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With the winter chills coming your way in full swing, a hot bowl of soup can soothe your soul like no other. To beat the cold weather and keep ourselves warm during the season, this eatery in Delhi has launched an all-new orient menu for its patrons. Specially curated by Chef Ram Bahadur Budhathoki - Head Chef with the Kolkata-based Chowman Chain of Restaurants - it has got a range of vegetarian and non-vegetarian delicacies.
Bringing the oriental flavours to our tables, the newly-introduced menu consists of handpicked dishes like baos, curries and more from across Asian countries like Japan, Korea, and Myanmar. We too recently sampled their carefully crafted delicacies, and let’s just say that it was worth every bite. The meal started off with a few appetisers like Korean Chicken Wings and Pan-fried Chilli Mushrooms. While the latter was a chunky and spicy delight, the former stole our heart. The crispy wings, covered in a special hot sauce and garnished with sesame seeds, were definitely a crowd-pleaser.
Source: Sliced Fish In Chilli Sauce/Chowman
Next, we tried the sliced fish in soya chilli sauce, which was a treat for the taste buds. The soft and moist fish fillets, coated with a spicy chilli sauce and mixed with chopped spring onions and bell peppers was the winter bite that we were looking for. While we were quite full with the starters by then, it would have been unfair to skip the baos that were freshly steamed and served to us. Packed with two different fillings, one was a juicy Chicken Bao, while the other was a Char Siu Bao (a pork specialty). The chicken variant was slightly chewy, but the pork bao made up for it with its juicy and succulent flavours. 
Source: Chicken Bao/Chowman
After relishing the soft bao buns, we moved on to the seafood ramen that awaited us. The hot and warm bowl was a comforting treat in this cold weather and was loaded with shrimps, prawns, crab meat, and more. Veggies like Bok Choy and Oyster Mushrooms added to the meaty flavour while the fish sauce, sriracha sauce and sesame oil lent the ramen a distinct taste. Topped with boiled eggs, it was a wholesome dish.
Source: Seafood Ramen/Chowman
However, we didn’t stop at this Japanese delicacy because we knew that a creamy and soupy Khao Suey was being prepared. For the unversed, Khao Suey is a Burmese dish made with coconut milk and filled with vegetables and meat. Paired with boiled Hakka Noodles, the dish is complete once all the condiments are added to it, including fried onions, fried garlic, peanuts, red chillies, and spring onions, etc.
Another noodle-based dish that gave close competition to this one was the Bangkok-style street noodle bowl. Boiled udon noodles were mixed with creamy yellow gravy that was filled with chicken chunks and vegetables like bell peppers, mushrooms, and red chillies. The sumptuous meal was definitely worth every penny and the best part was the way in which diverse oriental flavours were infused in the dishes and brought together on a table for us.
We've fetched a yummy recipe of our favourite bao for you.
Ingredients:
• 705 gm flour
• 150 gm cornstarch
• 120 gm milk powder
• 24 gm yeast
• 150gm sugar
• 900 gm salt
• 15 gm baking powder
• 74 ml refined oil
• 40 ml hot water
• 120gm roasted chicken (raw)
• 20 ml oil
• 1 tablespoon ginger
• 1 tablespoon garlic
• ½ tablespoon honey
• 2 teaspoons tomato sauce
• 1 tablespoon chilli paste
• 10 ml oyster sauce
• 1 tablespoon dark soya
• ½ tablespoon light soya
• 30gm lettuce
• 20gm sriracha mayo
• 3 tablespoons sesame seeds(white)
• 3 tablespoons sesame seeds(black)
• 4-5 steams microgreens
Method:
• Take the flour and add wheat starch along with Milk powder. Now add yeast, starch, sugar, salt, baking powder and mix them well with oil.
• Make the dough and let it rest for 30 to 45 minutes.
• Now add hot water and further mix the dough. Wrap in cellophane and let it sit for another 30-35 minutes.
• Further divide the dough in 9 parts and roll them in bao shape. Wrap it in and rest it for 15 minutes. Then add hot water which will help in making the bread fluffy.
• Steam the dough for 15-20 minutes.
• Now cut the raw meat into strips and marinate using salt, ginger and garlic paste to roast.
• Then, in a pan, take some oil and heat it well. One by one, add ginger, garlic and chili paste to sauté. Further, add all the sauces along with the roasted strips and toss them well for a semi-thick gravy.
• Now take the steamed dough. Place a lettuce leaf on two sides. Insert 2 chicken strips inside the bao and garnish using mayo, sesame seeds and top it off with microgreens.
