Shang Palace at Shangri-la Singapore welcomes a new chef – Daniel Cheung – who hails from Hong Kong and who was most recently the Executive Chinese Chef at Shang Palace Kowloon, a Michelin-starred restaurant. He has 37 years of culinary experience including stints in The Peninsula Hong Kong’s Spring Moon as well as The Jockey Club.
Along with his arrival in Shang Palace Singapore comes a revitalized menu for this age-old dining institution. Many of Chef Daniel’s star dishes will be made available here – classic Cantonese dishes that will undoubtedly evoke memories of Hong Kong but with Chef Daniel’s personal touch.
The Applewood Smoked Bean Curd Rolls with Shiitake Mushroom, Carrot and Green Mustard is an elevated version of this classic Cantonese vegetarian appetizer. Preparing it involved a painstaking multi-step recipe. Each vegetable had to be cut, cooked and seasoned under its own specific regime. These green mustard, mushrooms and carrots are then skilfully rolled in a prescribed sequence before undergoing a steaming process. The rolls are then finished by smoking over the steamer with Pu-er tea, sugar and uncooked rice. In a further refinement, Chef Daniel smokes the rolls with applewood under a glass cloche, adding an extra layer of flavor to a beautifully textured dish.
The Fried Rice with Kagoshima Wagyu Beef served in Whole Tomato is one that will pique the curiosity of every diner. Instead of the overused pumpkin, a large piece of tomato is hollowed out and stuffed with fried rice. The wagyu beef that comes with the rice is not particularly huge – it’s actually diced and cut into small pieces, making sure the star of the show – the fried rice – is not left into the periphery.
For seafood lovers, Chef Daniel’s delicately steamed fillet of garoupa comes with a refined sauce of superior broth and egg white with finely chopped broccoli and carrot lending an artistic green and orange hue. The Steamed Spotted Garoupa Fillet in Egg White Sauce topped with Crispy Parma Ham is finished and enhanced in flavor with deep-fried julienned ginger and Parma ham.
Dinner in a Cantonese restaurant is perhaps not complete without some classic Cantonese Style Crispy Chicken topped with crispy crackers. Well-loved by his Hong Kong diners, this is another one of Chef Daniel’s personal re-creations as it utilizes a method of preparation comprising marination bath, low-temperature cooking, air-drying, and finishing in an oil bath to crisp the skin upon order. This turned out marvelously and even the breast parts were juicy and tender. It is recommended to add a sprinkling of the accompanying salt for an enhanced flavor.
A powerful ‘sense of place’ pervades the Baked Live Prawns with Garlic and Sarawak White Pepper. Chef Daniel evolves his well loved Hong Kong recipe of crabs with Chinese peppercorn by adapting it with live local prawns and Sarawak pepper – an exotic and select spice of this region. His presentation – in a sizzling casserole pot – seduces all the senses.
The Stewed Shrimp Pomelo Peel which is marketed as another one of Chef Daniel’s iconic dishes is more of an acquired taste. Preparing it involved a lot of labor, resulting in a texture somewhat similar to potato and with a slight seafood aroma.
Finish off the meal with a highly nourishing Double-boiled Snow Pear with Peach Resin, Mandarin Peel and Chuanbei. This is usually available as part of a set meal and is great to balance out the “heaviness” of the preceding dishes.
Shang Palace
22 Orange Grove Rd
Singapore 258350
Opening Hours: 12 to 2:30PM (Mon to Fri), 11AM to 3PM (Sat to Sun) and 6PM to 10PM (Daily)
+65 6213 4473
Leave a Reply