I’ll be honest, I don’t eat Chinese food that often. However, Chinese food whipped up by my grandmother and mother is simply unbeatable even among the finest Michelin-starred food of other cuisines I’ve tried, so I’m picky when it comes to it.
Now, I won’t claim to compare my family’s food with what Golden Peony at the Conrad Centennial have just announced, but just by looking at the menu, I can’t lie, my mouth’s watering in a way it hasn’t in a long time when looking at Chinese food. So sit back, relax, and get ready to say bon appetit as we dive into Golden Peony’s new menu, steeped in history and promising deliciousness!
The Mind Behind the Meal
Before we dive into the sumptuous depths of new offerings, I would be remiss if I didn’t mention Chef Ku Keung, Executive Chinese Chef at Golden Peony! Chef Ku has nearly 41 years of experience as an absolute mainstay of the local gourmet Chinese cuisine scene. He first ventured into the culinary world at the age of 18 in Hong Kong’s finest restaurants, before coming to Singapore and Malaysia. Taking on the role of Assistant Chinese Chef at some of the region’s best hotels, he cemented himself as one of Asia’s top chefs before venturing out on his own.
While best known for his exhaustive knowledge of Cantonese cuisine and cooking style, Chef Ku isn’t one to be limited by tradition, as he pushes the boundaries of Cantonese cuisine while maintaining authenticity and passion. Since joining the Conrad Centennial in 2005, Chef Ku has spent 19 years establishing Golden Peony as one of Singapore’s standout Chinese restaurants, fusing time-honoured cooking techniques with contemporary innovations with expert care.
With this new menu, Chef Ku highlights the restaurant’s deep connection to Hong Kong cuisine, showcasing a curated selection of dishes that pay homage to classic Cantonese food. This is all while putting a modern spin on the traditional, ensuring diners can discover a taste of Cantonese culinary history through a new lens.
Dim Sum and Then Some
We’re starting off our tour through the new menu strong with some good old-fashioned Dim Sum! A stalwart of Hong Kong cuisine, Chef Ku has reimagined it with several new dishes, one highlight being the Steamed Beef Ball.
In this wonderfully retro dish, hand-minced tenderloin is chilled and beaten with meticulous technique to ensure the perfect amount of chewiness, before being mixed with water chestnut for crunch and 15-year mandarin orange peel for the aromatic citrus. I’m drooling just imagining it!
Another dish that remixes Cantonese tradition with Western innovation Chef Ku has whipped up is the Shanghai-style Crispy Fried Dumpling. Ubiquitous in Hong Kong teahouses, the version found in Golden Peony’s new menu throws in an Italian twist, with the addition of Mozzarella cheese to the usual prawn filling wrapped inside a glutinous dumpling, all served in sumptuous pork stock.
On the main menu, I’m looking forward to the Panko-crusted Crab Meat on Crab Shell, a Cantonese classic with a French spin. In this fusion dish, the delicate sweetness of flower crab meat is complemented by the umami richness of sauteed mushrooms and onions, wrapped in a shell of egg wash and fine Panko breadcrumbs. A house-special vinegar dip further elevates the dish by adding a new dimension of biting acidity and sourness that cuts through the richness.
Remembering their Roots
While fusion dishes and innovations are a key part of Golden Peony, the focus is still authentic, delicious Cantonese food, with the piece de resistance of the new menu being a Cantonese stalwart – Braised Glutinous Rice with Sliced Fish Maw.
This luxurious dish is an elegant, fine-dining version of the homely, feel-good dish of glutinous rice chicken from Hong Kong. This rendition starts off with an abalone stock, painstakingly braised from old hen, pork, ham and chicken feet for hours to achieve a clear, crisp taste.
Premium ingredients such as sea cucumber, fish maw and conpoy are added to enrich the stock base, giving the glutinous rice cooked with it a creamy, risotto-esque mouthfeel. Garnished with coriander and wolfberries, this dish is a delightful mix of traditional cooking techniques used with the finest ingredients.
Everyday dishes don’t fall by the wayside at Golden Peony, however. The Imperial Poached Chicken, Sand Ginger is an elevated take on a Hong Kong street food dish most popular in the 1960s. Using a 1.8kg kampung chicken, the bird is first blanched, then poached in an abalone brine, before being seasoned with fragrant sand ginger and dried shrimp, finished with a delicious sauce made from the chicken’s cooking juices.
Looking Beyond
Chef Ku didn’t stop at Cantonese cuisine when cooking up dishes for the new menu – several dishes from other parts of China are served, just like the Dry-fried Sweet and Spicy Szechuan Style Shaved Beef. It is prepared in the oft-foregone traditional method, with simpler versions favoured in recent times. Tenderloin is sliced into paper-thin slivers then air-dried and dehydrated before being deep-fried to create crispy, melt-in-your-mouth thin slices, each one coated with a spicy, tangy mala sauce.
For our final featured dish, there’s a more Singaporean theme! The Crab Claw with Crispy Rice Roll stays true to its Cantonese origins while embracing local flavours, using succulent Japanese snow crab claws doused with a bold, flavour-packed chilli crab sauce. Pan-seared rice noodle rolls add an element of textural variety with a crisp exterior and soft, chewy interior.
Golden Peony
There you have it! Just a sneak peek into the new menu crafted by Chef Ku Keung for Golden Peony. Whether it be the decadent Braised Glutinous Rice with Sliced Fish Maw or the simple pleasure of the Shanghai Style Crispy Fried Dumpling, I think we can say without a doubt that Chef Ku cooked up a storm with this new menu, and I’m excited to try it for myself!
If your mouth’s already watering, Golden Peony can be found at 2 Temasek Blvd, Singapore 038982, Level 3 of the Conrad Centennial Singapore! For more information on the restaurant, you can head over to the Golden Peony website, or follow them on Instagram!
Visuals courtesy of the Conrad Centennial Singapore.
