A meal with meaning

GAYSORN VILLAGE is welcoming the Year of the Pig with a host of eccentric and brightly coloured installations and prints of beasts from a lion, a goldfish, peacock, bee, butterfly, monkey and horse created by up-and-coming artist Phannapast Taychamaythakool.
Running until February 18, this year’s Chinese New Year extravaganza is designed around the theme “Retreat-Eat-Art” and offers special treatments from wellness brands, a selection of foods with ingredients symbolising good fortune and prosperity and, of course, those artworks by Phannapast adorning the entire mall.

 Phannapast Taychamaythakool decorates the atrium of Gaysorn with the installation “The Sun Room” symbolising positive energy.

Over the past several years, Phannapast has become a much sought-after artist who is instantly recognisable for fanciful works that merge her Thai-Chinese background, fashion experience, love for animals and aesthetic obsession with tribal arts. Her fanciful beasts embedded with plenty of auspicious symbolism greet visitors from the entrance connected to BTS Skywalk, the terrace to the columns and the atrium.
For a culinary journey, there’s no better place to celebrate the Chinese New Year than Xinn Tien Di on the mall’s third floor. The restaurant is offering a special set of eight auspicious courses for a table of 10 persons for Bt8,900.

 Xinn Tien Di is offering a special banquet set full of auspicious symbolism to celebrate Chinese New Year.

Decked out in gold and red, the restaurant has 15 10-seat tables with a central lazy Susan, making them ideal for communal eating. There are also six private rooms, each accommodating 10 to 12 diners.

Double Consomme Conch Shell and Boiled Pork 

The banquet starts with Buk Kut Teh, a double consomme of conch shell and boiled pork. The pork rib is slowly simmered for 12 hours in a complex soup of herbs and spices like star anise, dong quai and cinnamon. The conch shell is first marinated with salt and coated with tapioca flour to remove the fishy odour then blanched and put in the soup to add a chewy texture.

Peking Duck

Xinn Tien Di is well known for its tempting Peking Duck. The whole roasted duck is pumped full of air to separate skin from fat. It is later gutted and filled with boiling water to help the sweet basting syrup penetrate the meat before being dried, coated and roasted. 
The whole duck is dissected at the table by a skilled waiter who separates the crispy skin from the meat. One bird is cut into 16 crispy pieces and served with steamed pancake, sticks of cucumber and spring onion and sweet bean sauce. The remaining meat can be cooked according to the preference of diners but this time, the meat is minced and sauteed until dry and enjoyed wrapped in crispy cabbage.

Sauteed Lobster with Salt and Chilli

Next up is Sauteed Lobster with Salt and Chilli followed by Stir-fried Sea Asparagus Clam with Kale and Oyster Sauce, a pleasant combination of chewy and crisp textures.

 Sauteed Lettuce with Black Mushroom and Sea Moss 

Sauteed Lettuce with Black Mushroom and Sea Moss is a Chinese New Year favourite and features black sea moss, sometimes called black hair seaweed known as fac cai (hair vegetable) in Chinese, with its name similar enough to the traditional New Year greeting of “gong xi fa cai” to make it a popular order. 

Steamed Garoupa in Hong Kong Style 

Next to arrive at the table are Steamed Garoupa Hong Kong Style topped with shredded ginger and Baked Abalone with Noodle and Mushroom. 

Baked Abalone with Noodle and Mushroom

“The lobster with salt and chilli promises prosperity in return for your investment while the steamed fish guarantees fertility. The strands of Chinese egg noodles are very long as will your life be if you eat them,” says chef Achitapol Konggluay.

Stir-fried Sea Asparagus Clam with Kale and Oyster Sauce 

The feast ends with a dessert of Steamed Sticky Rice with Taro and Sugar Syrup. The bowl-shaped mound of sticky rice is stuffed with sweet mashed taro, gingko nuts, jujubes and sweetened Chinese dates and is eaten during this auspicious season to bless the unity of family members and wish for success and prosperity. 

 Steamed Sticky Rice with Taro and Sugar Syrup

PROSPERITY FOR THE PALATE
Xinn Tien Di is on the third floor of Gaysorn Village at Ratchaprasong Intersection of Bangkok.
It’s open daily for lunch 11.30am to 2.30pm, and for dinner 6 to 10pm.
Call (02) 656 2114-5.