As the mighty Wood Dragon ascends in 2024, New World Makati Hotel invites guests to celebrate Chinese New Year with auspicious menus at the renowned Jasmine restaurant as well as a Feng Shui Forecast for the year by geomancer Patrick Lim Fernandez of Yin and Yang Shop of Harmony. The hotel likewise offers a gift-worthy nian gao (tikoy) in elegant packaging.

Chinese New Year culinary creations at Jasmine

Jasmine offers come with two crafted set menus, designed to usher in a prosperous Lunar New Year. Each menu is available for a minimum of four persons and includes a box of nian gao.

The Prosperity "Yu Sheng" salad, which is mixed and tossed at the beginning of the meal during Chinese New Year to symbolize elevating or higher, is an optional addition to Jasmine's two set menus. A lead time of at least 48 hours is required to order the dish.

Set Menu 1 includes the Braised Abalone Mushroom in Crabmeat Broth, for longevity, Wok-fried Prawns in Black Pepper Sauce, Steamed Fish Fillet in Superior Sauce, Braised Chinese Black Mushrooms, Sea Moss & Kailan, Steamed Rice with Preserved Sausage in Lotus Leaf, with auspicious desserts: Hot Cream Red Bean Soup and Lotus Seeds and Glutinous Rice Dumplings with Milk Chocolate, as well as a beautifully packaged box of Nian Gao, symbolizing rising prosperity.

Red auspicious sweet sour prawns, cataloupe Braised whole abalone, dried oyster, mushrooms, seasonal greens Braised wintermelon broth, seafood, crabmeat, conpoy Clay pot rice, preserved meat The Prosperity Yu Sheng Salad Steamed live garoupa, superior soy sauce Roasted Suckling Pig COVER AND INSIDE PHOTOS BY J. GERARD SEGUIA Stir-fried scallops, shimeji mushrooms, celery

Set Menu 2 includes Braised Assorted Seafood in Fish Maw Broth, Pan-fried Tiger Prawns in Spicy Bean Sauce, Steamed Live Garoupa in Superior Soy Sauce, Braised Dried Oyster with Sea Moss in Premium Oyster Sauce, Misua in 'Fujian' Style, Double Boiled White Fungus with Lotus Seeds and Steamed Piggy Buns with Milky Egg Cream.

Brandon Ng, Jasmine's Executive Chinese Chef, warmly shares insights into the restaurant's special offerings for the Year of the Wood Dragon, "To usher in the Year of the Wood Dragon, we've thoughtfully crafted two distinctive set menus, each infused with ingredients carrying unique auspicious meanings. Our set menu includes prawns, which typically signify your hope for a year filled with happiness, while a whole fish on the table symbolizes abundance and the completion of projects. Abalone represents good fortune, while dried oysters, pronounced 'ho si' in Cantonese, is a homonym for good deeds or events, and add a touch of luck to your Chinese New Year spread."

Meanwhile, guests can enjoy classic favorites and new treats in Jasmine's special All You Can Eat Dim sum menu for Chinese New Year. They can indulge on timeless dishes like the "Har gao" or shrimp bamboo shoot dumpling, the Shanghainese pork dumpling "Xiao long bao" and "Siu mai," pork, crab meat dumpling, while savoring limited-time items such as the beef and mango net spring roll, fried bean curd with lobster, steamed garoupa fillet with bean curd, and much more.

Auspicious gifts for a soaring year

The hotel's nian gao is a delectable symbol of good fortune and rising prosperity, meticulously prepared with premium ingredients. Choose from the classic Round Nian Gao or the auspicious Koi Nian Gao both presented in elegant gift boxes, or elevate the packaging even further with Round Nian Gao in an octagon hard box (P1,588 nett) or the Koi Nian Gao in a square hard box.