Millennium celebrates 'Imlek' with 'Yu Shang'
Jim Read, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta
Have you ever experienced the thrill of tossing a pancake on Shrove Tuesday, wondering whether it will turn over exactly as planned, break in mid-air, or land back in the frying pan in a crumpled heap?
Something akin to this exhilaration is on offer at Hua Ting Chinese restaurant, Millennium Hotel, Central Jakarta, which will be celebrating upcoming Imlek (Lunar New Year) with a special menu available for the next ten days or so.
Yu Shang lucky salmon raw fish salad starts out as plates of smoked salmon plus a large dish of broken krupuk (crackers) and seven or eight types of shredded vegetables, each in small piles, which can include carrots, bean sprouts, green and red peppers, and radish. A couple of small bowls of oil and plum sauce are also to hand.
Diners (the more the merrier), using chopsticks, then jointly toss the mixture like a salad after the liquid ingredients have been added.
The tossing, known as lo hei, should be done with great vigor -- the higher the better -- all the while making a wish for good luck for the coming year. The resultant mixture is a slightly sweet-tasting salad that whets the appetite for the courses to come.
The Yu Shang tradition originates from Singapore and spread subsequently to Malaysia and Hong Kong, but these days Chinese from many parts of Asia participate in it.
Hua Ting is offering Yu Shang lucky salmon as the first course in an eight-course special set menu for tables of 10 diners at Rp 1,680,000++ per table. The menu is deliberately aimed at families or large groups of diners who traditionally come together to celebrate Lunar New Year.
Other courses provided by chef Chen Hann Furn, who comes from Singapore, incorporate ingredients that have special symbolic value for the time of year.
These include braised shark's fin soup with dried scallop and crab meat, wok-fried prawns Gon Po style in a yam ring, deep- fried grouper fish in soy sauce, and braised dried scallops and Chinese mushrooms with green vegetables.
Prawns, for example, symbolize luxury, and are prized at New Year and on special occasions. They are therefore eaten in the hope that they will bring prosperity.
The dishes are all appetizing and provide a good range of complementary flavors and textures.
Millennium director of business development Ong Siong Kai, who is a Chinese-Singaporean, says of lo hei, "the tradition is now found as far away as the U.S. and UK, and, although something of an enigma, is a very tasty one indeed!"
Hua Ting Chinese restaurant Millennium Hotel Sirih Jakarta Jl Fachrudin 3 Jakarta 10250 tel. 2303636, fax. 2300028
The hotel is also offering Imlek stay packages