Nights in white satin

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Finally!  After a couple of years of yammerin', I finally got my wish of having an MNSC all-white tasting.  I've always thought that we could break with tradition and serve a bunch of white wines, especially paired with lots of seafood in Chinese cuisine.  Of course, it makes even more sense in the sweltering heat during the summer!

We did a casual dinner at Manor Seafood Restaurant (富瑤酒家), and I was happy to return after my visits last year.  I had missed those cholesterol sandwiches dearly, and thought many times of going there for the sole purpose of acquiring them.

We reserved only a few items ahead of time, and just started ordering additional dishes as we felt like it.  We began with some pan-fried spare ribs (南乳脆香骨), which were deliciously tender with the right amount of fat to make things perfect.  I definitely couldn't resist having more than one...

The blanched cuttlefish (白灼魷魚) was done well.  The pieces were cooked just enough to maintain the freshness and perfect texture, and dunked in marinade for simple yet declious flavors.

The gold coin chicken (懷舊金錢雞) came, and unfortunately I only had one piece to myself.  These cholesterol sandwiches have got to be gifts from the gods... I can't imagine anything so delicious not having any divine origin.  I grabbed mine from the plate and it disappeared in no time.  The honey-covered combination of barbecued pork, chicken liver and bacon was just too good.  I really need to come here and take away a half-dozen next time...

Mantis shrimp with deep-fried garlic (椒鹽瀨尿蝦) - this is always a crowd pleaser, and the shrimps were pretty big, and the flesh was very sweet and fresh.  The garlic was a little distracting, though...

The big plate of flower crab steamed with chicken fat and Huadiao wine (雞油花雕蒸蟹) came, with noodles already laid out over the crab itself... The staff served us individual bowls with the crab meat on top, and I was lucky enough to get a claw, perched on top of the pile of noodles. VERY yummy. The crabmeat was sweet and I stripped the claw clean in 2 bites. I took my time, though, with the noodles. The sauce was heavenly... loads of Huadiao flavor mixed in with the richness of chicken fat... I'd take this over lobster Thermidor anyday...

I was never worried about not having enough food, but our secretary kept on ordering more...even with two of us claiming to be at capacity.  The char siu with honey jus in claypot (煲仔蜜汁叉燒) came and I was drooling over the the slices of tender, fatty pork inside.  The fat was deliciously caramelized, and you could see the congealed fat floating on the surface as it cooled towards the end of the evening...

Stirred lettuce in pot (啫啫唐生菜煲) came and continued to wreck havoc on my olfactory functions.  It's good to have veggies during the heavy meal, but not with shrimp sauce....

You know the meal has kicked into overdrive when the fried rice with pickled vegetables and kale (甜菜欖菜肉崧炒飯) shows up after you've already downed a bowl of noodles...  It was very yummy, though... The rice grains were dry and chewy without being too hard, and the veggies gave it a slightly sweet taste that's a little unusual.

They were out of the deep-fried crispy chicken (脆皮炸子雞) so we ended up with the salt-baked chicken (鹽焗雞), which was not bad.

This was supposed to be an all-white dinner, but the Ox decided to bring a bottle of 1983 Latour because he wanted to drink a little red.  He's been training for his upcoming match and had stayed off alcohol for the last month.  It was classically beautiful... plummy, slightly smoky and very smooth on the palate.  A pleasure to drink and not ridiculously expensive.

I brought a bottle of Jacques Selosse Exquise Sec, which I carried back from Reims on my trip last year.  It was a little too cold when we first poured it into the white wine glass, and needed time to warm up and open.  Lots of bubbles and a little heady, yeasty, a little metallic with light caramel notes - it's easy to smell the sweetness on the nose and see that this was clearly not a brut Champagne... Sweet on the palate as expected, a little thick and viscous in the mouth, with the finish a little short and nutty.  With the second pour a little bit of toast emerged in the nose.  Still later, the nose became pretty explosive and open - what I would expect from a Selosse.  Finish tasted of marmalade, and it was pretty awesome.

A pair of 2002 Chardonnays were up next - Old World vs. New World.

2002 Kistler Chardonnay Cuvée Cathleen - classic toast and minerals on the ripe nose, with lemon citrus and lots of gorgeous buttery fatness... Really lovely.  Sweet on the palate, with the beautifully open nose right from the start.  Later on the oak became more obvious, and some floral, even plastic notes came out.  Towards the end the finish did fade a little and became slightly bitter, but the best Kistler Chards never disappoint.  Soooo not surprised that Dr. Poon brought this bottle...

2002 Comte Lafon Meursault 1er Cru Les Charmes - this was a little more muted, steely with minerals and slightly toasty at first - not exactly unexpected for this wine.  There was great balance, though, in terms of the acidity, and the wine just got better and better with aeration.  By the end one could easily argue that it was drinking better than the Kistler.

A pair of Roussanes made up the last flight - again featuring Old World vs. New World.  Both wines were decanted.

2006 Beaucastel Roussanne Vielle Vignes - sweet like marzipan and toasty with mineral notes.  Nose became very fragrant after a while, but the palate got a little ripe and hot, with that slightly bitter, marmalade finish.  No brownie points to Pineapple for bringing this wine... he's only the local agent...

1999 Sine Qua Non Tarantella - the copper-colored wine was a few hues darker than the Beaucastel, which we would expect for this older vintage.  All I could say at first was "Wow!"  Nose was very sweet, with notes of straw, loads of oak but not too toasty... White flowers and a little marmalade.  Very rich and the fragrance was just awesome.  Kudos to the Ox for bringing this bottle... and of course he also bought it from me years ago...

Too much wine, and definitely too much food.  Such is my harsh existence...