Singapore Food Festival at Island Shangri-La in Hong Kong

The Singapore Tourism Board and Island Shangri-La, Hong Kong is to hold a Singapore Food Festival at its buffet theatre, cafe TOO.

Celebrity Chef Willin Low, owner of the Wild Rocket group of restaurants in Singapore, will showcase his signature dishes at cafe TOO between 12 and 16 June 2009, while classic Singaporean Peranakan dishes will be available from 12 to 28 June 2009.

Peranakan dishes served during the lunch and dinner buffets include Popiah (Stuffed Crêpe with Stewed Vegetables), Asam Laksa (Rice Vermicelli Noodles with Sweet and Sour Minced Fish Gravy and Pineapple), Chee Cheong Fun (Rice Roll with Assorted Fish Cakes in Rojak Sauce), Bubur Cha Cha (Sweet Soup with Taro, Sago and Coconut Milk) and Kuih Bingka Ubi Kayu (Nyonya Cassava Cake).

Peranakan cuisine is one of the most interesting and distinguished styles from the diversified palate of Singaporean food. It blends Chinese and Malay cooking techniques with its deft use of spices, coconut milk, aromatic roots and leaves, in line with Malay and Indonesian traditions.

Many Peranakan dishes are built on the flavourful foundation using rempah, a spice paste. Peranakans are descendants from an early Chinese community who settled in the Malay Archipelago. The Peranakan culture is a rich blend of Chinese and Malay cultures with apparent influences from the Portuguese, Dutch, British, Thai, Indian and Indonesian cultures.

“We hope to bring authentic Singapore cuisine to Island Shangri-La through this unique campaign that introduces the impeccable yet diversified Singaporean food culture. This is also an excellent opportunity to preview the culinary excitement of the Singapore Food Festival in the Lion City this July,” said Vincent Huang, Area Director of Hong Kong and Macau of the Singapore Tourism Board.

The Singapore Food Festival gives diners the opportunity to enter a lucky draw to win two return air tickets to Singapore by Singapore Airlines with two nights’ accommodation at Shangri-La Hotel, Singapore.

The lunch buffet is priced at HK$298 per adult and HK$208 per child (Monday to Friday), and HK$348 per adult and HK$218 per child (Saturday, Sunday and public holiday). The dinner buffet is priced at HK$418 per adult and HK$268 per child (Monday to Thursday), and HK$458 per adult and HK$278 per child (Friday to Sunday, public holiday and eve of public holiday).

Lawyer turned cook Chef Low will present two of his signature dishes to diners at cafe TOO. One is Laksa Pesto Tiger Prawns in Kueh Pie Ti Shells – a canapé that captures the traditional flavour of Laksa with pesto-marinated tiger prawns stuffed in Kueh Pie Ti shells (deep-fried pastry cups), another signature item in the Peranakan cuisine.

In the other dish, Black Sesame Purée with Vanilla Ice Cream, Chef Low skilfully employs the nostalgic fragrance of roasted black sesame seeds from Qi Ma Hu, which he ate as a child, and intensifies its flavour by making a gritty purée out of the seeds and balancing the texture and flavour with vanilla ice cream.

The 16th annual Singapore Food Festival offers those in Singapore the chance to indulge  in special dining promotions all over Singapore from 17 – 26 July 2009.

See other recent news regarding: Travel News Asia, Shangri-La, Hong Kong, Singapore, Gourmet, Island Shangri-La