably a feast for the eyes, this delicious dish blended two of Cantonese cuisine’s best-loved appetisers in a sinfully rich fashion.

Another appetiser, Braised Mushroom with Shrimp Paste, Scallop and Crab Roe, then made its much-anticipated entrance. Here, the subtle taste of scallop and prawn enhanced the meaty, umami-laden flavours of the mushroom, with the crab roe imparting an added textural dimension. The glistening jade-hued – yet another lucky Chinese New Year colour – bakchoy was a welcome addition, adding a refreshing component to the plate.

Clearly keen to turn the luxury factor up several notches, Chef Siu further enticed our appetite with a heaped plate of Braised South Africa Abalone with Roasted Duck, Black Mushroom and Yunnan Ham. The generously portioned serving of abalone – that most coveted of edible molluscs – was braised in the requisite sauce prior to being sat atop a bed of thinly-sliced roasted duck and mushrooms. Guaranteed to appeal to festive-minded local diners, slivers of Yunnan ham imparted a sharp saltiness to this otherwise subtly nuanced concoction.

The star of the show, though, was undeniably the Sautéed Lobster with Water Chestnut and Crispy Conpoy. Yet another study in how to perfectly balance flavours and textures, the sweet, crunchy water chestnuts and crispy conpoy shavings served to enhance each succulent morsel of lobster, while tantalising the taste buds with rich oceanic accents. As with preceding courses, this shellfish-led dish highlighted Chef Siu’s innate understanding of how to create a delicate equilibrium between the high-quality ingredients he chooses, with each contributing to the epicurean harmony that will leave patrons of Ying Jee Club yearning for more beyond the Chinese New Year festivities.

Ying Jee Club. Shop G05, 107-108, Nexxus Building, 41 Connaught Rd Central, Central. (852) 801 6882. www.yingjeeclub.com

Mid-Autumn Must-haves: Five mooncakes you have to try

As the upcoming Mid-Autumn Festival looms on the horizon, Hong Kong’s gourmands will once again be spoilt for choice with a wide array of sumptuous mooncakes to sample. Be it the more traditional lotus seed paste-and-egg yolk offerings or outré varities featuring everything from gold to caviar, here’s a selection of five mooncake specials to try this October 1st.

Mandarin Oriental
Reputably a brand with rich values for heritage, high-end hotel Mandarin Oriental, Hong Kong has opted for the classic with a range of traditional mooncakes available in their luxurious hampers and delectable Mini Assorted packages.

Ying Jee Club
The two Michelin-starred eatery, Ying Jee Club, stylishly presents its highly-anticipated Mini Egg Custard Mooncakes dressed in a chrysanthemum embellished jewel-toned box to enthral this Mid-Autumn Festival.

Miss Lee
Modern vegetarian concept, Miss Lee, offers a contemporary twist to the long-standing tradition with its vegan mooncakes in a set of four guilt-free and unique flavour combinations: Purple Sweet Potato & Ginger and Hawthorn & Dark Plum.

Lady M (partnered with Netflix and Pearl Studio)
Inspired by Over the Moon, an upcoming animated adventure that explores the rich cultural traditions of the Mid-Autumn Festival, the dessert mavens at Lady M have whipped up the gold- and jade-accented Over the Moon Mooncake Lantern, creatively decorated with characters from the movie that inspired it.

Royal Caviar Club (in collaboration with Nicholas Chew)
Introducing the world’s first Caviar & Australian Black Truffle Mooncake by Sai Ying Pun-set Royal Caviar Club. As its name suggests, this limited-edition savoury mooncake oozes luxury in every sense, encompassing caviar and gold leaves to heighten its flavours.

Two Michelin-starred Ying Jee Club unveils sumptuous new tasting menu

Amid the hustle and bustle of Central’s busy streets comes a fine-dining Cantonese cuisinary that has elevated the city’s traditional fare to new heights. We are speaking, of course, of Ying Jee Club, the two Michelin-starred restaurant located on Connaught Road’s Nexxus Building. Part of the ZS Hospitality Group – which owns four other Central-set restaurants including Lee Lo Mei, Moi Moi and Sakana No Aji – it recently upped the epicurean stakes even further with the unveiling of an all-new seasonal tasting menu.

Personally curated by Chef Siu Hin Chi, the culinary genius who has collected 15 Michelin stars in the past decade, the new tasting menu at Ying Jee Club serves up seven separate courses that each boast a unique flavour profile. Yet, when taken as a whole, the experience is nothing so much as an homage to the very best of Cantonese culinary traditions and ingredients.

The line-up opened with Chilled Sliced Sea Whelk with Jelly Fish and Caviar, Wok-fried Kagoshima A4 Wagyu Beef with Scallion and Soy Sauce. A two-part appetiser that blends succulent seafood morsels with heartier bites of melt-in-your-mouth beef, it deftly showcased Chef Siu’s ability to create dishes that are far greater than the sum of their parts.

Then it was onto back-to-back lobster courses. First up was Baked Lobster with Cheese and Garlic, which sees baby lobsters baked in a heavenly garlicky concoction and topped with cheese. An umami bomb from start to finish, it served as a perfect counter point to the next dish – Steamed Whole Lobster with Egg White and “Hua Diao”. Here, subtlety was the name of the game, with the steamed egg custard and lobster bites enhanced and sweetened with the judicious use of hua diao, a traditional Chinese yellow wine.

To follow, and in a knowing nod to local appetites, was Braised South African Abalone with Pork Belly and Vegetable in Oyster Sauce. Once again, Chef Siu’s adept handling of his ingredients sees the tender pork belly and delicate abalone merge to form a superbly mouth-watering dish.

Next to hove into view was Poached Fish Maw with Wolfberry in Chicken Broth, a deliciously wholesome dish that called nothing to mind so much as a childhood favourite reborn – albeit with a fine-dining twist – before the final savoury course arrived tableside: Fried Rice with Barbecue Pork, Roast Duck, Shrimp, Crispy Conpoy and Vegetables. Boasting an amalgam of flavours and textures that came together in a uniquely cohesive manner, this was Cantonese comfort food at its very finest.

To end proceedings on a truly sweet note, the beautifully presented Ying Jee Dessert was unveiled. From the flaky Lotus Seed Paste Puff and Glutinous Dumpling to the decadent Double Boiled Bird’s Nest with Almond Juice, it served as the perfect sampling platter to satiate the sweet tooth of even the most discerning diner.

The new seasonal tasting menu at Ying Jee Club is priced at HK$1,980 per person. Oenophiles can also opt for the wine pairing menu for an additional HK$600 as well.

Ying Jee Club. Shop G05 G/Fl & Shops 107~108, 1/Fl, Nexxus Building, 41 Connaught Rd Central.(852)2801 6882. www.yingjeeclub.hk