Championing sustainability, Tien Court is the first Chinese restaurant in Singapore to repurpose imperfect foods that would otherwise be discarded, as part of Greengrocer’s Ugly Vegetable Programme. The restaurant, helmed by Master Chef Lui Wing Keung, has rolled out new menu items that make use of ‘ugly foods’.

A sustainable solution to food wastage, Tien Court saves misshapen and oversupply vegetables from landfill. This produce could be ‘out of size’ specifications, not in perfect shape, or has slight marks, but are otherwise perfectly edible.

On the menu with these ‘ugly foods’ is the Frozen Marinated Cherry Tomato with Plum, a refreshing appetiser that goes well with the off-menu special Homemade Beancurd Roll. For the dish, Chef Lui uses cocktail truss tomatoes and cherry tomatoes that are deemed ‘out of size’ as they do not fit perfectly into a supermarket punnet and might be otherwise tossed. The juicy tomatoes are marinated in a special house brew of honey and whole salted plums with yuzu for a refreshing, flavourful bite. Chef Lui will also be exploring more menu items using imperfect vegetables down the road.

Other than ‘ugly foods’, Tien Court has also gone on a sustainable approach, sourcing sustainable greenlip abalone and looking at plant-based ingredients.

For the former, Tien Court sources its greenlip abalone, used in the dish Chilled Fresh Abalone from Yumbah Aquaculture, the largest producer of greenlip abalone in the world. Other than ensuring a closed breeding cycle, the Australian farm also monitors all waste waer to ensure no contamination of crucial water resources.

The restaurant has also created a new dish Plant-based Meatball with Wintermelon in Vegetarian Oyster Sauce. Together with the Plant-based Patty with Apple Hawthorn Sauce, it provides a diners with healthy, sustainable alternative using plant-based ingredients, which are healthier and also have a lower impact on the environment.

These dishes are all available as part of Tien Court’s newly revamped menu.