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I have the distinct misfortune of dining with B Bestie for the second in three nights, as I accepted an invitation to taste the new, seasonal spring dishes Chef Liu Zhen (刘震) has been developing at
Yong Fu (甬府). As I am accompanying The Hungry Tourist on his visit next week and also responsible for helping to set the menu, I figured I should come on a scouting mission.
As I took a look around the table tonight, I realized that all but one of the Peanut Gang was here. We did have a couple of ladies with us, so we had to behave ourselves.
It must have been a while since I last had some
mahua (麻花), and tonight I just couldn't stop eating this! I even ladled some of the house chopped chili sauce (主廚青椒醬) on top at one point...
Huadiao infused with aged mandarin peel (陳皮花雕) - no "wine pairing" tonight, just this house made nectar the whole night. Love the flavors of the aged peel, but that distinctive nose from the
"flor" inside the jars was pretty obvious to me.
They decided to showcase the ingredients that would be served tonight, featuring the different types of seafood as well as the vegetables they have carefully sourced. This is something I really love about this place, and with each visit I find myself learning about the treasures that China has to offer to the culinary world.
Mud crab with mashed ginger and coriander (招牌十八斬) - not too surprised that we started with this signature dish. Once again I abstained, as I just don't want to touch raw crab.
Zucchini tofu sheet wrap with caviar (魚子醬腐衣素包) - another familiar dish, which I tasted on my last visit.
The julienned zucchini was pretty sweet, and the caviar provided some salinity. Pretty refreshing.
Razor clams in red chili oil (蒜香紅油蟶子) - when I first had these razor clams from Changjie township (长街镇) in Ninghai County (宁海县), they were simply blanched and served with a simple soy sauce dip with diced chili. While I appreciated the chef wanting to show the natural flavors of the shellfish, I felt that it was "too simple" of a dish... something that was more suitable to a Japanese restaurant or a casual seafood joint. Tonight these came with a sauce of chili oil and minced garlic, which made things very tasty without completely masking the natural flavors of the clams.
Slow braised cuttlefish with pork (大焅墨魚拼滷肉) - I'm used to taking my Shanghainese braised pork belly with braised cuttlefish, like
my favorite version from
Jesse Restaurant (老吉士), but here they've flipped it around and the star is actually the slow-braised cuttlefish. These come from the sea just outside Ningbo, and were braised in soy sauce, sugar, and Chinese wine in a process called 焅. The cuttlefish was really tender and on the sweet side, just the way I like it. The pork belly was, of course, very tasty with all that fat.
Traditional yellow croaker and fish maw soup (傳統黃魚魚肚羹) - I've had this a few times, actually, so it wasn't new to me. But I did notice a difference between this bowl and the one I had last time.
As it turns out, the recipe actually changed. This used to be made with chicken broth, but now it is made with a combination of both fish broth and chicken broth - which would explain why it now looks more milky and not as clear as before. They've also cut down on the amount of egg used. What hasn't changed was the very, very fluffy yellow croaker, tender chunks of fish maw, and finely diced bamboo shoots provided a little bit of crunch. Lovely.
Dry-braising pomfret with fermented chili sauce and celery (煎燒象山白鱗鯧) - Chef Liu feels that the white pomfret from the water around Xiangshan County (象山县) has an ideal size of around 1 catty. These were "dry-braised" where there wasn't too much of the fermented chili sauce, and closer to being pan-fried. Served covered in a blanket of finely-diced Chinese celery.
I volunteered to have the tail, but I forgot that the tail is often served together with the head. Very tasty with those strong flavors.
Next up was one of the highlights of the evening. Chef Liu has challenged himself by coming up with his own way of serving 18-head dried abalone from South Africa.
The chef slowly let the abalone re-absorb the broth that came from hydrating and cooking the abalone, which reduces and thickened the sauce. The viscous golden soup served with the abalone was fashioned after the one commonly found in Tan cuisine (譚家菜), but made with both chicken as well as the ducks which roam the shorelines around Ningbo feasting on seafood. The addition of winter melon purée lightened the flavors as well as making the texture more thick.
Dried abalone in golden premium chicken soup (金湯白茸扣鮑魚) - gotta say the presentation was very pretty, with 2 threads of saffron on top of the rice.
The abalone had great texture, which was to say it was both tender as well as slightly springy - or what Cantonese call 溏心. The golden soup was very, very tasty... and as Chef Liu explained, designed to have lighter flavors so as not to clash with the rich flavors of the abalone.
We also have Japanese rice stuffed inside a hollowed calabash (夜開花).
Stir-fried yintiao with preserved mustard and Tibetan pork (榨菜藏香豬肉炒銀條) - the
yintiao (銀條) from Yanshi District (偃師區) in Luoyang (洛陽) is often mistaken for the rhizomes of fish leaves (魚腥草), but these don't have the pungent "fishy" smell of the latter. They were also crunchy, and stir-fried with shredded preserved mustard stem (榨菜) as well as finely-shredded pork. The belly of the Tibetan pig (藏香豬) was first stir-fried before being steamed with some eggs, with the aim of reducing the amount of grease. While I understood to desire to make the dish lighter in flavor and focus on the crunchy texture, as someone who loves eating pork belly, I would have preferred if the pork remained the focus and not the
yintiao... In fact, for me the pork was shredded way, way too thin for my taste.
Braised cattle steak in cast iron pot (沙鍋燜黃牛排) - one can never go wrong with beef braised with radish...
The beef from Ningbo was very tender and tasty, as was the accompanying 水蘿蔔 with the red peel.
Sautéed Chinese mustard green with fermented white herring paste (鹹鰳魚醬炒兒菜) - the balls of baby mustard (兒菜) came coated in a paste of fermented white herring (鰳魚). The herring is first salted then sun-dried, with the process repeated three times and earning it the moniker 三曝鹹鰳魚. The kitchen has to meticulously remove the many bones of the fish before stir-frying with a small volume of liquid. This was very, very tasty, as the strong flavors of the paste complemented the light, bitter taste of the greens.
Hawthorn and pear drink (山楂雪梨飲) - the usual palate cleanser.
Hand made dumplings with shepherd's purse and minced pork (手工薺菜水餃) - these are truly among the best
jiaozi (餃子) found in Hong Kong, if not the world.
The wrapper changes with the seasons, and in the colder months it becomes slightly thicker, with a more springy bite to it. I've tasted them through different times so I am well aware of the changes they make. So, so tasty... as always.
Hami melon (哈密瓜) from Xinjiang (新疆) and
blueberries from Yunnan (雲南).
Ningbo sesame glutinous rice balls (寧波湯圓) - always the best
tangyuan (湯圓), with black sesame filling. They serve it with just hot water garnished with a couple of osmanthus flowers (桂花) so nothing interferes with the flavors.
This was a really good meal, and I was happy to have tried out some delicious new dishes. Very grateful for the kind invitation and the company of my friends, and I look forward to tasting some of these again next week!
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