Chef Ric Teoh, sous chef, Toh Yuen

Chef Ric Teoh, sous chef, Toh Yuen at Hilton

The bubbly Teoh has been working in restaurants for over 20 years now, and has spent time in kitchens in Malaysia, the Maldives and London. As a result of all that experience, Teoh has been able to observe the ebb and flow of trends as they come and ago, which is why this CNY, Teoh has opted to go with menu options that are lighter and healthier, in keeping with the growing trend for healthy food that he has noticed in the past few years.

“Now people all want healthy food and during the reunion dinner, there will be elderly people, so I think healthy food is better for the whole family,” says Teoh.

Teoh’s simple CNY meal of double boiled wolfberry with minced chicken and dried scallop soup is an interesting dish where a layer of solidified minced chicken lays atop clear, flavourful soup. The dish offers new discoveries – the chicken paste has gingery undertones and a silken quality, almost like silken tofu, while the clear broth delivers understated flavours.

The dish makes for a great addition to home cooks’ repertoire of Chinese meals as it is incredibly easy to make and requires minimal human involvement – blending and steaming are the two major cooking components of this meal.

Teoh says the secret to nailing this homely dish is to make sure not to overdo the components.

“When you blend the chicken meat, don’t overblend. And when you steam the soup, stick to doing it for a maximum of 1 hours and 15 minutes, because if you steam it for too long, the meat will break up and it will be messy,” says Teoh.

Teoh also came up with the dish of Hock Chew style five-grain rice with braised yam and seafood. The dish features five-grain rice topped with a delicious braised seafood sauce where yam plays a starring role.

It is a light meal that also feels sumptuous and comforting.

Teoh decided to incorporate five-grain rice into the meal partly because it is healthier than polished white rice and also because five is an auspicious number to Chinese people.

The associated five blessings – happiness, luck, longevity, wealth and health – are often tied in with the number and the five grains themselves were important to ancient China and are often considered sacred.

Teoh says the dish is very easy for home cooks to replicate as many things can be done simultaneously.

“While the rice is cooking, you can make the sauce, so from start to finish, it should only take a maximum of 45 minutes. For Chinese New Year, everyone is always rushing, so this really saves time,” he says.

Teoh does add, however, that if one key element is observed, it will help tie the whole dish together. “When you’re boiling the yam with the black pepper, it is important to keep boiling until it is aromatic. If you stop boiling before you get to this point, it won’t turn out as well,” says Teoh.

HOCK CHEW-STYLE FIVE-GRAIN RICE WITH YAM AND SEAFOOD

For cooking the rice
800g five-grain rice
2 tbsp diced fried garlic
2 tbsp sliced spring onions

For cooking the yam and seafood
oil, for deep-frying
240g Penang yam, cubed
1.2 litres cold water
black pepper powder to taste
salt to taste
sugar to taste
120g chicken stock powder
120g tiger prawns, cubed
120g grouper fillet, cubed
2 asparagus spears, sliced
6 tbsp potato starch
8 tbsp evaporated milk

To cook the rice

Cook the rice in a rice cooker for 45 minutes. In a wok, toss and stir-fry the rice with the garlic and spring onions to coat evenly. Set aside.

To make the yam and seafood

In a pot, deep-fry yam till fully cooked.

Heat up a wok till hot, then pour cold water in, along with yam and black pepper powder. Leave to boil on high heat until aromatic.

Season with salt, sugar and chicken stock. Add in prawns, fish and asparagus and cook on high heat for 8 to 10 minutes. Thicken with potato starch until mixture is sticky.

Turn off the heat and add evaporated milk and stir to combine into the sauce. Put rice in bowls and ladle sauce on top of the rice. Eat hot.