Spice Temple rings in Lunar New Year with feast of auspicious dishes
Monday, 9 January 2023: Spice Temple is embracing the Chinese custom of ushering in fortuitous times with feasts of auspicious dishes planned for the coming Lunar New Year celebrations.
Executive Chef of Spice Temple Sydney and Melbourne Andy Evans and Melbourne Head ChefMaggie Chan have curated special banquet menus to celebrate the Year of the Rabbit.The Lunar New Year banquets are available in Sydney from Tuesday, 17 January to Saturday, 28January, and in Melbourne from Tuesday, 17 January to Sunday, 29 January.
In line with Lunar New Year customs, the banquet menus are designed around food symbolism:purse-shaped pipis that represent fortune, eggs that signify fertility, dumplings shaped like money to represent wealth, and red ingredients that stand for prosperity and happiness.
Chef Andy explains:
“We have drawn on our most special dishes that we save for celebratory occasions and designed menus that promote prosperity, happiness, peace, love and other aspects of good fortune.We have chosen red ingredients like cherry tomatoes and Wuxi New Year pork ribs, as red is the colour of prosperity and happiness; purse-shaped pipis that represent fortune; as well as classic dishes eaten during Chinese New Year celebrations, such as raw fish Yu Sheng salad.”
Yu Sheng, otherwise known as ‘Prosperity Toss’, symbolises good luck for the new year.
“Diners are encouraged to toss the shredded ingredients of the salad in the air; the higher they toss the ingredients the greater their good fortune in the year ahead,” Chef Andy says.“We have included tender pork ribs from Wuxi province in East China for their deep red colour, which comes from braising in a red master stock that is coloured with ground red yeasted rice. Red represents prosperity and happiness, which we wish on all our guests for 2023.”
In Melbourne Chef Maggie has created unique dishes, including Golden Scallop Dumplings that represent wealth.
The dumplings are made in-house and shaped like the ancient Chinese gold currency, called ingot,with gold dust sprinkled on them for an extra wealth-seeking kick.
Another dish created for the Chinese New Year feast is Stir-Fried Egg Noodles with Blue Swimmer Crab and XO Sauce.
“We make the noodles by hand. In traditional Chinese custom, noodles represent longevity. I love the deep flavours of this dish from our house-made XO sauce, which is full of premium ingredients including dried shrimp and dried scallop.”
Another symbolic Chinese New Year dish is our Tang Yuan, or sweet rice dumplings, the pronunciation of which is very similar to the Chinese phrase meaning togetherness and then gathering of families.”
The regional Chinese banquet menus cost $159 per person, including a Rabbit cocktail on arrival. An optional wine pairing is available for $75 per person.
Spice Temple Sydney – Chinese New Year Banquet Menu
运气 Luck
Pickled cucumbers with mint and garlic
Baby tomatoes with strange flavour dressing
Roasted cashews with basil
繁荣 Prosperity
Raw tuna ‘Yu Sheng’
Tea eggs with superior soy
財富 Wealth
Pork, prawn, and garlic chive spring rolls
幸运 Fortune
Pipis with pork and Shaoxing wine
长寿 Longevity
Steamed Coral Trout with King Brown mushrooms, rice noodles and curry leaves
和谐 Peace
Wu Xi new year pork ribs
幸福 Happiness
Tea-smoked chicken with aged black vinegar
丰产 Fertility
Stir-fried baby greens with ham
爱 Love
Raspberry royale
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Spice Temple Melbourne – Chinese New Year Banquet Menu
运气 Luck
Pickled lotus root
Sichuan-style pickled cucumber and shiitake
繁荣 Prosperity
‘Yu Sheng’- raw Yellow Fin tuna, daikon, hot and sour dressing, spiced orange oil
財富 Wealth
Drunken abalone, Huadiao wine, Chinese wolfberry
Golden scallop dumplings
幸运 Fortune
Grilled Spencer Gulf prawns, roasted green chilli and coriander dressing
长寿 Longevity
Stir-fried egg noodles with Blue Swimmer Crab and XO sauce
和谐 Peace
Roasted pork, Chinese mustard pickles
幸福 Happiness
Glazed duck breast, steamed gua bao, hoisin sauce, leek, and cucumber
丰产 Fertility
Stir-fried gailan with Chinese sausage
爱 Love
Tang Yuan – sweet rice dumplings
Osmanthus flower jelly
Spice Temple Reservations: www.spicetemple.com.au/make-a-booking.
