PARCHED | AU PAIR

REVIEWED BY BEN CHIN

The six-course menu paired premium Hennessy X.O (extra old) with traditional Chinese cuisine – an unexpected East-meets-West marriage – that, in hindsight, made a lot of sense. And so we made our way to the restaurant at Resorts World Sentosa which, by Singapore standards, is a trip and a half.

Chef Li has embraced the cognac’s complex flavour, which comes from blending over 100 different eaux-de-vie (distilled spirits), some of which are aged for over 30 years.

We started with the Premium Platter, a trio of Crispy Crab Claw, Pan-seared Scallop with XO and Twin Style Chicken in Sesame Sauce. Start with a drink of Hennessy XO neat to open up the palate (or for any parched reason). The cognac intensified the sweetness of the Sri Lankan crab claw, as well as the spiciness of the chef’s own blend of chilli crab sauce that accompanied it. The scallop’s natural umami also benefitted from marinating in the fine liquor, resulting in a more nuanced flavour.

When the second course of Double-Boiled Pork Shin Soup with Fresh Chestnuts and Pearl Meat arrived, Chef Li was quick to point out he wouldn’t recommend cooking with Hennessy, as the complexities would be lost in heat. Diners are instead recommended to take a sip of the cognac, then a mouthful of soup, to appreciate the sweetness of rare ingredients such as the fresh pearl meat, which is slow boiled for five hours to fully release its flavour. (Sip cognac and then soup, got that?)

Hennessy Pairing Menu

Stir-Fried Lobster Meat with Fresh Pepper and Lobster Patty with Chef’s Special Barbecue Sauce

This was Chef Li’s way of playing up the spicy and subtly sweet notes of the XO. The cognac ignited the palate in preparation for the peppery floral tastes of the stir-fried lobster, and its rich rounded sweetness matched the patty’s char siew (roasted pork) sauce.

Chef Li drew inspiration from his childhood memories of Tai O, a fishing village renowned for its shrimp paste, to create a good old-fashioned Fried Rice in Hong Kong Tai O served with Crispy Smoked Duck Breast. Recalling raucous family dinners in the yesteryears, where big meals were often enjoyed with a bottle of XO, Chef Li’s iteration of Chinese comfort food was like a warm welcoming hug.

Our pairing ended on a sweet note: Chilled Lemongrass Jelly served with Custard Pumpkin Pancake and a glass of Hennessy X.O, on the rocks to draw out the fresh cinnamon sweetness.

Feng Shui Inn