While the weather starts to cool, mushrooms start to bloom. The Michelin-starred Lai Heen at The Ritz-Carlton, Macau has prepared a brand new Autumn Mushroom Tasting Menu to celebrate the harvest season and the abundant treasures of nature.
Lai Heen’s Autumn Mushroom Tasting Menu is made up of eight courses, each featuring a unique wild mushroom, hand-selected by the chef, that perfectly complements a range of luxurious Cantonese ingredients. Highlighted wild mushrooms in this special autumnal menu include Blaze mushroom, Cantharellus mushroom, Morel mushroom, Matsutake mushroom, and Catathelasma mushroom, deliver twice weekly from its origin to the guest’s table.
Blaze mushrooms have tender caps and when dried, are excellent for imparting flavor in soups. Lai Heen has used blaze mushrooms in a nutritious and warming double-boiled fish maw soup with conpoy with Blaze mushroom, followed by pairing light and fruity Cantharellus mushroom, famed for its high nutritional value in amino acids and vitamins, with sautéed Hokkaido scallops and lily bulbs. Iberico pork and Swiss black garlic fried rice are upgraded texturally by the addition of Catathelasma mushrooms. Catathelasma mushrooms are large and firm with subtle flavors, which pair ideally with the richness imparted by the pork and black garlic.
Sautéed Hokkaido scallop with Cantharellus mushrooms and lily bulb
Standout dishes on the menu are the fresh and flavorful simmered garoupa fillet with Morel mushroom in fish broth and the precious showcase of sautéed M9 Wagyu beef with Japanese pepper and Matsutake mushroom. Morel mushrooms are highly prized by gourmet chefs, especially in France, as their hollow honeycomb-like caps are full of flavor, extremely delicate, and valuable. Fresh morels are best in autumn, while the dried caps still retain their meaty texture and earthy aroma to be cooked with fresh-caught garoupa and rejuvenated in fish broth for the ultimate umami dish. Another highly valuable fungi used on this menu are Japanese matsutake mushrooms.
Fresh matsutakes are delicate with a cinnamon and pine aroma, and a firm, chewy texture to help it stand out in a dish. They come to fruition in the autumn and are hand-picked by the chef to serve alongside M9 Wagyu beef which better highlights these precious ingredients and Asiatic flavors.
Guest can enjoy a complimentary glass of red wine hand-selected by Lai Heen’s sommelier with the Autumn Mushroom Tasting Menu, and savor the flavors of the unique handpicked fungi treasures fresh from the earth.
When: October 8–December 30, 2021
Where: Lai Heen, 51F, The Ritz-Carlton, Galaxy Macau, Estrada da Baía de Nossa Senhora da Esperança, Cotai
How much: MOP $1,888* per person
For more information and bookings, call +853 8886 6868
*The price is subject to a 10% service charge.
