Spicy typhoon dinner

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Some of us have been lucky enough to follow the career of the Kitchen Nazi Man in White T-shirt for quite some time - since 2010 in my case - and watch him gain popularity and recognition over the years. His current restaurant Neighborhood first appeared on the Asia's 50 Best Restaurants list in 2018, and he received the Inedit Damm Chef's Choice Award in 2022. Although we were never quite sure that he was gunning for it, friends were nevertheless ecstatic when Neighborhood was awarded its first macaron in 2023. Those in the know have been flocking to his restaurant for years, but truth be told, he remained relatively anonymous outside a relatively small culinary circle.

But things have completely changed this year. Somehow this seasoned chef stumbled onto the Chinese TV cooking competition show Chef of China (一饭封神) - as a contestant, no less!. After the show began airing, our friend became one of the most popular participants and gained millions of fans. Suddenly half of China wanted to come to Hong Kong and dine at Neighborhood. On my last visit, I witnessed first hand how first-time guests gushed in front of him and asked for cheffies. There were even people who didn't have a booking but simply wanted to come by the restaurant and get a look at this celebrity chef. Yes, our friend has turned into a celebrity in the most populated country on the planet.

One of the rounds of the competition involved our friend teaming up with two other chefs - Chef Zeng Huaijun (曾怀君) of Song (宋・川菜) in Guangzhou, and Chef Tiffany Tung (董嘉琪) - where they were asked to cook something spicy. Chef Zeng took the lead on creating the flavors (her restaurant serves Sichuan cuisine and does have a Michelin star), while The Man in White T-shirt made the call to confit the fish. This team received the most votes from the judges in this round of the competition, and soon there were 6-hands collaborations set up here and there.

So this is how we got here tonight... a collaboration of this team at Neighborhood. On a evening where the Hong Kong Observatory hoisted the Typhoon Signal 8 for Typhoon Ragasa. On a day where I was suffering from gastroenteritis... when the last thing I needed was putting spice into my digestive system. But I knew Foursheets really wanted to come because she really loves spicy food, and this was obviously one of the hottest tickets in town. So I sucked it up for her.

Thanks to my condition, I wasn't exactly starving when we arrived. But peanuts?! OK, they're from Yunnan and are pretty nice, but still... Pout.

This was no longer the classic smoked fish we get at the start, as Chef Zeng has brought a little something to the table...

The usual spinyhead croakers (獅頭魚) were nice and crispy, with a more prominent yet subtle fragrance of chili.

The mackerel was the more spicy of the two, as it now came with some chili fish floss on top. This had much more depth, in terms of the chili fragrance as well as the numbing sensations from Sichuan peppercorns. That's a pretty good start.

The now-famous "mushroom Wellington", which was what The Man in White T-shirt - now affectionately known in China as "lightly-buzzed chef (微醺大厨)" - served up in his first appearance on the show. I've had the privilege of tasting it before the episode aired, and I was very happy to have it again. This time, though, we didn't get as much of the edible forest floor "grass" in terms of the presentation.

We still have a porcini encased inside pastry, with a drizzle of a spicy chili sauce.

We've still got a thin layer of smoked preserved pork (雲南臘肉) in between the mushroom and the pastry as replacement for the usual mushroom duxelles, but tonight the beef tasted more salty than I had remembered.

The boss got some nice and big porcini from Yunnan...

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...and he didn't seem to be very skilled in cutting them...

Beef tartare / porcini - the black truffle which often comes with the beef tartare has been replaced by slices of fresh, big ass porcini, along with some shavings of Pecorino (?). As for the beef itself, it came with lots of bite partly thanks to some sinews. Thanks to some "beef XO" from Chef Zeng, the dish had enough heat to make things interesting, but not so much that it killed the flavors of the beef. It also left us with a lovely fragrance in the mouth.

Ever the jokester, Lightly Buzzed Chef said it was not "beef XO" but "beef OX"...

There was also a nice batch of big matsutake (松茸) from Yunnan...

Matsutake with walnuts - as with my last visit, the matsutake came with a drizzle of honey on top, but it looks like we got sansho leaves instead of Dahongpao (大红袍) pepper leaves this time. We all know what a bitch it is to peel walnuts, and Chef Zeng did an amazing job.

Buffalo wings has been a staple on the menu for years, and the rub of blue cheese on sucrine has been replaced by a drizzle of chili oil on the wings. This was, surprisingly, not much more spicy than the usual version. The tangy acidity remained, which was good.

Beef taco - Chef Tiffany is, apparently, known for her beef dishes, so we have a "taco" which looked to me more like a quesadilla... with cheese inside with the beef. Nice to have xnipec on the side.

The usual grilled baby squid came with Sichuan peppercorns and peanuts, and the numbing of the tongue and the lips was pretty nice.

My favorite garganelli with ragu transformed with the addition of peanut sauce, and came topped with lobster that turned out to be pretty mushy. I don't know nothing, but I suspect the disappointing quality of the lobster was due to the fact we've had typhoons so the Mildly Buzzed Chef wasn't getting the best stuff.

The babylonia also turned spicy. They're not my cup of tea but crunchy as usual.

Giant grouper with roasted chili sauce - Chef Zeng is famous for her roasted chili sauce (燒椒醬), and she made it during the team competition and served with with the fish confit by the Mildly Drunken Chef. This was reasonably spicy, and very fragrant.

The famous salt-baked chicken with morels and giblets came covered in a green sauce instead of its usual cream sauce. The sauce was very fragrant, and I wondered if it was made with coriander and sansho pepper leaves. Those ganbajun (乾巴菌) shoved under the chicken skin sure were fragrant and tasty!

I didn't want any desserts since I wasn't feeling well, so I just had my canelés and called it a night.

I brought along two bottles for the evening, knowing we would have leftovers.

2020 Frédéric Cossard Chassagne-Montrachet - the acidity was very high, just the way we wanted. Got some toasty and flinty notes.

2010 Hospices de Beaune Beaune 1er Cru Cuvée Rousseau-Deslandes, mis en bouteille par Lucien Le Moine pour MNSC - served without decanting more than 1 hour after opening. Plenty of toast on the nose and also lots of coconut butter. Still pretty fragrant. The wine was decent on the palate, but it's more simple now compared to just a a year or two ago.

DaRC was kind enough to share a glass of his wine with me:

2018 Dominio del Águila Abillo Viña Viejas - flint nose, very fragrant, very big toasty nose, and lots of vanilla and sweet bubblegum on the palate.

Truth be told I wasn't the happiest of campers tonight, but that was always going to be the case when one is suffering from gastroenteritis and making frequent trips to the toilet. I actually lost my appetite halfway through dinner, so I made efforts to taste the last few dishes without really enjoying them. Thankfully I took the leftover chicken rice home to have it again.

In any event, we were very grateful to have had the opportunity to sit at the table tonight. We've grown so familiar with many of The Man in White T-shirt's dishes and it was nice to see the flavor profiles change with the addition of spicy seasoning. Many thanks to Chef Zeng, Chef Tiffany, and the Mildly Buzzed Chef for working so hard to delight our palates.