The Jakarta Post
20th Jan 2008
Alvin Darlanika Soedarjo
When Ip Yiu Tung of Singapore first started out in business, he didn't know he would one day be a restaurateur.
"It all happened by chance," he says at a media luncheon.
He started out in industrial business in the city-state. He was then invited to invest in a failing restaurant with a poor location. Location, he stresses, is important. One of his latest creations proves he learned this well.
The Crystal Jade Palace Restaurant is located in Grand Indonesia, and stands committed to serving some of the best Cantonese cuisine available.
Why Cantonese for fine dining instead of another culinary tradition, such as Shanghai or Szechuan?
Cantonese food of southern China is known as a healthier option among Chinese cuisines. In the kitchen, the cook uses more steam and less oil, says Ip, who is the chairman of Crystal Jade Culinary Concept Holding.
The cook mixes fresh ingredients on a hot wok, and in about a minute the dish is ready to be served.
When prawns are seared, he said, diners can still see the original color of the prawn.
"We don't 'cover' the food in much oil."
Ip jokes that in meal preparation, a cook steams the freshest fish, fries the "ok" fish and deep fries the "not-so-ok" fish.
Shanghai cuisine, in foods such as its famous la mian noodles, uses more oil and tastes a wee bit sweeter than Cantonese.
For our meal we begin with beef shank with spices, cold-mixed crunchy prawn and soft vegetable dumplings.
Next comes sauteed crab meat and crab roe wrapped in egg white skin, and also a shark's bone soup, its high collagen good for the skin.
The braised abalone in oyster sauce, the tastiest abalone I've ever had, is a must-try. The oyster sauce enhances its sweetness and creates a pleasing texture. The small bits of broccoli on the side also have the right kind of softness.
Ip says a good abalone needs to live about 10 years in the sea before it's big enough to eat. The succulent abalone in this restaurant is imported from Australia.
The steamed cod fish with lily flower and black fungus is cooked to perfection. The taste of the cod, or gindara, is sweet and tender. Fresh lily bulb is said to prevent coughing and asthma while the fungus can nourish and purify the blood.
The signature fried rice is the last main entree for our lunch. The head chef, who hails from Hong Kong, cooked the rice in a clay pot near our table. The clay pot enhances the flavor and aroma of the rice, says Crystal Jade director Shannon Masrin.
For dessert, we have hashima, a mountain fruit from northeast China. The white meat of the fruit is poured inside a coconut and boiled. The dish is a little sweeter than you'd find in Singapore because "Indonesians love sweets", says Ip.
The key in preparing Cantonese food is the quality of the ingredients.
"The ingredients are the most important aspect of the culinary business. Without good ingredients, even a great cook will not be able to prepare a tasty meal," says Ip.
Besides the lovely meal, the Crystal Jade Palace has great ambiance, with an interior designed by the renowned Yasuhiro Koichi. He created the spacious interior to embody the comfort of home.
Crystal Jade Culinary Concepts Holding owns more than 70 outlets in 11 major cities across Asia Pacific. Since it was established in 1991 in Singapore, the company has grown into a leader in the food and beverage business, spreading from Singapore to Indonesia, Malaysia, Hong Kong, China, Japan, Vietnam and South Korea.
The best meal from Crystal Jade? There is no easy answer for that.
Crystal Jade Palace Restaurant at Grand Indonesia. Phone: 2358 0768
http://www.thejakartapost.com/detailfeatures.asp?fileid=20080120.D03&irec=3
