Food tasting: Crystal Jade La Mian Xiao Long Bao [Food tasting] – Celine Chiam | Singapore Lifestyle, Beauty and Travel Blogger
I’m sure many of us have patronized, or at least heard about the large food chain of Chinese Culinary Restaurants – Crystal Jade. Not only does Crystal Jade serve comforting food that warms your stomach, it serves exquisite chinese culinary that you probably could find elsewhere, but fetching at an even higher price. And all because of this, Crystal Jade managed to be one of the great places to visit for family lunch/dinner, not forgetting to mention – their fantastic Xiao Long Bao and La Mian.
I started off my dinner with a simple Honey Lemon Drink (Iced).
If restaurants always serve you diluted honey lemon drink and you feel cheated for paying for such a quality, fret no more because the honey lemon here is really sweet and soothing for the throat. It fetches a good balance between the sweetness from the honey and the sourness from the lemon.
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| Steamed Soupy Xiao Long Bao 隆福一口小笼包 (4 pieces for $5.20) |
No one can ever reject Xiao Long Bao unless you have always been a victim of the hot soup within it. But have you ever wonder how Xiao Long Bao is prepared? Chicken broth is boiled and cooled to jelly-like substance in order to shape them into cubes. After which, XLBs are only made upon ordering. The chefs will place a chilled soup broth cube mixed with minced meat inside the bun before adding a finish touch by pinching the top. That’s how you get your XLB with hot soup inside!
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| Steamed Soupy Xiao Long Bao 隆福一口小笼包 (4 pieces for $5.20) |
It’s no secret that the Steamed Soupy Xiao Long Bao receives tremendous popularity when the number of buns sold per outlet is 6000-7000. The thickness of the skin has been kept ideal – not too thin such that is breaks when lifted up, and not too thick such that the flour skin would cover the taste of the soup and meat. To enhance the taste, you may want to dip it with some vinegar and sliced ginger.
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| Steamed Soupy Xiao Long Bao 隆福一口小笼包 (4 pieces for $5.20) |
We are always familiar with chicken, but how about marinating it with Chinese Wine and Wolfberry?
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| Chicken marinated with Chinese wine and wolfberries 鲜淮山杞子花雕醉鸡 ($9.00) |
Give yourself a pamper and enjoy this dish filled with wellness and nutrients that are good for your health. Chinese ingredients like Wolfberries (枸杞子) and Chinese Yam (淮山Huai Shan) are used to create this dish with authentic flavour. I personally like the slightly chilled chicken texture (note, it’s not served hot!) dipped in a pool of Chinese Wine. Not only does the chicken meat taste extremely succulent and tender, every bite reveals the chicken wine that was successfully absorbed into the meat.
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| Chicken marinated with Chinese wine and wolfberries 鲜淮山杞子花雕醉鸡 ($9.00) (Not actual serving) |
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| Spicy and Sour thick soup “Sichuan” style 四川酸辣汤 $7.50 |
Everytime I visit a Chinese restaurant, I would order their Sichuan Spicy and Sour soup because I love the combination of spicy and sour. Do not belittle this humble looking bowl of soup here at Crystal Jade because it comes with generous amount of ingredients, as shown in the photo. Ingredients include sliced bamboo shoots, mushrooms and even strands of egg white.
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| Braised pork belly (served with pancakes) 极品东坡肉 $14.80 |
Make a sinful choice and it definitely has to be the Braised pork belly. I know health conscious people will be very wary about having this dish but what’s wrong with taking a sinful indulgence only once in a blue moon? To reduce the overwhelming greasiness from the layered fats, you may like to complement the pork belly with the plain pancakes.
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| Braised pork belly (served with pancakes) 极品东坡肉 $14.80 |
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| Braised pork belly (served with pancakes) 极品东坡肉 $14.80 |
If people say pork belly is sinful because of all the fats, make your choice a worthy one by only selecting the best alternatives. My vote goes to the Braised pork belly here at Crystal Jade.
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| Sauteed Egg White with Fish Meat and Conpoy 翡翠艺品赛螃蟹 $13.50 |
If you understand mandarin, you may thought this dish has got to do with crab meat (赛螃蟹); but sorry that’s not the case! This dish is actually a combination of egg white, fish meat and a little trace of dried scallop to resemble crab meat texture. As I bring a mouthful into my mouth, I could taste trends of white fish mixed within fresh velvety egg whites. It was indeed a unique dish that I’ve never came across before.
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| Spicy chicken with poached la mian 口水鸡捞拉面 $9.80 |
Give your tastebuds a challenge with the Spicy chicken with poached la mian. I thought my tolerance for spiciness has increased a little over the time but I was caught by surprise by how spicy this dish is. Dipped in a pool of chili and chili oil, the spicy level was at least a 4/5 for me. Then again, it was comforting to pair it with the very supple La Mian (noodles) that made each mouthful gliding down the throat oh-so-easily.
We ended off our exciting gastronomical food-tasting with a cooling Mango Pudding that comes with HK condensed milk, added with your own discretion. Some fun facts here: A bowl of mango pudding is actually made of a whole mange, half used to make the mango juice while the other half remains as the mango cubes aggregated into the mango pudding.
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| Mango Pudding 芒果布丁 $6.00 |
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| Mango Pudding 芒果布丁 $6.00 |
I would like to thank HungryGoWhere and CrystalJade for the food-tasting invite. It brings a lot of warmth especially when chinese cuisines remind me of the dinner I usually had with my family.
Crystal Jade La Mian Xiao Long Bao
翡翠拉面小笼包
Holland Avenue 241
Singapore 278976
Tel: 64630968
Mon-fri and sun: 11am – 12 am
Steamboat: 5 pm – 12 am
Love,
Hui Yan (Celine)
