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When I signed up for this trip to Beijing, I knew there would inevitably be meals which showcased northern Chinese cuisine such as Pekinese (京菜) and Shandong (鲁菜). I did not expect a stop at a Sichuanese restaurant to be part of our itinerary. Having said that, I do remember Mr. Chichi posting about
Chef 1996 Restaurant (1996川菜•主厨餐厅), so I guess I wasn't too surprised to see this name pop up.
Foursheets and I arrived about half an hour before the appointed time for dinner, and the crowd that had gathered was already bigger than our lunch group today.
The Man in White T-shirt Lightly-buzzed Chef (微醺大廚) and Dada had arrived in the city, and we were treated to the sight of him walking around in shorts in freezing temperatures.
The guest of honor tonight was the famed director of the popular TV series
A Bite of China (舌尖上的中国) - someone who possesses an incredible amount of knowledge about various Chinese cuisines - and after he arrived, it was time to begin the feast. I didn't realize until later that tonight would include the "feast of the preserved meats", which was why the tonight's menu was inscribed with the title "Winter Sichuan banquet (腊珍宴)". I knew I was in trouble when I saw that the printed menu was 4 pages long... Chef owner Liang Di (
梁棣) was really pulling out all the stops for our guest of honor, and Foursheets and I were so lucky to have been the the fly on the wall...
Sichuanese cuisine has categorized 24 different types of flavors (二十四味型), and the menu tonight clearly specified which flavor category each dish belonged to. Each chapter of the menu was also named after specific
Song ci (宋詞).
Xing Xiang Zi • Opening (行香子 • 启品)
We were presented with the seasonal produce being used tonight, which we had seen on display while touring the main restaurant earlier.
Rice porridge with winter mallow (冬寒菜稀饭) - not sure I've ever had Chinese/winter mallow (冬葵) before, but this porridge made with Wuchang rice (五常米) was certainly a nice way to start our meal by warming up our stomachs on a cold night, The flavors of the mallow were very clean and crisp.
Man Ting Fang • Appetizers (满庭芳 • 前章)
Fuqi feipian : (夫妻肺片), spicy and numbing (麻辣味) - the classic combination of shank, tripe, and tongue was very nice, and the sesame chili oil was not as spicy as I would have thought. Accompanied by Chinese celery and coriander hidden underneath.
Cured pork with fish mint and three-shred salad (腊肉折耳根拌三丝), homestyle (家常味) - the very colorful "three shreds" were Cherry Belle radish (樱桃萝卜), "ice [cream] radish" (冰激凌萝卜), and celtuce (青皮莴笋). These were pretty refreshing and helped to balance out the cured pork (腊肉). Unfortunately the kitchen also threw in the rhizomes of fish leaves (鱼腥草) called 折耳根, and I am not a fan of the "fishy" taste.
Moringa shoots with termite mushroom oil (斗鸡菇油拌辣木苗), savory and xian (咸鲜味) - I've never had fresh moringa (辣木) before, and these shoots came with dried termite mushrooms (雞㙡菇) soaked in oil.
Danling dipping chicken (丹棱蘸水鸡), sour and spicy (酸辣味) - the cock from Danling (丹棱) in Sichuan was served with with giblets... including the testicles. This didn't have much flavor, and definitely needed the dipping sauce on the side. The skin was pretty tasty, though.
Assorted Sichuan pickles (四川泡菜组盘), sour and spicy (酸辣味) - I haven't been to many fine dining Sichuanese restaurants, so the only time I've seen something like this was
at Sichuan Moon (川江月) in Macau.
Apple, pear, Chinese lettuce stem (苹果 梨 芥兰笋)
Baby mustard green, carrot (儿菜 胡萝卜)
Cherry Belle radish, sweet chili pepper (樱桃萝卜 甜椒)
Chinese scallion bulb, chicken feet (藠头 凤爪)
2022 Petit Mont Baima Snow Mountain Yanjing (寸山白马雪山盐井) - OK la... this opened up after a while, showing some nice fruit, some forest notes, and maybe even a hint of coffee later.
Shui Long Ying • Winter soup (水龙吟 • 冬汤)
Rock catfish and winter mallow wraped in chicken purée in Sichuan consommé accompanied by steamed winter green jiaozi (鸡蒙冬葵岩团随冬寒菜蒸饺), savory and xian (咸鲜味) - this was my first time having rock catfish (岩团) from the Yangtze River (长江). The texture was very fine and easily disintegrated into fine flakes. Flavor-wise the white part was fine, but the darker bits were VERY muddy, and really needed the chili sauce to cover it up. The ends of the winter mallow were wrapped in chicken mousse called 鸡蒙. This was pretty nice. The broth was very clean and lovely.
The staff brought out a steamer and we all went to pick up our goodies. We were allocated 2 each, but I took only one, knowing how much food we still had ahead of us.
Steamed winter green jiaozi (冬寒菜蒸饺) - stuffed with minced pork and diced winter mallow. Very nice.
Shao Nian You • Main courses (少年游 • 头鲜)
While touring the main restaurant, we saw these little fishies swimming around in the tank...
...and some of them ended up like this...
Premium yellow catfish simmered in Huang-brother's broth (二黄汤上品黄辣丁), sour and spicy (酸辣味) - the flesh was very tender and very slippery, and I carefully sucked the flesh off the bones. No surprise that the catfish tasted muddy, but they came in a broth that was very spicy and very fragrant thanks to aged pickles, with plenty of ginger and garlic. This really helped to neutralize the strong taste of the fish. What a treat this was!
Braised wild swamp eel with single-clove garlic (大蒜烧土鳝鱼), homestyle (家常味) - the swamp eel (土鳝鱼) was less muddy than the catfish, and I really enjoyed it. The sauce was really spicy, but also layered and really tasty. The big single-clove garlic was definitely big... really nice and tender.
2024 The Four Girls Mountain Chardonnay Selection (四姑娘山霞多丽臻選) - lots of vanilla and oak on the nose, along with flint and stone fruits. A little sharp and alcoholic on the nose. Got decent acidity on the palate.
Kui Sui • Winter cured meat banquet (馈岁 • 腊珍宴)
The kitchen used a variety of wood to smoke the meat.
We were presented with the condiments to go with the cured meats, together with an illustration to show some of the designated pairings.
Dry chili salt, garlic slices, peanuts (辣椒干碟 蒜片 花生)
House-fermented honey, soft-centered persimmon, house-made jujube fruit paste (自酿蜂蜜 溏心柿子 自制拐枣酱)
Brie cheese, Comte cheese, roasted olives (布里奶酪 孔太奶酪 烤橄榄)
Eihime orange (愛媛橘子)
Chapter 1: steamed cured pork, six cuts (第一回: 腊猪六品「蒸」) - just looking at that steamer can make me drool for days...
Cured pork ribs (腊排) - the chef cut the meat off the bone and dropped it into our open palms. So tender.
Pork ham (座墩肉) - just look at that translucent fat!
Pork belly (五花肉) - is there anything better than cured pork fat? I think not. Taken with some honey as instructed.
Premium pork belly (上五花肉) - even fattier than the last piece, which was totally up my alley. Taken with some jujube sauce as suggested.
Pork head meat (猪头肉) - there are few things more tantalizing than headcheese when it's done right. So gelatinous and tasty.
Pork ear (猪耳) - always love, but never had them sliced so thin before.
Chapter 2: steamed cured beef, four cuts (第二回: 腊牛四品「蒸」) - we now follow up with beef after tasty and fatty pork.
Beef brisket (牛胸) - accompanied by some dried persimmon.
Beef tongue (牛口条) - always a crowd-pleaser. Enjoyed with some Brie.
Five spice beef sausage (五香牛肉香肠) and
savory beef sausage (咸鲜牛肉香肠) - the savory "original" almost had a hint of sweetness to it.
1996 Wuliangye (五粮液) - very smooth on the palate. Still got that classic baijiu profile on the nose.
Chapter 3: grilled Qingyu pork sausages, two styles (第三回: 青峪猪香肠两品「烤」) - tough to beat porky links.
Pork ham, pork belly, premium pork belly sausage - just look at those chunks of translucent fat!
Cured pork ribs, pork head meat, pork ear - this was somewhat spicy.
Mini flatbreads (迷你夹饼) - interesting texture... like a dehydrated cookie that's crispy and crumbly.
Steamed buns with roasted jujube aroma (烤枣香馒头) - so good when it's stuffed with sausage.
89 Lang Jiu (郎酒) - there was more umami on the palate, more like Shaoxing, with plummy and fermented flavors.
In a real surprise for a restaurant of this caliber, where everything on the menu was well-orchestrated like acts in a play, this next course was served out of order... It was meant to come before the cured pork but has only arrived now.
Young Yu Le • Regional flavors (永遇乐 • 风味)
Crispy tea-smoked duck • 1996's signature (酥皮樟茶鸭), salt and pepper (椒盐味) - tough not to like the this classic duck smoked with camphor wood and different types of tea. Interesting to see that they also use Cherry Valley duck (樱桃谷鸭).
Just look at that crispy skin!
1996 Tongmu Guan Lapsang Suchong Tea (桐木关正山小种) - so nice and smoky, very smooth on the palate. Very elegant.
Glutinous rice cake with duck (樟茶鸭糍粑)- this was soooo good! Really nice as it stuck to the teeth. Lovely fragrance as well as numbing flavors from the Sichuan peppercorns.
Hong Hu Tian • Hearth dishes (鸿鹄天 • 家香)
Charcoal-simmered mao xue wang (炭火毛血旺), spicy and numbing (麻辣味) - a real classic Sichuanese dish, but this was, of course, a pretty luxe version.
We had pigeon eggs, house-made Wangjiadu (王家渡) low-temperature luncheon meat, pork intestines, manyplies tripe, swamp eel, milk duck blood (牛奶鸭血), beef short ribs, potatoes, bamboo shoots, and lotus root.
Stir-fried chicken giblets with Meishan white celery (白芹菜炒鸡杂), homestyle (家常味) - giblets are always a good idea, and here they're stir-fried with white celery from Meishan (眉山).
Mandatory serving with rice.
Stir-fried pork liver and kidney (肝腰合炒), homestyle (家常味) - these were stir-fried for 8 seconds, which was even shorter than the 18 seconds taken at
Song (宋 • 川菜) in Guangzhou. Done with celtuce, pickled chili, and pickled young ginger. This was a little spicy, but very numbing. NICE!
2023 Clos Mao Shuó Lin (说林) - definitely more rustic on the nose, reflecting the cabernet franc. Still very tannic on the palate.
Kung pao shrimp (宫保虾仁), scorched chili (煳辣味) - this wasn't on our menu, but boss lady insisted on serving us their signature dish.
Another mandatory serving with rice, and with good reason!
Die Lian Hua • Vegetable dishes (蝶恋花 • 素意)
As we neared the end of our meal, it was time for some veggies to show up. Here we have some young pea shoots and white rapeseed/
choy sum shoots (白油菜苔).
Preserved meats and greens clay pot (沸冬火上锅), savory and xian (咸鲜味) - all cooked in a broth made with cured ham.
In addition to the veggies, we also had duck blood. This was a nice respite from the excitement of the spices and rich, fatty meat.
Nian Nu Jiao • "Kong" rice (念奴娇 • 箜饭)
Four ingredients "Kong" rice (四和箜饭), savory and xian (咸鲜味) - I was stuffed a long time ago, but just couldn't resist the temptation of this beautiful-looking pot of rice. Made with peas, salt-cured chicken (腌鸡), olive kernels, and carrots from Meishan.
Both the rice and peas were on the mushy side, but the shredded chicken was fragrant and tasty.
2018 Célèbre Red (寶莊) - tons of vanilla oak on the nose, ripe and jammy.
Qin Yuan Chun • Sweet dish (沁园春 • 甜菜)
Sweet steamed pork with glutinous rice (甜烧白), sweet and fragrant (甜香味) - apparently a classic banquet dish, I'm really glad I got to try this.
I love the idea of having fatty pork belly in dessert, especially with sugar and black sesame paste. Very, very good. Wish I had stomach space for more.
Finish • Dessert (千秋岁 • 回甘)
Rice-infused bird's nest with Xiaobeijie white rice cake (米香燕窝配小北街白糕), sweet and fragrant (甜香味) - served with
tangyuan (湯圓) in the rice soup, and the Xiaobeijie white sponge cake (小北街白糕) on the side.
2020 Lapu Valley Vidal Golden Ice Wine (藏云谷威代尔冰酒) - very floral with lots of honey.
Fruits and petit four
Pear
Pistachio
Dried apricots
Strawberries
Seven-scented jasmine tea (七窨碧潭飘雪茉莉花茶)
I was absolutely stuffed to the brim. In fact, it was a miracle I didn't pass out or have an accident at the table. Foursheets stopped about halfway through the meal, somewhere during the cured meats. I, however, could not resist tasting everything. This was an amazing and rare opportunity for me to learn more about a cuisine that I typically avoid, so I wasn't gonna just sit around and stare while others indulged. As a new Sichuanese friend remarked: with this meal, one has eaten the entire life of a Sichuanese person - meaning this includes all the typical, classic dishes from the cuisine. This is a real education for a novice like me.
Immensely grateful to Chef Dee for her incredible hospitality and this amazing treat, and very lucky that Mr. Chichi allowed me to tag along for this feast. Another eye-opening experience, as each meal has been so far on this trip.
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