Where the mountain meets the sea

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I'm traveling to eat again. Only this time, I'm taking the train to Guangzhou for one dinner and a short, overnight stay. The reason? A collaboration between Jiang by Chef Fei (江 - 由辉师傅主理) - a restaurant run by Chef Huang Jinghui (黄景辉), whose cuisine I really enjoy - and Meet the Bund (遇外滩) - one of the most talked about restaurants in Shanghai which, curiously, serves Hokkien cuisine. I haven't had the pleasure of dining at Meet the Bund, but it receives near universal praise from friends around me. And Chef Yoda Chen (陈志平) is obviously very well-liked. So I figured I owed it to myself to join Mr. Chichi at the invitation of the Mandarin Oriental Guangzhou.

The special dinner tonight was by invitation, and the two of us were the last two to arrive for this event – having taken the train up from Hong Kong at the end of our workday. Everyone else had arrived earlier and started their 2-day program. We apologized to Chef Fei for making everyone wait…

The feast tonight had the words 山海相遇 一席争鲜 written on the menu. So the chefs started by showing us the treasures they were bringing from the mountains…

…and also the sea.

We had three appetizers to start:

Smoked tofu tart with caviar (鱼子酱烟熏豆腐), from Jiang by Chef Fei – inside the crispy tart shell was some smoked tofu with nice soybean flavors, along with spring onions, sesame oil, and covered in caviar.

White lotus root, bamboo shoots, and jellyfish (紫苏马踏湖莲藕青笋海蜇), from Jiang by Chef Fei – Lake Mata (马踏湖) in Hengtai Country, Shandong Province (山东省桓台县) is famous for their white lotus roots. Pickled and served together with bamboo shoots from Sichuan, jellyfish, and perilla vinegar. Got a spicy kick on top of acidity.

Sea whelk and short-necked clams with basil sauce (金不换响螺拌漳港蚌), from Meet the Bund – the short-necked clams (西施舌) from Fuzhou (福州) came with sea whelk. The Thai basil as well as pickled ginger brought both aromatics and a kick. The peanut sauce inside was a surprise.

DEVO MV04 Brut Nature – the nose was more caramelized than I had expected. Nice marmalade. Good acidity on the palate without being lean, with a good depth on the palate and a long finish.

Lobster and whelk soup with matsutake (高原松茸菌虾蚌争鲜), from Jiang by Chef Fei – on top we see thin slices of fresh matsutake (松茸) from Yunnan (雲南). Underneath we see slices of sea whelk (響螺) that had been blanched. The soup that was poured in was made with dried [African?] red conch (紅螺頭) and sea ducks that live around mangroves. The soup was really delicious, with the sweetness and seafood flavors coming through.

The sea whelk was nice, and the lobster was nicely scored and cooked mi-cuit, deliver a wonderful sweetness on the palate. What a beautiful soup course!

Crispy sea cucumber with aromatic ginger chicken sauce (沙姜鸡汁海参), from Jiang by Chef Fei – the sauce was inspired by the classic Cantonese dish of chicken with aromatic ginger sauce (沙薑醬), and was made with the ginger as well as old yellow oil chicken (老黃油雞). A swirl of spring onion oil completes the classic flavor profile. I loved this sauce.

A chiffonade of aromatic ginger was deep-fried with the oil at a relatively low temperature. This was really nice.

Inside the sea cucumber was a stuffing made of black pork and pepper. I loved that the exterior was just a little crispy but the batter was not too thick and hard.

2022 Mingyi Beneath the Temple (酩一 岚岩之下) – opened and breathed for 45 minutes before stoppering, and served another 1½ hours later. Initially this was served a bit cold so the nose was closed. On the palate there was a nice sweetness, very ripe and also a it hot and alcoholic.

The redbanded grouper (紅玫瑰) was shown to us before we started dinner.

Redbanded grouper with tea tree oil (永泰茶油淋红玫瑰), from Meet the Bund – the fish was perhaps ever so slightly overcooked, but that’s understandable when the kitchen is cooking for a large group. There was a nice dose of heat from chili, good amount of acidity, and a lovely fragrance from the tea tree oil coming from Yongtai County, Fujian Province (福建省永泰縣).

Slow-braised wagyu oxtail with shallots and porcini (红葱牛肝菌慢炖和牛牛尾), from Jiang by Chef Fei – the oxtail was braised with mountain litsea (木姜子), whose wonderful aromatics were immediately apparent when the dish was served. The lemon foam added some nice, fruity acidity into the mix to ensure the dish wasn’t too heavy.

2023 Muxin Cabernet Sauvignon (木杺赤霞珠) – very classic Bordeaux nose, with nice vanilla oak, smoky, a bit earthy, chocolate, and very ripe fruit. Tannins were still strong, which wasn’t surprising given the young age, but this was approachable as it’s made in a modern style. Also got some fragrant spices on the nose. I can understand why some people like this.

Virgin mud crab dumplings with tomatoes and loofah (番茄丝瓜煮奄仔蟹饺), from Meet the Bund – the broth was made with a combination of both pickled and fresh tomatoes, and the dumplings were served with diced tomatoes on top. We also had some loofah with the broth, which was very nice.

The dumplings were made by stuffing the meat of virgin mud crabs (奄仔蟹) inside wrappers called yanpi (燕皮), which are made of pork from hind legs as well as sweet potato starch. Of course, the flavors of the crab were especially nice with the tomato broth.

Quanzhou-style curry beef brisket with Southern Fujian rice (泉州咖喱崩沙腩咸饭), from Meet the Bund – who doesn’t like a little beef curry?

This was served with some Southern Fujian rice called (鹹飯), which is made with conpoy, dried shrimp, fried shallots, carrots… and reminds me a lot of Taiwanese oily rice (油飯).

Why, YES! The brisket and rice DID go very well together!

Golden ear and lotus seeds braised with brown sugar (云南红糖金耳炖鲜莲子), from Jiang by Chef Fei – this also had atap seeds (亞答子) and fox nuts (雞頭米), and also tasted strongly of ginger. Actually, Chef Fei explained that he wanted to use ginger sugar (薑糖, pronounced jiang tang) in the dessert because within this hotel, he’s got Jiang as well as Tang (堂), the casual Cantonese bistro… Orz

Pineapple puff with running center (流心菠萝酥), from Jiang by Chef Fei – this was very nice, and I especially liked the savory flavors of the egg wash on the outer layer of the puff pastry.

2018 Cailonglin Jin Ding Ice Wine (蔡龙鳞冰酒金鼎) - nose of honeydew, apricot, and peaches. Good acidity upfront and all through the finish, so it wasn’t just sweet all the way.

We were reasonably stuffed, of course, but the chefs insisted that we adjourn upstairs to Liang (liang) for some cocktails and supper. So off we went…

Vermicelli with duck blood and pig intestines (大肠鸭血米线) – with some kind of meatball and taro. Love it! All the stuff that makes me happy... and a good kick from white pepper in the broth.

Wood’s Response – made with Calvados and homemade jasmine liqueur. I really liked the jasmine… so nice and fresh!

The others were still partying, but I have an early morning departure for a train back to Hong Kong and back to work… so off to bed it is! Very, very grateful to the Mandarin Oriental Guangzhou for the kind invitation. There was never any chance that I would not be a happy camper at the end of the night, and I’m so happy I made the trek up to Guangzhou just for this dinner. I do also have to thank Mr. Chichi for including me as his “plus one”…