First and business class passengers aboard Cathay Dragon’s flights between Hong Kong and Shanghai and Beijing will be able to try the carrier’s first seasonal menu since it completed its rebrand in November 2016.
Created with the aim of highlighting the regional carrier’s Chinese character, the new menu features creative takes on traditional Chinese dishes typically eaten during the winter months. Premium ingredients such as truffle and goose liver are combined with popular home cooking ingredients, notably Chinese sausages and spare ribs.
Dishes served differ between the two classes, with business class passengers being served items from the menu from now until February 28, and first class travellers receiving these dishes until March 31.
Business Traveller Asia-Pacific had the opportunity to sample the new menu yesterday (January 16) at a media preview held at the Hyatt Regency Hong Kong (see full in-flight menu below). Among the standout dishes on the menu are hot pot rice dishes featuring goose liver and beef tenderloin with black truffle, and tiger prawns and pork belly with garlic, along with traditional “poon choi” (a local dish featuring a variety of seafood, meats and vegetables) cooked in a mini pumpkin (see image above). Dishes served as part of the in-flight menus will rotate every ten days.
Aaron Claxton, the airline’s head of catering, said: “In-flight dining is an extremely important focus for us and we are committed to providing high-quality, great-tasting and healthy dining options. Our signature seasonal menus have in the past been well received by our passengers, and I’m sure that this selection of winter delicacies will once again prove extremely popular on board.”
Of particular note is the preparation and presentation of the new seasonal menu. Dishes are cooked in clay pots on the ground and are served in these same pots when offered during the flight.
A full list of the new menu is as follows:
First Class:
- Steamed rice with goose liver, beef tenderloin dices and black truffle in hot pot casserole
- Steamed rice with conpoy, matsutake mushroom, dried silver fish and spare ribs in hot pot casserole
- Steamed rice with Australian beef cheek, cordyceps flower and Chinese preserved sausages in hot pot casserole
- Steamed rice with black garlic, chanterelle mushroom, garlic king prawn and cod fish in hot pot casserole
- Steamed rice with preserved duck, yellow fungus and chicken in hot pot casserole
- Steamed rice with tiger prawns, pork belly, porcini mushroom, cordyceps flower and garlic in hot pot casserole
Business Class:
- Steamed rice with assorted dried fruit peel with beef and prawn patties and prawns in hot pot casserole
- Steamed rice with Chinese sausages, fresh yam, wolfberries and chicken in hot pot casserole
- Steamed rice with minced beef cake, Chinese sausages and soft boiled egg in hot pot casserole
- Steamed rice with morel mushroom, mushroom and chicken in hot pot casserole
- Steamed rice with giant garoupa, scallop and prawn in hot pot casserole
- Steamed rice with bamboo pith, chicken and cuttlefish in Guizhou chilli sauce in hot pot casserole
