The Millennium Grand Hotel sits at the northern edge of the world trade plaza, where the days are all hustle and bustle, but the nights give way to an empty calm. The palatial space was decorated top to bottom by a Singapore design crew, and there is a stately silence about the whole place. This theme is echoed in YaoChi, one of two restaurants within the hotel. Angular, geometric designs speak of an almost Japanese sterility. The place is immaculate, with stark blacks and whites highlighted by bright reds. Simply adorned tables surround an equally spotless open kitchen, framed in fine white hanging threads, gently swaying as the cooks move swiftly and efficiently about.
The head chef, Raymond Chung, is an award-winning master of the Cantonese cuisine, an umbrella term for dishes found mainly in Guangdong and Hong Kong. Despite his accolades and honors, he accompanied us throughout the meal, regaling us with personal stories, motivations, and methods for his dishes. The meal and his pleasant commentary served as a course in the essence of Cantonese food.
Firstly, Cantonese is a moderate cuisine. The flavors and combinations are much more subtle than other Chinese styles. There is very little, if any, spice used, as opposed to the heavy use in other parts of the country. An appetizer of roasted suckling pig demonstrated this facet. Resting on a crusty square of bread and a slice of cucumber sat a roast suckling pig skin. The classic aromas of traditional Cantonese five-spice powder (cinnamon, cassia, star anise, ginger powder, and clove), and hoisin sauce (meaning seafood, but actually a soybean-based sauce with vinegar and garlic containing no seafood at all), gently mingled, followed by the warm release of rich and oily flavors from the brittle, glass-like skin.
Cantonese, in its moderation, has a tendency toward sweeter ingredients and sauces, which allows for fruit to be used in some in savory dishes. Beneath a pale green sauce and chunks of bright mango sat four finely fried jumbo shrimp. The stiff body and strong, scallop-like flavors of the shrimp stood up to the flavors of the fruit and sauce. It may seem odd to think of wasabi as moderate, but in a creamy mayonnaise made with shallots, it was surprisingly mild with a soft, slow, lingering burn. The mango punctuated the dish with its natural sweetness and pronounced pine flavors.
Cantonese is also particular about using the finest, freshest ingredients. In a massive wok in the kitchen, we saw the chefs continuously basting a chicken in hot oil, becoming darker and crisper with each coat. The end product was a perfect match of flavorful, gamey dark meat beneath a brittle, crisp skin. The chicken, brought in from Hainan, has especially thick, lean, skin which makes it perfect good for frying. A small dish of vinegar, and a side of roasted walnuts rounded out the textures and flavors on show in the dish.
As a result of the particularity, Cantonese cuisine is a seasonable cuisine. As the availability of ingredients changes, so does the menu in Cantonese flavors, providing menu with the freshest possible offerings. This was no more evident than in the Braised Sugar Pea Shoots with Crab meat in Superior consommé. Nestled in the hollow in the middle of a wide-brimmed bowl, on a cake of dense, buttery deep green pea shoots, sat a bright red claw and a chunk of meat. The crab was exquisitely fresh, as evident from the milder, subtler flavors, but with a clarity, an almost transparency of texture and flavor.
Cantonese cuisine is less hearty than northern styles. It is more refined in terms of the cooking processes, and, like the Japanese cuisine, places focus on top quality of ingredients. This results in high prices, but it is well worth it. A favorite dish among foreign guests displays this. A bright red balloon of a tomato rises out of a heavily reduced chicken stock. Sliced down the middle, fine shreds of crab and fish like angel hair poured out into the broth. The soft, cooked tomato set the base while the mild fish and crustacean provide slightly salty highlights.
Lastly, Cantonese is not served family style (all dishes arriving at once, and shared by everyone at the table, as in many other parts of China). Typically, formal meals are served in structured courses, sometimes including separate portions for each diner. This translates to more control for chef to manipulate the progress of the meal. While there are benefits to this, it does also have a downside; if you don’t pace yourself, which is difficult when everything is so incredibly good, as in YaoChi, you may not be able to try the dishes toward the end of the meal.
Location: No. 7, East San Huan Zhong Lu
Tel:86 10 8587 6888
(bestfoodinchina.net December 19, 2008)
