KUALA LUMPUR, Feb 8 — As Chinese New Year approaches, it’s time to feast on the goodies only available during the season. 

A popular dish to celebrate the festivities is lap mei fan or waxed meats rice. Usually, once the Winter Solstice festival is over, restaurants will start serving this winter specialty until Chinese New Year ends.

It’s a relatively simple dish of rice with waxed meats. What elevates it to a restaurant dish is the quality of the ingredients and cooking skills.

Usually a mix of waxed meats is served - pork sausage (lap cheong), liver sausage (yuen cheong), waxed duck (lap arp) and belly pork (lap yuk). Restaurants will choose the waxed meats that are freshly made with no rancid oil taste and aromatic with rose wine.

The waxed meats are blanched first to get rid of any excess oil and steamed to soften. As the waxed duck and belly pork can be harder and saltier, it’s steamed longer for a softer bite and to get rid of its salt.

In the restaurant, the rice is cooked in a claypot over a slow fire. As the water dries up, the steamed waxed meats are placed on top of the rice and left to cook with the lid covered. This lets the waxed meat’s drippings mix with the cooked rice grains.

The type of rice for this dish also depends on each place, as some restaurants prefer a fluffier rice grain while others like a slightly chewier bite.

The dish will be served with the waxed meats mixed with the rice together with a sauce that is made with light and dark soy sauce and superior stock for extra flavour. Don’t forget to scrape the bottom of the claypot for the crust. It’s the best bit.

These slightly harder bits are crunchy and taste delicious when mixed with the fluffy rice grains. In Singapore, some restaurants even scrape up the crust into pieces for their diners.

You also have the option to add superior stock in the claypot with the crust, making it into a soup so you can enjoy every last grain of rice.

Restaurant Chef Choi, 159, Jalan Ampang, Kuala Lumpur. Tel:03-21635866

As lap mei fan is usually served at the end of a huge Chinese feast, this version saves us from tipping over from all that good food since it uses fluffy and lighter Basmati rice. The waxed meats are placed on the side for you to pick which ones you prefer. Usually, the fastest to disappear from that shared plate would be the prized goose liver sausages with the heady aroma of rose wine. It’s directly sourced from Yung Kee Restaurant in Hong Kong, which is famous for its roast goose.

Elegant Inn Hong Kong Cuisine, Second Floor, Menara Hap Seng, Jalan P Ramlee, Kuala Lumpur. Tel:03-20709399

For a more traditional lap mei fan, this version hits the spot with its aromatic rice and Hong Kong sourced wax meats. The rice is mixed with all the waxed meats except the goose liver sausages. The soft goose liver sausages have a faint aroma of rose wine. My favourite part of this dish is the crust at the bottom.

Overseas Restaurant, 84-88, Jalan Imbi, Kuala Lumpur. Tel:03-21449911

Head here for a pot of goodies with a mix of lap cheong, yuen cheong, lap arp and lap yuk. What makes their version stand out is the texture of their rice grains with its pleasant and slightly chewy texture. However, you don’t get much of a crust here. The waxed meats are also perfectly balanced in terms of saltiness.

Sek Yuen Restaurant, 313-1, Jalan Pudu, Kuala Lumpur. Tel:03-92220903

Old school dishes rule at this legendary Chinese restaurant. Their lap mei fan is worth its deliciousness, so make sure you place an order at least one day in advance. The rice is given an umami boost with onions fried in the waxed meat drippings, steamed waxed meats and powdery arrowroot slices.

Oriental Cravings, Lot 359, Ground Floor, Rain Forest, 1 Utama Shopping Center, Bandar Utama, Petaling Jaya

Who says you need to miss out on lap mei fan if you’re dining alone? Look for this hearty version filled with waxed meats. Shaped in a mound, the fluffy rice grains are cooked with chopped pieces of the waxed meats for more flavour. It’s topped with a layer of waxed meats, which drips its oily but aromatic juices into the rice. A portion of romaine lettuce served on the side will ease your guilt pangs.