Who’s cooking at the Shangri-La?
D id you know that the Chinese New Year celebration runs for 15 days? I didn’t until last week, where I saw that the fire rooster is still all over Tsim Sha Tsui and elsewhere in Hong Kong. I realized then that it is truly befitting that Hong Kongbased Shangri-La Hotels and Re- sorts always celebrates Chinese New Year in a big way. A small group of media guests partook in the festivities on the first day of the Lunar New Year at the Mactan resort upon the invitation of general manager Rene Egle and the communications team. Watching the traditional lion and tiger dances hasn’t gotten old for me, especially since Shangri-La always gets a really enthusiastic group of talents with beautifully embellished costumes to do it. Hotel guests filled the lobby and watched with obvious delight as the lions danced and picked up pieces of round fruit and ang pao for good fortune, followed by the dragon dance. Hotel officers and VIPs proceeded to a traditional yee sang toss with the ingredients artfully arranged in the form of a rooster.
We were invited to a Lunar New Year feast at the resort’s Tea of Spring restaurant, where Chinese chef Boon Bun Hoe had prepared a grand spread. Before we started, we also had our own yee sang toss; a pretty exciting one, with a noodle strand stuck on the lighting fixture above the table as proof of how high we were tossing!
Dim Sum cannot be missed while dining at Tea of Spring, and that day we were treated to pork and shrimp dumplings with abalone, fresh shrimp dumplings, Hong Kong-style deep fried bean curd rolls, pan-fried pork loin with Chinese cabbage and prawn, and glutinous rice balls with meat tucked inside. This was followed by seafood treasure soup with dried scallops, before going on to a series of main courses that just seemed to keep on coming (no complaints here): steamed live lapu-lapu with superior soya sauce, deepfried boneless chicken with plum sauce and onion rings, stir-fried prawns with Shimeji musrhooms, braised abalone and bean curd dumplings with black sea moss sauce, and more glutinous rice, this time with abalone and chicken wrapped in lotus leaf. It’s no coincidence that abalone was highlighted on the menu, as Chef Boon’s various renditions of the famous delicacy will now be available for the rest of 2017 after being introduced on Chinese New Year.
For dessert was deep-fried traditional nian gao, which had an interesting combination of chewy and crunchy sweet textures, and refreshing chilled mango puree with pomelo and sago.
While Chef Boon has been with the Shangri-La team for many years now, the resort recently welcomed a new member to its culinary team. Chef Andrea Burzio is now in Cebu after establishing his culinary expertise across hotels and restaurants in Italy, France, Switzerland, Thailand and Myanmar. As someone who grew up in northern Italy, he takes inspiration from the region’s varied geography, using ingredients from the sea to the forest. Andrea believes that cooking is an art that is key to creating meaningful relationships and communities. “I want my guests to go home with more than just a flavorful experience, but heartwarming moments they will cherish for a long time,” said the new head of Acqua’s kitchen team.