CookSmart (13th Issue) Page8

EatSmart Restaurants Snaps

A Home-grown Delight of Hot Pot

New Star Catering Group

The New Star Catering Group, which was established more than a decade ago, is well known for its nouveau Cantonese cuisine and dim sum. It is also considered one of the most popular places for hot pot dinner.

Mr. Sebastian LIU, Senior Kitchen Head of the group, says, “The founders of the group have the vision to reward their clients with the highest quality of food.” To encourage the culinary staff to develop new dishes, the group’s management holds monthly tasting sessions. Random checks are conducted on dishes to ensure food quality. Members of the cooking team always try out new cooking ideas after business hours to upgrade their skill-sets.

New Dishes Out of the Box

According to Mr. LIU, customers nowadays favour healthy dishes; what’s more, “healthy cooking” becomes the theme of cooking contests time and again. Because of such theme, the group’s cooking team members use healthier cooking methods like steaming and blanching instead of pan-frying and deep-frying. They also use less salt, less sugar and less flavour enhancers; instead, they use no-fat chicken broth or vegetable soup to boost the flavour of their dishes.

“The secret of developing new dishes is to think fresh and be innovative.” Mr. LIU says. “Stir-fry the mushrooms just lightly and you will bring out their natural aroma.” To be rid of its bitter taste, fresh potherb mustard is always brined before cooking; Mr. LIU soaks it in water for a while instead, and then cooks it over a gentle flame.

High Quality Hot Pot Ingredients

The restaurant offers the best ingredients for its hot pot dishes. The seafood, for instance, is imported from the Philippines, and the soup bases are made with good-quality vegetables. The most popular soup bases among all are Organic Country Vegetable Hot Pot Soup and Seafood Soup with Bean Curd. Mr. LIU says, “Hot pot can be a healthy choice because all the ingredients are simply blanched in hot soup.” For the prevention of overeating, nevertheless, he suggests eating the vegetables first.

Having been in the catering industry for twenty years, Mr. LIU continues to enrich himself by participating in culinary competitions, as they offer him great opportunities to learn from others in the industry. Mr. LIU also continues to broaden his exposure by reading about food festivals and exhibitions and actually being there.