As the faint sound of a sizzle of meat made it’s way to our ears, the air smelled of smoke, garlic and pork fat.

Pork is a beautiful thing.. in a sweet succulent brined pork chop way, or in a smoky, falling off the cracker, dry-cured parma ham way. It’s delicious as a rillette with a crusty toasted slice of rustic bread and tangy crispy cornichons.. and even as grilled pork bulgogi with cloves of garlic and slices of bright green jalapeno.., Oh, not forgetting juicy sausages and smoky bacon either.

But it goes beyond all that even, when it is served up as juicy salt baked Spanish Iberico pork ribs.

Ah yes..  these Iberico pork ribs can only be described as crisp, succulent, luxurious.

salt baked Spanish Iberico pork ribs

I love eating at Gu Yue Tien. The food is fantastic and always unexpectedly innovative. The restaurant Gu Yue Tien, helmed by Owner/Chef Frankie Woo, deserves a Michelin star for the extreme creativity it brings to the ritual of Chinese fine dining, if you ask me. The Chef himself, truly has a flair for marrying tastes and textures to perfection. That and the fact that he has a great palate!

Dragon Fish Yee Sang (RM98++ for 10 persons)

Take for  example the Yee Sang here at Gu Yue Tien. Chef Frankie created the perfect balance in taste and textures, when he brought together in harmonious synchronicity the green coral lettuce, golden raisins, pear, pomelo sacs, salmon sashimi, sesame seed, strawberry sauce, and crackers.

The creation of new cuisine just flows so effortlessly with him.

The Dragon fish (Pipe fish) that looked like long slivers of ikan bilis (anchovy) added an unusual dimension to the traditional yee sang that not many would have thought of. It all worked together in the favour of the dish.

Chef Frankie and M

thick seafood broth filled with crab roe, crab meat, prawn, scallop, squid and tofu cubes

I loved this seafood soup that was bursting with crab meat and tofu! Much better than any sharks-fin soup. (SAY NO TO SHARKSFIN!)

Sichuan style steamed halibut fish with a spicy chillies and garlic topping.

The old Sichuanese standards are marvelous, here at this restaurant, because Chef Frankie has long been an expert on preparing these sort of dishes. The star tonight, though, was a dish that even every respectable Chengdu restaurant should know.. A gorgeous steamed fish in sichuan style chillies and garlic sauce. The Halibut is a cold water, oily fish and it’s texture was firm and it’s flesh sweet. Totally to die for!

Szechuan/Sichuan Ma Po Tofu and Smooth Noodles.

The heat of Sichuanese food is well known. But Sichuan’s is a peculiar spiciness, in part thanks to the native peppercorns, famous for their vaguely anesthetic power. Here at Gu Yue Tien, Chef Frankie does a milder version of this cathartic dish. I like it this way. It allows me to taste the flavours a lot better, when I am not nursing a burning mouth. The smooth noodles went down in one silky string of a slurp. Nice!

steamed nian gao, that is then rolled around in salted fresh coconut shavings

Finally, a steamed version of the fried nian-gao that we are so used to for Chinese New Year. This one was soft and light and completely melted in my mouth. The salty coconut shavings enhanced the tastiness of the nian gao. Superb and highly recommended!

I suppose I have a few food-inclined friends who are still obsessed with fresh truffles. They tend to know a great deal, on the subject matter, and go through great lengths to transport/ship/hand-carry fresh truffles back home to KL, for the sake of a meal. They also go through great pains to keep the truffles dry and moisture free before it makes it to the kitchen. Later, the Chef needs to revive/resuscitate the transported truffles, for the benefit of their fellow diners before it arrives in its glorious form, on the dinner plate. Such is the dedication of the *truffle-phile. For the rest of us, though, the truffle experience is just one to be savoured and revered. We do not need to know, how the truffle got there, so much as the fact that the truffle is there, in the food.

“I have one rule about truffles,” I say, “I never say no to them”.

Yes, so over dinner, we heard the story about how our friend, the truffle-phile, upon returning from France, had to store the fresh truffles before it could be presented for cooking. Contrary to popular believe , one should not stick it into rice to keep it dry, because this will promptly make the truffle lose all it’s aroma. As we all know, when exposed to air, the aroma of fresh truffles fills the room with heavenly fragrance. Because the fragrance will be lost with extended exposure to open air, truffles should be wrapped carefully in a paper towel and kept in an air-tight container or jar. It is very important to keep truffles dry, therefore it is a good idea to change the paper towel daily. All truffles hate dampness, and will develop mold if moisture is present. If mold develops, apparently one should shave off the affected area. This poor truffle-phile changed so many papers that when the time came to eat the truffle, it had to be revived with moisture. It had to be revived heavily with moisture. Wow.. and that is why I say.. the privileged few did not need to experience what pains it took to cook the meal, just that the meal in itself was exquisite.

fettuccine with crab, parsley, garlic and black truffle

Steamed fish with egg white sauce and black truffles

Yee Sang with Ocean Trout

With Chinese New Year (CNY) round the corner, don’t forget to check out Chef Choi’s CNY menu, that includes the traditional Yee Sang - loads of yam, crunchy bits and fresh ocean trout sashimi in plum sauce.

grilled sardin fish

I was told that the sardin, is rather hard to prepare. If it is not 100% fresh, it falls apart when cooked. These particular sardins kept their form and were superbly fresh. First time I ever tasted such taut and fresh sardins!

How can one not have champagne at such a festive dinner? 

Saucisson and Shaved Parmesan

Ah.. what a coincidence.. was just reading David Labovitz the other day and learnt the difference between, Saucisson and Saucisse.

Saucisson is a large variety of sausage preparations of minced or chopped meats and organ meats, which are seasoned, cooked, or dried (often called saucisson sec. Saucisson is eaten sliced , and usually cold, as it is bought). Saucisse on the other hand, is the generic term for sausage (cooked, uncooked, or cured) which is served hot or re-heated, as opposed to saucisson which is generally eaten cold in slices.

This cross section of the Saucisson looks like Mickey Mouse.. too cute! 

Braised Pork Shoulder with Mushroom, Black Moss (Fatt Choy) and Scallop

Braised Wa Wa Choy with Dry Scallop

The Wa Wa vegetable tastes like bok-choy, but is super tender and is from the cabbage family. It is also known as the Napa Cabbage, Brassica pekinensis. It has some really great anti-cancer properties, so eat up!

Special Fried Glutinous Rice with Hong Kong Liver Sausage

Steamed Rice with Sausage and Waxed Meat in Claypot (Lap Mei Farn)

Crispy Chinese New Year Cake with Yam and Tiramisu 

I’m pretty sure that truffles added to the pleasure of this terrific meal. But then simple pleasure isn’t the point of this curious restaurant. Good food and good friends, are the point. Oh.. and a whole load of truffles, whether they make sense or not;)

One of our all time favourite dimsum places is, Clan Restaurant, in Sri Petaling. These guys are fast, clean and cheap. The dimsum of course, is incredibly good. Otherwise, we wouldn’t eat here, would we;)

They also have this crazy Gai Wo Bao, which translates to ‘Chicken Nest Bun’. Clan Restaurant owners are the creators of this wacky bun, apparently. Basically it is a white, fluffy bun (like a bao, but larger and flatter) stuffed to exploding point with Chicken, Mushrooms, Pork and Salted Egg Yolk. As if that’s not enough, the signature Loh Mai Farn (as in the glutinous rice in Loh Mai Gai) is the final element, stuffed into the base of the bun that makes this just the ultimate starch meal of the day. It’s a rather crazy concoction but it works.

We are normally pretty taken with the other Dimsum dishes at this place as well. The shrimp rolls are fresh and crunchy and taste fabulous when you dunk it into the creamy mayonnaise sauce. Then there are the pork base rolls which are equally succulent and full of animal fat flavour. I also like the xiao long bao here, as it normally explodes with sweet, hot juices when you bite into it. We generally eat in appreciative silence.. occasionally shaking our heads and muttering under out breaths.. so tasty, so cheap. Wish other overpriced dimsum joints were more like this!

this place needs no advertising.. as there’s tons of advertisements hanging from the ceiling as it is!

I wish it had more than one yolk per “nest”!

Some tables sit as many as four generations .. such is the Yamchar culture in my country.. I just love it!

A good assortment of dimsum dishes

I like the xiao long bao.. this is the only correct way to eat it!

The guys mass producing the Gai Wo Bao. These are packed into colorful boxes (custom made to fit one bao) for sale to the masses. The owners are ingenious business men I tell you.

This is where the loh mai farn gets stuffed into the white buns

The sauce that goes into the Gai Wo Bao is produced in massive batches – I hope no stray insect falls in there!

Dimsum steaming trays piled high

Everybody has a job to do around here..

Including him! It’s finger licking good! (His job is to eat lah..)

Dimsum overload!

Chinese New Year is a little like Thanksgiving where there’s celebration, massive feasting, visiting relatives and where ornate, wildly colored dragons, kamquat trees, and generally, decorations that are “red” in colour, are used to decorate the place for good luck. Chinese restaurants will inadvertently be serving up dishes with names that mean “good luck” and “fortune”.

Part of the fun and madness of Chinese New Year, is the partaking in Low Sang. And part of the Low Sang/Yee Sang ritual is actually the noise and merry making that involves large chopsticks and people tossing and mixing the ingredients in the large, flat plate till the colors and raw fish are completely and thoroughly mixed. This is the one time, parents will not scold their children for playing with their food. In fact, the more you play with it and toss it, the better. Also, the louder you scream prosperity wishes the better. “Health Come!” “Money Come!” “Love and Good Fortune COME! “

That’s right.. Chinese New Year is incomplete without a Yee Sang toss for good luck, prosperity, longevity, health and wealth. Yee Sang also known as lo hei (in Cantonese) is a Chinese raw fish salad. It usually consists of strips of raw fish, mixed with shredded vegetables and a variety of sauces and condiments, among other ingredients.

Prosperity Yee Sang with fresh scallop, mango and crystal pear 

Though Yee Sang means “raw fish”, it can also mean abundance. The word Yee Sang is used to refer to prosperity and all things good, for the Chinese New Year. Partaking in the Yee Sang means, that expected promotion, that new car, or closing that important deal, is just around the corner. To every fine Chinese man and woman, the Yee Sang symbolizes abundance, prosperity and vigor.

Ah.. Chinese New Year.. what do I love most about Chinese New Year..?

The feasting of course. A Chinese proverb states that all creations are reborn on New Year’s day. The Chinese New Year is a celebration of change – out with the old and in with the new.

sweet and sour pork ribs

The Chinese New Year falls on a different date each year because it is based on a combination of lunar and solar movements. It usually occurs in January or February. New Year’s Eve and New Year’s Day are celebrated as a family affair, a time of reunion and thanksgiving. The New Year’s Eve dinner a.k.a the Reunion Dinner, is the most important where the entire family no matter how geographically scattered, exodus back to their hometown, to gather and eat at the dinner table together.

spicy prawns

Normally the wives, daughters and daughter-in-laws (basically all the women in the family) have to toil in the kitchen all day to prepare the sumptuous feast for the entire family. This is also a time for honoring the spirits of the ancestors but our family does not practice this, as we are all third generation Christians.

Braised duck with sea cucumber, mushrooms, snow peas 

Anyway, I love Chinese New Year because it is a time for loads of Feasting, Merry Making, Mahjong playing, collecting or giving Angpows and most importantly, I love if for the fact that family unity is at its strongest during this festive season. Oh, and it’s also pretty fun when you get to win money off your elders at the Mahjong table!

Braised Fatt Choy (black moss), Hoe See (dried oyster) with mushroom and bean curd

This year, a great place to Low Sang with your colleagues or loved ones, would be at Lai Ching Yuen, Grand Millennium Hotel. The Yee Sang with a twist is pretty awesome – they use scallops instead of raw fish, and the taste is superb. Also, instead of using super sweet syrup, they opt to use fruits (like strawberry syrup – made from fresh strawberries) instead. Chef Leong Weng Heng creations this year include Yee Sang employing either raw Salmon, Giant Clam, Crispy Cod Skin, Scallop or Abalone, rather than the traditional raw fish. With each passing year, I expect the unexpected and look forward to just what Chefs and restaurants will think of next!

Lap Mei Farn – chinese wax sausages and duck meat in Claypot rice 

The other highlights of Lai Ching Yuen Reunion dinner include this terrific Fatt-choy , Hoe-See dish which has been braised till all the flavour and goodness just envelopes the entire plate. Longevity, prosperity and all the good stuff should follow you all year long, after eating this dish;) And for the grand finale, the Lap Mei Farn is a must!

Glutinous rice dumpling with black sesame filling in red bean soup

There’s no better way than to end the meal on a sweet note, with Tong Yuen. Lai Ching Yuen Reunion dinner menu sets start at RM1,280++, RM1,480++, RM1,680++ and RM1,780++per table of 10, depending on how luxurious the spread is. Be sure to call and make reservations before hand.

Hairy crabs, a.k.a. Chinese mitten crabs ..

Feeling a little tied up?

 roe, roe , roe your boat, gently down the stream..

merrily, merrily, merrily, life is but a dream ..

braised hairy crab egg noodles ..

love me, love my crab meat and roe ..

Feeling too square for some Iberico Suckling Pig?

How about some Iberico baby back ribs then?

If the hoof fits..

Eat it!

Are you listening to me?

Iberico suckling, Iberico in XO, Iberico Sweet and sour, heck, even Iberico steamed mince meat.. Iberico in every form possible.. need  I say more?

Oh Hair today .. gone tomorrow…

Gonna go get me some Hairy crabs!

Available while stocks last. The Hairy Crab season at Chef Choi (and everywhere else in the world), lasts only till mid-December so you have approximately one month to get down there and get hairy. Iberico will be there too, if you wish to get piggy with it.

Read more about the promo here and here.