RÚ, a three-star ESR, is the Chinese restaurant at Nina Hotel Tsuen Wan West. Daring to innovate, the restaurant team is good at handling ingredients with ever-changing cooking techniques, making unique and healthy dishes. As summer is approaching, Mr Simon Wong, the Executive Chinese Chef of the restaurant, presents various delicate “EatSmart Dishes” made with fresh fruit and vegetables for customers to experience a season like no other.

Creativity Makes Vegetables “Different”

“Steamed Winter Melon Stuffed with Spinach, Mushrooms and Carrot” is one of the popular “EatSmart Dishes” of the restaurant. Making winter melons into “cups” in an ingeniously way, Mr Wong elevates the umami of the whole dish by adding ingredients such as dried morels and fresh shiitake mushrooms. Sweet carrots and fresh organic baby spinach are also added to the dish not only to enrich its texture, but also to increase its content of calcium, potassium and vitamin A, which are good for our bones, blood pressure and immune systems. Lastly, broth that made with various kinds of vegetables and mushrooms is drizzled over the winter melon cup. Comparing with traditional meat broth, this vegetarian broth is not greasy but refreshing, suitable for customers who pursue a healthy diet.

Enjoying Food Visually, Palatably and Healthily

“Assorted Mushrooms Stuffed in Tomato with Pumpkin Sauce” is another dish that must not be missed. Using a sweet and tart tomato to tickle our taste buds, it is particularly suitable for consumption during the hot summer. Two kinds of mushrooms, golden fungus and yu er mushrooms (Gloeostereum Incarnatum), are stuffed inside the tomato. They not only enhance the umami of the whole dish, but also increase its dietary fibre content, promoting gut health. Moreover, colourful pumpkin sauce is drizzled over the tomato. While the intertwining red and orange colours are a joy to the eye, the additional lutein and potassium offered by the sauce are also good for our eyes and blood pressure.

Mr Wong elaborates that since its participation in the ESR Star+ Campaign, the restaurant has gradually replaced deep-frying dishes with stir-fried and steamed ones, which are much healthier. While the general public has a growing demand for healthy eating, customers are positive towards the restaurant’s provision of various “EatSmart Dishes”. The customers’ support has even become the restaurant’s motivation to create more healthy dishes.