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| Cherry Garden Luxurious Pen Cai |
Pen Cai (Pooh Choi / Peng Chai) which literally means “Basin
Vegetables” is a traditional Chinese New Year dish from the old
days. It was first created for the Emperor and has been passed down
to the current generation. In the olden days, Pen Cai is normally
served in wooden basin where it is assemble with the dishes from the
festive praying offerings. In modern time, Pen Cai is served in
claypot as it is easier to reheat and retain the heat as well.
In
Singapore, Cherry Garden is known for its amazing Cherry Garden
Luxurious Pen Cai (豪华盆菜).
Singapore's largest traditional 'basin dish', weighing more than 25
kilogrammes and measuring up to 45 cm in diameter. Knowing it is
Cherry Garden, you can expect the best ingredients are used for this
Pen Cai.
This
auspicious basin shown here is enough for 10 pax or more. It will
take three rounds of serving to finish all the ingredients inside.
1st
serving was lobster, braised four-head abalone, scallop and prawn.
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| 1st serving: lobster, braised four-head abalone, scallop and prawn |
2nd
serving was dried oyster roll, meatball with tangerine skin, cabbage
and black moss
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| 2nd serving: dried oyster roll, meatball with tangerine skin, cabbage and black moss |
3rd
serving was sea cucumber, roasted duck, roasted pork belly, and
mushroom. Not seen in the photos are conpoy (dried scallops), dace
fillet, lotus chicken and waxed sausage.
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| 3rd serving: sea cucumber, roasted duck, roasted pork belly, and mushroom |
It was definitely a superb dish, where all ingredients are cooked
just right before it was assemble. Other than the ingredients, the
highlight for me was the gravy. It is slightly thick but not sticky
till overpowering. It tasted like a solid robust broth, flavourful
and it is the key ingredient that binds the rest of ingredients
together. Absolutely Delicious!!
