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For our last meal in Hangzhou, we are finally headed somewhere without a Michelin star - although the place was given a Bib Gourmand award by Michelin.
Nanfeng Restaurant (南丰饭店) is a no-frills place that is highly-regarded for serving Xiaoshan (萧山) cuisine. We would be going "locaL" before leaving Hangzhou, and our host made sure to order up a storm so that we wouldn't be hungry for the rest of the day.
Local water caltrop (本地菱角) - it's been AGES since I had these back in Taiwan, and while I had this yesterday, I'm happy to get another taste before we leave.
Blanched pig tripe (白切猪肚) - always happy with tripe.
Tender peanuts (嫩子花生)
Poached chicken (白切鸡) - oh yes! The local chicken from Xiaoshan definitely has flavor... and bite.
East Asian river prawns in soy sauce (酱油水河虾) - I didn't realize that these river prawns with their long arms are also found in this region.
I love freshwater prawns, and I do prefer them small as they're just more tender. This was something that was ingrained in me as I grew up eating tiny river shrimp (河蝦) popular in Shanghainese cuisine.
Deep-fried freshwater eel (酱爆鳝段) - very crunchy, with chili peppers and big cloves of garlic.
Stir-fried giblets (炒什件) - we've got chicken liver and gizzard stir-fried with mustard greens, yellowed chives, and more.
Steamed duck with ham (火腿蒸水鸭) - this was pretty nice.
Fresh ham hock and cured Jinhua ham (金银蹄膀) - surprisingly, I'm not sure I've ever had this dish before... even though I absolutely love ham hocks, knuckles, and trotters. I'd always had it made with fresh pork, and seldom with cured ham.
Look at this gorgeous piece of fatty pork!
Stir-fried pork with green soy beans and salted bok choy (腌白菜毛豆小炒) - the combination of ingredients delivered flavors that just seemed so familiar to me.
Yes, these slices of pork with their strips of fat really do make this dish.
Steamed brown croaker in chicken fat (鸡油清蒸米鱼) - this is a very tasty, tender fish... and of course the chicken fat-based sauce worked its magic. We got half a fish along with some of the fish maw. Definitely happy to have me some of that!
Grilled Hangzhou chilis (烤杭椒) - I didn't realize there was a type of chili peppers called "Hangzhou chili (杭椒)"... but these were pretty nice.
Steamed three stinky delicacies (蒸三臭) - HERE WE GO! As if we didn't get enough stinky dishes over the last few days, our final meal would feature the stinkies of them all... with stinky tofu, stinky amaranth stem (臭苋菜梗), and moldy tofu sheets (霉千张). This was BAAAAAAD... so I took a small nibble of the stinky tofu, a nibble of the stem, and said FUCK NO to the worst of the trio - tofu sheets. Hopefully I never have to see this dish ever again.
Bamboo shoots and cured pork belly (鞭笋咸肉) - technically these included the young shoots of bamboo plant's underground rhizomes.
Oh you pretty baby! How could I not drool at the sight of this?!
Steamed tofu and moldy soy beans (霉毛豆蒸嫩豆腐) - uhhhh...
more stinky dishes...
Tomato and pumpkin soup with preserved mustard and bamboo shoots (笋干菜蒸南瓜番茄汤) - we have
sungancai () again, which is a preserved mix of leafy mustard (雪里蕻) and bamboo shoots.
Stir-fried amaranth (清炒苋菜)
Steamed green eggplant with dried fish (鲞蒸青茄)
No alcohol today, but this
yuzu drink was pretty nice.
No surprise that this was TOO MUCH FUCKING FOOD... and would you believe that the original menu had another 4 dishes?! Anyway, we left very happy, and we even left with some Hangzhou delicacies courtesy of our tour organizer. Very grateful for Cecilia's arrangements over these few days.
It was a little too early to head to the airport, so we stopped at
The MixC Xiaoshan (萧山万象汇) where some of us could get coffee, while I headed off to
Fresh Hippo (盒马鲜生) to do some food shopping. We didn't stay long before heading to the airport for our flight home.
It feels like we've been through a whole war and fought many battles over the last 4 days, and I could definitely use some rest once we are home! Very grateful to Mr. Chichi, Cecilia, Winnie, Lucy, all the chefs, and everyone at the Four Seasons Hotel Hangzhou at West Lake as well as Four Seasons Hotel Hangzhou at Hangzhou Centre for the hospitality. Need to plan a trip before the year is out so Foursheets can experience some of this for herself.
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