Sweet and savoury treats

The BBQ Western Set contains, among other items, chicken thigh marinated with coriander, local slipper lobster in garlic butter, Norwegian salmon with garlic and dill, scallops and mini Australian striploin steaks.

FOR a doughnut to delight, it has to be like a cloud encased in a thin, crisp batter coating that crackles on first bite.

According to Pullman Kuala Lumpur City Centre Hotel and Residences (Pullman KLCC) executive chef Fong Teck Fei, there is no other way to achieve this but to have them made fresh daily.

Fong has included this sweet snack into the establishment’s takeaway menu.

There are six flavours to choose from — peanut butter, velvet raspberry, milk chocolate coffee, white chocolate Oreo, green tea and Snow White, which is doughnut dusted with icing sugar.

No artificial colouring is used.

The betalains of a beetroot gives the velvet crumbs their bright red hue.

Powdered ocha is used to give the green tea doughnut its verdant greenness and fresh groundnuts, roasted in-house and slowly cooked to a thick paste, is used for the peanut butter coating.

Doughnuts with comics-themed designs.

The white and dark Valrhona chocolate is made purely from cocoa beans.

So dense is the cocoa mass that Fong and his team have to add corn oil so it can be piped and made to form lines.

So far, the kitchen has sold 400 doughnuts since the launch of Pullman KLCC’s delivery menu three months ago.

Another worthy confection coming from the bakery is the moist marble cake, which is made with 100% French butter.

Fong said timing was of the essence when it comes to constructing a five-star delivery menu.

As befitting the ranking, hot food is always packed in a silver warmer bag and hand-delivered by a suited butler.

“Hot food must not be served cold.

“At least, it must be warm when it arrives at the customer’s doorstep.

“This is why our meals are only prepared upon order.

“And it must arrive at its destination within 45 minutes,” said Fong.

Salmon poke bowl has sashimi-grade salmon, pepper tuna, edamame, crab stick salad and a garnish of wonton chips.

The Western barbecue set is a showcase of the kitchen team’s research and development.

Served in biodegradable cardboard boxes, the set features skewered chicken thigh marinated with coriander, local slipper lobster in garlic butter, Norwegian salmon with garlic and dill, scallops, mini Australian striploin steaks, German chicken sausages and New Zealand lamb shoulder marinated with paprika and rosemary.

To dress the meats are four types of sauces — mint to go with the lamb, Bearnaise sauce with seafood, a piquant barbecue dip and mushroom and black pepper.

The flavour goes deep in the last two.

This comes from roasting beef bones for their base stock until they turn dark brown.

They are then simmered for eight hours, strained of sediment and then reduced.

The last part sees as much as 50 litres of stock being boiled to a concentrate of just 20 litres.

The set comes with several sides, including a creamy baked macaroni flavoured with grated parmesan, black pepper and garlic, and baked US Russet potatoes with sour cream, chives and beef bacon strips.

The kitchen will entertain requests for the latter to be replaced with either sweet orange or purple potatoes.

The sweet flesh of these tubers, when combined with savoury toppings, is likened to a salted caramel effect but this special request must be made a day in advance.

A walnut chocolate brownie and a New York baked cheesecake with mixed berry compote completes the barbecue set.

The brownie wore a crown of vanilla butter icing and the compote with its sourish notes tempered the creamy richness of the cheesecake.

The hotel also offers bento and poke bowl sets.

The RM28 spaghetti aglio olio set comes with six beef balls in pomodoro sauce, green salad with honey mustard dressing, grilled mixed vegetables, fruit, a caramel walnut brownie and a choice of one drink from the beverage list.

The salmon poke bowl, also RM28, comes with a topping of sashimi grade salmon, pepper tuna, edamame, crab stick salad and a garnish of wonton chips.

It also comes with one drink.

Fong said these sets had been quite popular within office settings because of their convenience and all-in-one feature.

Two items from their delivery menu that will be ideal as hors d’oeuvres are the cheese freshwater prawn rolls and custard cream buns from their dim sum menu.

Both can be stored in the freezer.

The rolls are best fried but they do just as well in an oven set at 220ºC for 10 minutes.

The buns will only accept steaming.

Just make sure they are thoroughly defrosted first before entering the steamer for eight minutes.

Pullman Kuala Lumpur City Centre Hotel and Residences is in Jalan Conlay, Kuala Lumpur.

The establishment’s kitchen is pork-free.

For orders, call 03-2170 8888, WhatsApp [phone] or email [e-mail].

Redeem extra savings on your delivered meals using Lalamove Promo Code