Diners are in for a treat with this month’s Legendary Chef Series by Conrad Hotel as Chef Jereme Leung of China Blue by Jeremy Leung takes the center stage once more with a special set menu that highlights his skill and talent, all distilled into several dishes.
The meal starts off with a pair of appetizers which are meant to contrast each other in both taste and texture. The Marinated Lobster with Coriander Lime Jelly Dressing and Crispy Beancurd Sheet is a light yet flavorful appetizer, with the slight astringency and herbal notes of the dressing balancing out the lobster’s richness. Meanwhile, across the plate is Kataifi Seafood with Otak-otak. What is traditionally a steamed fish cake is given new life as it is wrapped in strands of Kataifi dough before being deep-fried to form a crunchy crust.
Appetites sufficiently whetted, the flavor journey’s next stop is the soup course. Here, Chef Jereme uses merry fruit to add a hint of nuttiness to the broth. It is further intensified with the addition of sea cucumber, dry moon clams, and matsutake mushrooms. Completing the soup is a generously sized dumpling stuffed with black chicken.
For the fish course, Chef Jereme used aged grouper. “Aging fish is something that is done in China only recently. For this dish, we salted fillets of grouper and aged them for 2 hours. This drew out the moisture, resulting in a firmer, more flavorful flesh,” he shared. The grouper was gently steamed and topped with diced sun-dried ginger, red chili, and black bean paste, before being served on a shallow pool of superior chicken stock.
The meat course would probably be most familiar to many Filipinos with its similarity to Pata Tim. Here, Boneless Beef Short Ribs are braised until fork-tender and all the collagen has broken down into gelatin. This is served with a green pepper and barbecue sauce. The bite is rich and unctuous, with the beef giving way at the slightest pressure while retaining the texture of the meat.
This is followed by Black Sesame Fried Rice with dried scallop, seafood, spring onion, and egg white pearl. Salty and smokey, with each grain distinct and fluffy, the rice dish is a fun interplay of flavors and textures.
The meal ends with Hawthorn Ice Cream with Chinese Sweet Vinegar Caramel and traditional onion pancake. Another staple of traditional Chinese medicine, the fruit is transformed into a rich ice cream. The sweet vinegar caramel echoes the slight tartness of the ice cream while the onion pancake’s savory flavor cuts through the sweetness of the dessert.
The limited time offer highlights what Chef Jereme can do when given complete artistic freedom. He has made a name for himself with his modern takes on traditional dishes — marrying innovative cooking techniques while still retaining the soul and character of the original traditional food, and the Legendary Chef Series set menu is chef Jereme at his finest. Diners can enjoy the set menu until July 23, 2023 at Conrad’s China Blue by Jereme Leung.
