Legend has it that zongzi is eaten to commemorate the death of a Qu Yuan, a famous Chinese poet who drowned himself in the river. As he is well-loved and admired by the people, they threw packets of rice into the river to feed the hungry animals so that they would not eat Qu Yuan's body. Another reason why the Chinese eat zongzi on this special day is because they are considered a symbol of luck, as the pronunciation of zong is very similar to the pronunciation of zhong (中), which has a positive connotation, used in words such as 中奖 (winning a prize).
At Le Mei, they are offering three types of savory glutinous rice dumplings this year, with prices starting from RM20. The method of preparation for these HK style zongzi is pretty similar to the other varieties, however one thing that sets them apart is that there is no use of light or dark soy sauce, hence resulting in much lighter-coloured dumplings.
For the Hong Kong style zongzi dumpling 港式裹蒸粽(RM38), the glutinous rice is first stir fried and then wrapped with the other ingredients such as dried scallops, dried shrimp, salted egg yolk, roasted duck, chicken char siu, dried mushrooms, lotus seed, sweet chestnuts and mung beans, using two type of leaves, the lotus leaf and bamboo leaf. Each leaf imparts a unique aroma and flavour to the rice. This is quite a behemoth of a dumpling, and can easily feed 2-3 pax. Due to its large size, this needs to be boiled for at least 4-6 hours, and is steamed again just before serving to guests. The rice is sticky, fragrant and flavorful - we loved it!
There are also two regular-sized zongzi available - one with dried scallop, oyster and salted egg yolk 干贝蚝豉粽 (RM28) and another with mushroom and extraordinary sauce 特式酱炒米粽 (RM20). These are wrapped in bamboo leaf, and take about 3 hours boiling time. Baby C devoured almost the whole dried scallop and oyster zongzi while Hubby's favourite was the mushroom and XO sauce, which was extremely fragrant with a unique spicy aftertaste.
The Zongzi dumplings are available, for both lunch and dinner at Le Mei from 8 May until 7 June 2019. For more information or orders, please call 03-8689 6868 or email dining.lmputrajaya@lemeridien.com
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While at Le Mei, don't forget to try their delicious range of pork-free dim sum too.
Steamed chicken and shrimp dumplings filled with mushrooms (siew mai) (RM18) - lovely and juicy, and topped with bonito flakes, which adds an extra umami layer.
Deep fried crispy yam puff with barbecued chicken and mushrooms (RM14) - crisp with a flavorful filling.
I'm not a big fan of those stir fried carrot cake, but this Pan fried radish cake (RM10) is right up my alley. I especially love the crisp edges... so yummeh!
Rice rolls filled with shrimp and yellow chives (RM18) - smooth and slurpilicious!
Teow chew style fried mee sua (RM20 per portion) - similar tasting to stir fried egg noodles (sang meen) that I love! Plenty of wok hei here.
Baked mini bird's nest egg tarts (RM58) - a sinful indulgence.
Chilled mango puree with vanilla ice cream, pomelo and sago (RM20) - so good, the boy licked his bowl clean.
One with Chinese Executive Chef, Michael Wong
Pork-free.
Opening times: Mon- Fri 12.30pm to 2.30pm; Sat, Sun and PH 11.30am - 2.30pm; Dinner 6.30pm - 10.30pm daily.
Location: Le Mei, Le Meridien Putrajaya, Lebuh IRC, IOI Resort City, 62502 Putrajaya, Sepang, Malaysia (Hotel parking RM6 for first 3 hours).
Tel: 03-8689 6888
Website: http://www.lemeridienputrajaya.com
GPS Coordinates: 2.969213, 101.712596
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That first one looks overdone, can't see the grains of the sticky rice anymore. The other two are perfect!
ReplyDeleteThis is the place I should visit for proper dim sum! Ah, those dumplings... I bought some the other but unfortunately they were sub-standard :(
ReplyDelete