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We have known about Mr. Chichi's new project for some time now, and a number of us have been looking forward to having a fine dining Hokkien restaurant in town. We know he has high standards and doesn't compromise too much, so the cuisine offered should be fairly authentic. As a (fake) Taiwanese, I must admit that my understanding of Hokkien cuisine (閩菜/福建菜) isn't very deep... although, admittedly, it should still be better than your average Cantonese person. So I'm pretty interested to get myself educated.
We know he has been asking close friends to join him in multiple rounds of taste tests to get things right, so when the invitation came for dinner tonight, I knew they felt ready.
We were led to one of
Hokkien House (福上)’s private dining rooms for what would undoubtedly be a feast. There’s no meal with Mr. Chichi that doesn’t involve my stomach being on the brink of explosion, but I was surprised to find ONLY 13 dishes on the menu before fruit and dessert.
First came the cold appetizers:
Hokkien House’s blanched hand-lined Dongshan squid with assorted sauce (福上白切手釣東山管) – with very fresh seafood like this, often it is best taken simply blanched and “as is”, without any sauces. The flavors were pure, and the texture was tender without being mushy. Very much on point. Also tasty when taken with any of the three accompanying sauces, which were soy sauce with chili and garlic (蒜辣酱油), minced spring onions (葱蓉酱), and house special soybean sauce (特调豆酱).
Hokkien House’s threadfin fish “rice” with fish jus jelly and vinegared seaweed (福上醋紫菜魚凍午飯魚) – I always thought “fish rice (魚飯)” was a creation of Chaoshan (潮汕) cuisine, but I suppose since the area is so close to Fujian, the influence spread.
This fourfinger threadfin (馬友) was not very different from what one would see at a good Chiuchow restaurant, and even came with Puning soybean sauce (普寧豆醬) on top. The accompanying first-harvest laver (頭水紫菜) was marinated in vinegar and came with a very nice touch of acidity.
This was served with sections of the fish spine which were very crispy.
Spiny lobster in Xiamen Harbour style sauce (廈港汁浸錦繡龍蝦) – it’s always impressive when a whole spiny lobster is presented at the table.
The lobster is served raw, with a wonderful springy and crunchy texture. The soy marinade came with finely diced chili and chives, and some salty plum.
These were paired with
2010 Tanyang gongfu black tea (坦洋工夫紅茶).
Next up was a warm starter:
Crispy vinegar pork with lime (青檸香酥醋肉) – this was sooooo good! What’s not to love about deep-fried fatty pork, especially when the batter delivered a touch of sweetness?!
A big pot of soup arrived...
Quan Zhou style beef soup (泉州牛肉羹) - Chef Levi You (游振龙) finished this tableside with minced garlic and 20-year-old vinegar from Yongchun (永春).
The beef was so fresh the texture was just incredibly springy and slippery smooth thanks to the starch. The vinegar added a nice dose of acidity, and together with the diced ginger and spring onion they are just lovely.
Now we move on to the hot "meat dishes (葷菜)":
Dry-seared wild mangrove mud crab (乾煎紅樹林蟹) – everyone’s eyes always light up at the sight of a whole plate of crabs…
These mud crabs were full of roe, and tasted delicious with the classic seasoning of spring onions, ginger, and sesame oil.
Fried Fujian local silver pomfret with jasmine-infused vinegar glaze (茉莉花醋汁本港鯧) – I love fried pomfret. It's can be so beautifully tasty when it's done well.
The vinegar glaze was added on top of the fish tableside.
This was also really nice, as the crispy, browned skin made for wonderful fragrance inside the mouth. Fragrance was also provided by the fried jasmine flowers. Meanwhile, acidity from the vinegar glaze integrated well with the fried fish.
We got a shot of
30-year-old drinking vinegar (醋茶) to go with the dish, which made sense as a pairing.
Pepper pickled bean paste stewed dog shark (胡椒酸菜豆醬煮狗鯊魚) – the few times I've had whitespotted bamboo shark (條紋斑竹鯊) in my life were probably when I infrequently ordered smoked shark (鯊魚煙) in Taiwan. This was obviously a little more upscale and not necessarily made with just the "spare parts"...
Loved the classic combination of white pepper and pickled mustard stem (酸菜).
Hot-oil drizzled sand worms with pepper (油淋胡椒鮮沙蟲) – I have terrible memories from the one and only time I ate sand worms more than 25 years ago, because I got royally drunk
plus food poisoning that gave me the chills the entire night. So I haven’t touched these creatures since…
This came with shredded radish that tasted sweet and very homey to me. The white pepper was, again, pretty prominent and fragrant. Much better experience tonight, although I doubt I'll be ordering this regularly.
Those were paired with
2021 Hokkie House Lapsang Souchong (福上小種). Smoky and pretty nice.
Wuyi-style spicy stir-fried smoked goose (辣炒武夷嵐谷熏鵝) – apparently goose from Langu (嵐谷) in Wuyishan (武夷山) is famous. This arrived in a steaming clay pot with the goose simmered in sauce.
Nice with just a little bit of steamed rice to go with the sauce. Happy to have nibbled on some goose neck.
Then came something everyone was waiting for… the
runbing (潤餅). The ingredients were brought out and we were asked to DIY.
The pancakes were certainly thin…
Hokkien House’s spring rolls (福上潤餅) – I tried not to be greedy so I didn’t overload on the ingredients. Pretty nice, but I wish we had stomach space for another one or two.
Zhao-An style braised cabbage with dried sea shrimps (詔安高燒白菜) – always love me some cabbage braised with dried shrimp. Again, this was so homey and comforting to me.
Min-Nan-style noodle with seafood and wild red mushroom (閩南鹵面) – it’s been a while since I last tasted something like this.
Finally we have the desserts:
Zhangzhou sweet pan-fried pancake (漳州滿煎糕) – pancakes are always nice when they’re done right and crispy. Loved the sugar and crunchy peanuts inside.
Jasmine tea-flavored shaved ice dessert with assorted seasonal toppings (茉莉茶香四果湯) – really nice and refreshing, with green raisins, adzuki beans, jasmine flowers, lotus seeds, Job’s tears (薏米), and diced honeydew melon, watermelon, and pineapple.
Pepino (人參果)
Dragon fruit (火龍果)
There were a few bottles to go with our dinner, and most people veered towards Champagnes and whites because we figured the cuisine leans towards seafood.
2004 Drapper Oenothèque – nice and toasty, also yeasty nose. Good acidity on the palate.
1996 R et L Legras Saint-Vincent, en magnum – nice and mature now, but still got the acidity from chardonnay. Was there some vanilla on the nose? Definitely flinty and mineral with marmalde.
2016 Àguila Albillo Viñas Viejas – the nose was very plastic and polyurethane, which was a real surprise. Also turned nicer with some sweet corn notes.
Krug Grande Cuvée, 173ème Édition, Krug ID 224030 – good acidity on the palate, with some ripeness on the attack but a bit lean on the finish.
2006 Marcassin Pinot Noir Three Sisters Vineyard – started drinking 2½ hours after opening. The sweet fruit here was so nice, with lots of blueberries and almost vanilla-like.
This was a really good introduction to the fine dining version of Hokkien cuisine. The flavors were familiar and didn't feel diluted, which was what I wanted out of this place. There were a number of classic dishes notably missing from our menu tonight, and I look forward to returning so I could check them out. Many thanks to the boss for the invitation and the treat. We will be back.
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