Wagyu steak with black pepper sauce. (JG Photo/Nivelle Rayda)
There was a time when chefs collaborated to fuse disparate cuisines, to unite far-flung regions into a harmonious universe, often leaving us to suffer the consequences. In the modern rush to create eclectic unions, chefs have now chosen to pair up with their compatriots from the same region of the world in an attempt to lure diners into a new take on so-called “fusion cuisine.”
This week Xin Hwa, the Chinese restaurant at the Mandarin Oriental, features the culinary collaboration of executive chef Jeff Lee and guest chef Ricky Thien, who heads the kitchens at Lai Po Heen, the hotel chain’s bastion of Cantonese cuisine in Kuala Lumpur.
The specially prepared six-course menu is distinctly Chinese but is abruptly marked by Southeast Asian touches. Reminisce about Vietnam as you bite into rice paper rolls encasing morsels of foie gras and fruit, which you dip in the sweet sauce provided on the side. The meat and fruit combination is mild but does little to replicate the fresh burst that would normally accompany the first bite of a summer roll in Hanoi.
What follows is a homage to seafood with fish sourced from around Asia and Australia, cooked delicately in slow-braised stocks and sauces. Seafood dumplings lie supine in a rich broth while abalone perches precariously on a hillock of spinach.
The East Asian theme makes an abrupt return to Southeast Asia with an offering of pan-seared Wagyu steak served with a pepper sauce from Sarawak. While the meat is superior and the sauce — highlighting the pepper-growing region of Malaysian Borneo — is divine, the return to Chinese cuisine, although regionally authentic and thematically appropriate, is weak with a noodle soup dish that does little to end an otherwise pleasant savory meal on a high note.
Just as with the start of the meal, the dessert on offer includes a resolutely regional offering of durian. Slices of fresh fruit are blended with whipped cream and piped into tight, thin durian pancakes. The heavy cream counters the distinct taste of the fruit although the dish may be slightly overpowering for the uninitiated.
Despite a few unlikely deviations in the general region, the meal is well prepared and presented, and while it stays true to the unique blend that is Chinese-Malaysian cuisine, those expecting a more multidimensional approach may come away slightly disappointed.
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