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I'm still biased against most "four hands" or so-called collaborations among chefs, as many of them simply showcase signature dishes from the participating chefs. Since many of these events have been hosted by restaurants where I know the chef, the reality is that I'm probably already familiar with at least half the dishes... so these meals become less of a discovery for me. There are exceptions, of course, and over the last couple of years we have seen more and more events feature dishes where all the chefs contribute to each and every dish - resulting in a "true" collaboration.
Historically the collabs I looked forward to the most were ones with Gaggan Anand. As long as I have been going to collaborations like GohGan and others involving him, they have generally insisted that all the chefs work together on all the dishes so that each chef contributes to every dish. I was, however, left a little disappointed at the second GohGaDen pop-up in Singapore last year, where I thought the chefs got a little lazy and a few dishes were simply lifted from the menu at their respective restaurants... but that was an outlier.
Gaggan was coming back to Hong Kong for the second leg of his collab with Vicky Cheng, and this time it was at
VEA. My last visit to VEA was some 4 years ago, and this seemed like the perfect occasion to revisit the top floor of the building instead of the floor just below. I quickly messaged both Gaggan and Vicky asking for seats, insisting to both of them that we would gladly pay for our meals. I was glad to be told that seats had been reserved for our usual quintet.
We arrived a little early so I had time to drop off goodies with the boys and do a proper greeting before things started to go crazy. It worked out well that our little gang was seated in the middle of the counter area so it was easy to watch the action going on.
First, a little sip of Champagne. As Vicky is one of the Krug Ambassade, this was naturally a glass of Grande Cuvée.
Krug Grande Cuvée, 172ème Édition, ID 123005 - initially this was served too cold, but after warming up a little using my hands, the nose opened up to show the classic toasty brioche notes that I love so much from Grande Cuvée. The acidity was fairly high, and we had a little tartness and tannins on the finish.
As is often the case, there was no menu given upfront so we didn't know what was coming our way. I did receive word that changes had been made for me when it came to the first bite...
Yogurt explosion 💥 shirako, Champagne - these days the dish comes with pop rocks which, if you had asked me a few years ago, I would have said was "so last decade"... So we now have to pop the yogurt ball on the "lotus leaf" cone immediately before eating. But wait! This version came with a Champagne
beurre blanc with salmon roe, but apparently the instruction to hold off on eating came too late for some people, and they popped it into their mouths before the sauce was spooned on top...
Vicky had wanted to do a new version of the iconic yogurt explosion with
shirako (白子), but thankfully Vlad reminded everyone that fish cum was a hard FUCK NO for me. So my version came with smoked coconut instead. We've got the usual spices, acidity, and salty notes, but for some reason this time the savory part reminded me of tomato water.
Sweetheart arrived late to dinner due to foolishly double-booking himself, and The Great One and I had been looking forward to watch him eat his first fish cum... Unfortunately we weren't able to interject in time, and Rydo was stupid and answered truthfully when asked what was in the white ball. So he, too, got the non-fish cum version. Boo.
2020 Trimbach Riesling Réserve - very big nose of petrol, much more powerful than "white truffle", although it almost seemed like there was a little sugar on the nose, too. Good, lean acidity as expected. Reliable as always.
Ham yu bok choy 🥚 squid, curry leaves - this is one of Vicky's signature dishes which has gone through numerous iterations over the last 8 years, and is always served to the tune of George Lam (林子祥)'s classic song
Without the Two of Us (分分鐘需要你). Tonight it came in a ceramic "egg" covered in sesame seeds along with a deep-fried curry leaf on top.
Inside the
sabayon made with Chinese salted fish (鹹魚) we also had finely diced salted
bok choy (白菜), house-cured striped jack (縞鯵), raw Japanese squid, and curry oil. Very nice.
Mushroom obulato 🍄 20 years preserved turnip, white truffle - Gaggan's team has been making transparent edible "paper" lately, and this was inspired by
oblaat (オブラート) used in Japanese cuisine made with rice starch and mushroom paste before being left to dry for a week. The paper was topped with mushroom paste and thin wafers of raw mushrooms. Vicky then added the distinctively Chinese element with the preserved turnip (菜脯) - dots of purée made with 20-year-old preserved turnip as well as tiny cubes of 2-year-old preserved turnip. The little bits were crunchy but they do have some depth in terms of their flavors now. A very interesting dish for me.
As this was pretty delicate, we were asked to support the paper with our hand like one would with pizza. Indeed, the paper started to bend under the weight of all the mushroom on top as I lifted it up...
Ghewar 🍅 dried scallop, tomato -
ghewar (घेवर) shows up on the menu at Gaggan pretty often, and tonight it was a savory version instead of a dessert. What we see on top are shredded
conpoy (干貝) which have been rehydrated by steaming, with the liquid added to the softened
conpoy, plus crispy shredded
conpoy at the very top.
We've got
coulis made of tomatoes in the middle of all this. The steamed
conpoy had a softer texture, of course, and it was significantly less salty than I had expected - no doubt aided by the tomato. Still got the right flavors, though.
Papadam 🍆 eggplant, doubanjiang - the
papadam (पापड़) made of tapioca pearls came sprinkled with algae powder, then we had a sour cream made with
doubanjiang (豆瓣醬) which also had spices like cumin. Loved the crunchy and airy base, and the flavors were punchy, with more heat lighting up the tongue. This was a really good bite.
2022 Marco de Bartoli Pietranera - the nose was very aromatic and floral, with a little flint and a bit metallic like pears such as La France. This was sooo fragrant with fruity sweetness.
Sesame puff, green pea, Chinese olive leaf, caviar - well whaddayaknow... Both The Great One and I had the song "which one of these is not like the other" in our heads the second this showed up in front of us. OF COURSE one of them was covered in gold foil, and guess who was supposed to take that one??
This was a different take on
kachori (कचौड़ी) but using Chinese sesame balls like 煎堆, and in lieu of
moong dal (मूंग दाल) this was filled with a purée of green pea and preserved Chinese olive leaf (欖菜), then topped with some caviar. Pretty interesting, but it was the gold on top that did it for me...
Red prawn toast 🦐 aguachile, hoja santa - not quite the classic Cantonese prawn toast (蝦多士) as the prawns themselves were not breaded and deep-fried along with the toast at the bottom. This was more akin to
aguachile although the prawns weren't soaked in marinade.
The green dressing on top was made with zucchini, dill, coriander, lime, and
hoja santa oil.
Jicama taco 🌮 pigeon, mandarin peel - just like in Bangkok, the taco shell was actually a thin slice of jicama, and tonight the filling was pigeon.
We had burnt leek chutney, roasted pigeon breast, and barbecued pigeon leg glazed with aged mandarin peel (陳皮) and spices. This was very, very good. Nay, the pigeon was fantastic!
Black 🥟 white - I don't care what Gaggan says, these dumplings are Chinese
jiaozi (餃子) and not Tibetan
momo (མོག་མོག་)... at least when we're on Chinese soil! Two dumplings, one black and one white, plated to recall the
taiji (太極) imagery of yin and yang. The sauce was
beurre blanc with fenugreek oil, lending some delicious acidity to the dumplings. We were expressly instructed to pick these up with our hands and not use any utensils, so thankfully the wrappers were on the dry and firm side with plenty of bite.
Within the white dumpling we had black pudding, which is always something I love to have.
The black dumpling - where the wrapper was made with black garlic - was filled with "surprise" that turned out to be lotus root, edamame (枝豆), and black garlic.
Oh, OF COURSE we were made to listen to Michael Jackson's
Black or White during this course.
2020 Mark Haisma Saint-Romain Blanc - this was buttery on the nose, but also showing flinty notes. On the palate this was more dry and lean than I had expected, which was nice.
Sea cucumber 🌊 bisque rasam - stuffed spiny sea cucumber has long been one of Vicky's signature dishes ever since his decision to pivot to utilize traditional Chinese ingredients in his cooking. While I'm not a regular at VEA, I have had a few different versions over the years. Instead of the usual sauce made with shellfish, tonight we've got the spices to turn it into a
rasam (రసం).
As always, the very top of the spiny sea cucumber came crispy. The bottom tonight was scallop mousse seasoned with Indian spices and coriander.
We were given one itty, bitty, teeny little bun to mop up that fantastic
rasam, but how could that be enough?! Seeing my obvious frustration, the staff brought me another 3 buns, That was clearly too much, although I did take another one to mop up more sauce. In the end I asked myself: "What would Gaggan (want me to) do?" So I picked up the plate and started licking it up... and ended by holding the plate against my face while the last drops of
rasam slowly dripped into my mouth.
2020 Rolet L'Étoile En Novalet - I had expected this to be oxidized and caramelized, and we've certainly got vanilla, too, along with some flint. The palate was a little bit sweet, although the acidity was still prominent for a good balance.
Matsutake rice 🍚 fish maw curry - a rice course is traditional at the end of the meal at both VEA and Gaggan, so I expected to see a unique combination tonight. This was an extra-long grain rice cooked with
matsutake (松茸).
It's traditional for Gaggan to serve up curry, but instead of the usual crab, tonight we had Vicky put in one of his favorite ingredients - fish maw.
This was very, very good. Amazing how long the rice grains were, and while this was not the first time for me to have eaten Vicky's fish maw rice, having it as a curry with this particular rice was definitely unique. If I were a few years younger, I would have asked for XL or XXL portion like I used to.
2019 Philippe Jouan Coteaux Bourguignons Cuvée Thomas - earthy, eucalyptus, leather, and animal notes on the nose. Drinking pretty nicely.
It would surprise no one who has dined at the current iteration of
Gaggan in Bangkok that music is central to the experience, and there is often singing at the end of the meal. Tonight we had ourselves a singalong after the savory courses were finished. First Gaggan hit "play" on the Backstreet Boys'
I Want It That Way and the whole crew began singing, quickly joined by most of the dining audience. Then came
Hey Jude from The Beatles, and we had a sea of cellphone torches swinging with the music. If you've never been to one of Gaggan's parties, you should find a way to join one.
Furano melon 🍈 jasmine tea - the melon was so sweet and juicy that the juices were almost running down my hands and chin...
2019 Decugnano dei Barbi Pourriture Noble Muffa Nobile d'Umbria, from half bottle - some acetone and honeydew melon on the nose.
I may not be as big of a fan of Vicky's restaurants as others I know, but I can never, ever not applaud him for the attention his team gives us when it comes to service. Ever since
the first visit to Wing (永) when Swiss overheard Foursheets' conversation
and ran out to the market to buy guava on the spot, there has always been guava in front of Foursheets whenever she dines here. On our last visit to Wing a few weeks ago, Swiss also realized that the local 胭脂紅 pink guava were too sweet to Foursheets' liking, so tonight there was a plate of "regular" white guava that was more crunchy and not as sweet. How's THAT for service?
Actually, when Gaggan saw the guava on the counter, he came over and started eating it... and asked Vicky if there were more in the kitchen.
Tong chong beng 🌾 stick rice, Damask rose - the candyman cometh, and we had the traditional candy and coconut wrap (糖蔥餅) once again. This time, though, there was a layer of sticky rice inside, and we've also got some Damask rose which, combined with the sticky rice, reminded me of Shanghainese fermented rice with osmanthus (桂花酒釀) and also orange blossom water along with apricot.
This was definitely an evening to remember. So.Much.Fun. I loved how all the dishes were joint efforts from both teams, and as Gaggan said... they look at each other's dishes and then decide "you take the outside, I take the inside" or vice versa. This way the experience is unique and shows that the chefs really made the effort to be creative.
Oh, and for the umpteenth time, I failed to pay for a Gaggan meal. I thought I might have a chance when the event isn't at one of Gaggan's restaurants, but in the end as I looked around the room, I'm not sure how many did or even tried. I can take comfort in the fact that at least I brought along some goodies for the team. I'm grateful to Vicky and Gaggan for inviting us to their party, and happy to have spent the evening in the company of friends. PARTY ON, DUDES!
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