Chinese New Year 2016 at Kum Koon

For most people in Canada, New Years is a time of celebration and an excuse for splendid food and extravagant parties. For Chinese Canadians, we tend to celebrate and focus on the Chinese New Year rather than the calendar (January 1st) one. The Chinese New Year is sometimes referred to as the Lunar New Year as it celebrates the first full moon between January 21 and February 20th of each year and is therefore different in every calendar year. Everyone is well versed in the Chinese zodiac and the twelve year cycle of each, symbolizing luck and fortune for all who are born of that zodiac animal. What many do not know is that Chinese New Year lasts for the entire two weeks prior to the date with special rituals and traditions to be done on each day all culminating to the eve of Chinese New Year where you consume a massive feast with friends and family. This year we had the pleasure of celebrating the Year of the Monkey at Kum Koon Garden.

Being on a rotation in Brandon and different call schedules made it difficult to organize a large group for a dinner this year and indeed only three of us were able to make the date for our meal. And so our meal became more truncated with less courses than the usual eight that typically forms the feast. Our location of choice was Kum Koon Garden, a massive restaurant located in the heart of downtown Winnipeg. Known for its seafood and dim sum, Kum Koon does seem to be the most popular and authentic of all the Chinese restaurants in town. A special Chinese New Year menu greeted us when we arrived featuring seafood specialties that are not normally found or in stock on the regular menu. And so with a cling and clang of our tea cups we started our New Years dinner.

Soup is always a necessity for a Chinese meal and one of the more popular options is the Minced Chicken with Cream Corn Soup. The "medium" portion was more than ample enough to serve the three of us and featured a rich chicken broth topped with slices of chicken, corn and slathered in egg drops. I have always found Chinese soups more thicker than Western equivalents as they use corn starch. Here the thickness works to the soup's advantage bringing all the ingredients together and concentrating their flavours. A hint of sweetness from the corn is mixed with a tender morsel of chicken and the smoothness of egg drop come together to make each spoonful tantalizing and delicious.

I must confess I have an obsession with Chinese style Deep Fried Crispy Chicken as I consider it a great marker of the skill of a restaurant. Kum Koon's version does not disappoint here with perfectly cooked chicken that had a nice crispy exterior but delicate and tender meat interior. I was impressed by the freshness of the chicken as it had imparted a slight sweetness to the tender meat which helped to add more flavour to the intentionally less seasoned dish.

Seafood in Chinese meals is a sign of wealth and prosperity and a marker for good luck in the upcoming year. I must admit that I love Chinese style lobster more than the typical boiled and dipped in butter approach in Western style restaurants. This beautiful Lobster in Ginger & Onion still makes the lobster meat the star but accentuates it with other flavours and aromas. First off, the presentation of the dish is marvelous with the head and tail preserved on its two ends. In the middle are each bite of tender and fresh lobster meat on a bed of dry noodles. Each bite has the aroma of ginger, slight bitterness of green onion and saltiness from the sauce all infused into each morsel of meat. Finishing it off is the lovely crunch of dry fried noodles which give a bed of starch to catch all the sauce and flavour but also a nice textural contrast to the dish.

Feeling a bit guilty at the amount of protein in our meal we ordered a Egg Plant with Salted Fish & Chili to fulfill our daily vegetable requirements. This classic traditional dish takes chunks of eggplant and braises it with chicken slices, salted fish and chili oil. First off I love eggplant and the treatment of it here is phenomenal. The skin is slightly crisp while the interior flesh extraordinarily soft, tender and soaked into the soy based sauce. Augmenting the eggplant is the aroma and salty pop from the marinated salty fish and spiciness from the chili oil. And why not add in some tender slivers of chicken breast too! All this is wrapped up in the tasty soy broth that infuses and brings together the flavour from each ingredient.

Featuring both authentic comfort food and upscale Chinese style seafood in a beautiful banquet hall, Kum Koon was a perfect spot for our Chinese New Year dinner. And while the prices are certainly higher than all other Chinese spots in town, the quality of the food and marvelous venue make it unequaled in Winnipeg. Happy Chinese New Year 2016!