Prosperity, Health, and Good Food: Celebrate the Year of the Monkey at Crystal Jade Dining IN

Welcome the Year of the Monkey with a traditional Chinese feast, and usher in luck, wealth, prosperity, and some flavorful dishes for good measure...  

Crystal Jade Dining IN celebrates the Year of the Monkey with its indulgent Set Menus to help you start the year right. Take a flavorful peek at some of Crystal Jade Dining IN's traditional Chinese Lunar New Year dishes, and feel the good vibes for the Year of the Monkey.

Known for its traditional Chinese cuisine, Crystal Jade Dining IN kicks off the start of the new year with an array of festive dishes, perfect for celebrating the Year of the Monkey with family and friends. And there's nothing quite like authentic and traditional dishes recreated by Crystal Jade Dining IN's skilled chefs to start the year right.

No Chinese Lunar New Year feast is complete without the traditional Yu Sheng, or Prosperity Toss Salad, signifying abundance and prosperity with its rich blend of ingredients and flavors. And each ingredient has an auspicious meaning behind it, combining for a bountiful new year. And it tastes good too, with fresh and clean flavors.

The staff at Crystal Jade Dining IN prepares our tradtional Yu Sheng, adding each ingredient and explaining its symbolism. The fresh salmon represents abundance,  and calamansi or local lime for luck. Oil is then poured in a circular motion to attract wealth...    

...as carrots, radish, peanut, and sesame seeds are added for even more luck as well as texture and flavor. Once the Prosperity Toss Salad is complete, guests are then invited for the ceremonial salad toss with shouts of "Lo Hei" seven times. Tossed and mixed, the different ingredients combine for rich flavors, and a perfect start to the feast.

Crystal Jade Dining IN's signature dish was then served, the popular and bestselling Double-Boiled Crab Claw Soup with Superior Mushroom in Fresh Coconut. The clear and light broth has a delicate sweetness from the fresh coconut, pairing well with the nutty hint of fresh mushrooms and the briny sweetness of the soft and tender crab claw.

Then, the first of Crystal Jade Dining IN's Chinese Lunar New Year dishes were served, starting with the Cabbage Wrapped with Sauteed Bamboo Shoot & Black Moss, delicately wrapped cabbage draped in a mildly sweet sauce. The fresh cabbage, with the sauteed bamboo shoots and black moss combine for mild and subtle notes, a light and healthy dish.

Next, Crystal Jade Dining IN's hearty and comforting Golden Fried Glutinous Rice with Crab Meat & Salted Red Egg was served, with soft and fluffy rice punctuated by the sharp notes of the salted egg and the mild briny sweetness of soft crabmeat. Great as is, even better when paired with Crystal Jade Dining IN's other Chinese Lunar New Year dishes...

...like the impressive Treasure Pot, loaded with prawns, pork belly, roast duck, abalone, sea cucumber, dried scallops, sea cucumber, Chinese cabbage, taro, bean curd and vegetables served in a clay pot. The rich flavors of this traditional dish, also known as "Pen Cai," is the result of all its ingredients slow braised to soak up all the flavors of the thick broth.

Traditionally, the dish is enjoyed layer by layer, from top to bottom. But one can also use the serving chopsticks to mix and turn the different ingredients, with a symbolic significance meant to unite each other and work together for fortune and luck. It's traditions like these that make each dish even more special, and the bountiful blend of different meats, seafood, and vegetables slow-braised in a clay pot not only bodes well for a prosperous new year, it's a rich, flavorful and satisfying dish too.

Crystal Jade Dining IN's signature Roasted Suckling Pig adds yet another festive vibe to your Chinese Lunar New Year celebration, with juicy pork capped by a perfectly crisp layer of crackling. Unlike the usual suckling pig, the crisp crackling is light and not at all greasy, with a delightful crunch that just melts in your mouth. You'll probably go for an extra serving of the Golden Fried Glutinous Rice with Crab Meat & Salted Red Egg with this dish, and why not, it's a new year.

But save room for some sweet indulgences to cap your Chinese Lunar New Year feast with Crystal Jade Dining IN's special Tikoy or Nian Gao, soft and chewy glutinous rice cakes.

End your Chinese Lunar New Year feast at Crystal jade Dining IN on a high note with the new Glutinous Rice Dumpling with Mango Cream (L) or the comfortingly familiar Glutinous Rice Dumpling with Taro (R). Perfect when paired with tea.

You can even bring home some luck and good tidings with Crystal Jade Dining IN's Flourishing Fortune Glutinous Rice Cake, perfect as gifts to friends and family. Crystal Jade Dining IN's Chinese Lunar New Year Set Menus are available from January 22 to February 28, 2016 starting at P 10,800. Usher in the Year of the Monkey with a flavorful start and begin the new year right...at Crystal Jade Dining IN.

Crystal Jade Dining IN is located at 7th Avenue corner 29th Street, Bonifacio High Street, Bonifacio Global City, Taguig City or call 808-5233 for reservations and inquiries.

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