The golden roll

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I'm entertaining a couple from Europe who are eating their way through town. I had been trading messages with one of them for a few years but we had never had the opportunity to meet until now. I did take the last-minute opportunity to check if was an axe murderer by following him on social media, and I felt reasonably sure that he is not.

So I showed up for our dinner at Wing (永). Vicky had very kindly let me book a table early to ensure we get the date my new friend had asked for, and I was initially somewhat surprised that no one had asked us which of the restaurant's two menus we preferred. Of course, I knew we would be in good hands with Vicky.

We started with the seasonal welcome drink, which is designed to work for each of the 24 seasons (節氣). As the start of summer (立夏) was just two days ago, we would be enjoying a cup of loquat, preserved apricot, and hawthorn drink (枇杷杏乾山楂飲). One of the benefits was meant to be coordinate between the intestines and the stomach, and I could only hope that it does that job well.

Before the start of our meal, we were shown a collection of special ingredients which would be used for our dinner tonight. The humpback grouper (老鼠斑) was still alive and breathing, although obviously not happy about being out of the water at this moment...

Cuttlefish • Chiu chow sauce (潮式生醃墨魚) - the raw cuttlefish slices were reasonably thin, but came with nice bite.

Green asparagus • green Sichuan pepper (藤椒露筍) - pretty nice and fresh, and that green Sichuan peppercorn (藤椒) oil just gave it a little bit of extra kick and plenty of fragrance.

Housemade golden crystal egg • chili oyster (香辣日本蠔伴自製黃金皮蛋) - the golden century egg was marinated for just 3 to 4 weeks to achieve the lighter, golden color.

Bombay duck spring roll (九肚魚春卷) - the minute this plate showed up I had the Sesame Street song One of These Things (Is Not Like the Others) popping in my head. Well, a visit to Wing always, always means one of the dishes come with tons of gold foil, and I've long stopped trying to guess which course that might be. Tonight this actually came pretty early!

Look at all this GOLD!!!!! Soooo shiny! #nogoldnolife

We've got soft and fluffy Bombay duck (九肚魚) inside along with coriander, having been inspired by Chiuchow-style oyster pancake (蠔餅).

Next came the obligatory noodle made with the "leftover" mala sauce that the oyster came with. Only one to two mouthfuls here, which was just right.

Flower crab meat thick soup • fish maw • white pepper (白胡椒花膠花蟹肉羹) - the bottom of the bowl held a layer of steamed egg custard, on top of which was the broth made with crab shells that had been thickened with starch. Garnished with chiffonade of kaffir lime leaves, which had been introduced by staff as "lemongrass".

The stars of the soup were, of course, shredded meat from flower crab (花蟹) as well as strips of fish maw. The use of white pepper here is traditional, and while it didn't bother me, I wondered what the soup would have tasted like without it.

Hunan chili • humpback grouper • venus clam (花蛤湖南辣椒老鼠斑) - and here comes the fish that had been struggling for breath in front of us just an hour ago... served with beautiful venus clams (花蛤) for added flavors along with diced chili peppers from Hunan Province (湖南省). I love that Vicky doesn't always serve us the traditional Cantonese steamed fish, but instead tries to do something a little fancier with more oompth and complexity. This was very, very good.

Sweet and sour pork • sea cucumber • kamias (酸果海參咕嚕肉) - once again, Vicky shows us his own interpretation of a classic Cantonese dish. Instead of the traditional hawthorn (山楂) or the common pineapple, he uses bilimbi for acidity.

What made this unique, though, was the use of sea cucumber to mimic the pork fat that sometimes shows us. Heaven knows I really love deep-fried pork, and the fattier the better... and I could also enjoy this "healthier" (and much more luxurious) version. This was fun.

Duo abalone puff • 33 head Yoshihama abalone • South African abalone (三十三頭吉品鮑魚併南非鮑魚酥) - I've kinda seen this on social media, but didn't realize the dish had only been around for a month or two. This puff pastry certainly looked very delicate and refined... and of course, it was made with LARD like a good Chinese chef would!

Vicky has been doing his "abalone duo" for some time now... serving up half a fresh abalone alongside half of a braised, 20-year-old dried abalone and delivering both sweetness and umami in the same bite. The key is to cook each for a different period of time (6 hours for the fresh one, 48 hours for the dried one) so that they end up having just about the same texture. We've also got a filling on top made with pork and black pepper, but thankfully this was on the mild side and didn't overpower or distract from the abalone. And OF COURSE this would be served with a classic braised abalone sauce... Very good shit. But you know Vicky is always stingy and only served you half...

Char-grilled pigeon (炭燒琵琶鴿) - pigeon shows up on the menu here often, but this was something new to me... and the bird looked a lot bigger when it's chopped up and laid flat. This was grilled with a homemade barbecue sauce

Braised white asparagus • dried spring bamboo shoots • snap peas (春筍乾菜炆白蘆筍) - I just loooove this combination of spring vegetables! White asparagus and snap peas both deliver a lot of sweetness, and then we've got dried bamboo shoots adding a little more complexity.

Firefly squid • braised potato noodle (螢光魷魚燴薯粉) - another seasonal ingredient I love - which isn't local or Cantonese but Japanese - is firefly squid (螢烏賊). Vicky has created a dish that reminds me a little of Xinrongji (新榮記)'s signature potato noodles with anemone. Tonight the usual punchy flavors from the squid went up a few levels, as we not only have fresh ones but also a sauce made with crushed/puréed squid.

Every year, one of the things I look forward to most is this. The little squid with big flavors. And tonight I wanted to have the whole bowl to myself. I did not want to share. With anyone.

Ice noodle • coconut sorbet • maple syrup (楓糖冰粉配椰子雪葩) - I do enjoy this Sichuanese dessert as it's just so refreshing, and of course I love coconut, too.

Mignardises:

They always pay a lot of attention when it comes to the fruit platter, and tonight we had cherries from China, red kiwi from New Zealand, [Crown] melon from Shizuoka Prefecture (静岡県), and gold pineapple from the Philippines.

Donuts with salted egg yolk cream (鹹蛋奶皇冬甩)

Walnut mochi (核桃麻糬) -

Vicky was, once again, incredibly gracious and offered us a complimentary bottle of Champagne:

Frederic Savart L'Ouverture-Premier Cru, dégorgée en Janvier 2025 - lean as expected, with good acidity for a crisp palate, a little yeasty on the nose.

The visitors also carried a very nice bottle of Champagne all the way from Europe for dinner tonight:

Sylvie Moreau Edition N°11, bouteille n° 0133/1300, dégorgée 16 Novembre 2019 - base year was 2004. The nose was very fragrant, with straw and sugar cane thanks to some oxidation due to aging.

I offered two humble bottles from my collection:

1985 Maximin Grünhauser Riesling Abtsberg Kabinett - the front palate was a little short, but with the acidity on the palate the finish was reasonably long. Ripe and mature after 40 years with notes of straw alongside lemon citrus and white flowers.

Bought from Mayfair as part of a mixed lot for HKD 316.

2006 Kistler Pinot Noir Bodegas Headlands Vineyard Cuvée Elizabeth - nice with plenty of sweet fruit. so fragrant with eucalyptus notes.

Bought from the winery for USD 90 plus tax and shipping.

After he finished enjoying a cigar with guests from another table, Vicky came to chat with us for a while. I ended up enjoying a sip of Bas Armagnac while hanging out.

1980 Baron Gaston Legrand Bas-Armagnac - lovely with vanilla and caramel nose.

This was a great evening with good company and, of course, wonderful food and wine. I like that Vicky is charting his own path in "Chinese" cooking, and while some will pooh-pooh it for not being "traditional", the reality is that there are plenty of fans - and that includes yours truly.