Mid-Autumn with the team

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One of the bosses had asked me about booking at Wing (永) some time last year, but as someone who does not abuse his privileges, I offered to arrange for a team dinner but made it clear I would not book for others without being present. Well, the time finally came to take the team out, and I was very grateful that Vicky could accommodate us.

The hospitality here really is world class, and for regular customers, they tailor the menu so that they don't keep serving the same dishes and bore the diners. For this occasion, knowing that I'm bringing a group of newbies, Vicky asked whether I would want to have a mix of classic dishes along with new, seasonal offerings. Of course I said "YES"!

As usual, our welcome drink is tailored to one of the twenty-four seasons (二十四節氣), and tonight this was made with upright ladybells (沙參) and dried longans (桂圓).

Razor clams • Yunnan chili • bull kelp (蟶子配雲南皺皮椒及海茸) - nice and have this refreshing dish again, where the sweet and clean flavors of the razor clams come together with the umami from the kelp and the spicy kick of chili peppers.

Housemade golden crystal egg • chili Jimami tofu (香辣沖繩豆腐伴自製黃金皮蛋) - the sauce was more spicy than I remembered from past visits.

Cold dressed Yunnan mushroom (涼拌雲南雜菌) - with a consommé made of fungi. We've got both deep-fried as well as charcoal-grilled ceps.

As usual, the mala sauce that came with the century eggs was mixed in with some noodles for a bite or two...

Baby mussel • minced pork • lettuce (潮州薄殼生菜包) - I was so, soooo happy! This shows the Chiuchow side of Vicky's heritage, as we have the tiny little Senhouse's mussels (薄殼) taken out from their thin, translucent shells and stir-fried with Cantonese preserved sausage (臘腸), bamboo shoots, shiitake mushrooms, water chestnuts, and Thai basil.

The flavors from the Thai basil (金不換) were pretty strong, and this was slightly spicy. Very nice. I love that we got to have this and I had the chance to introduce it to my team.

Fresh chicken soup • fresh conch • matsutake mushroom (松茸響螺濃雞湯) - just look at how milky the chicken soup was! Love it. And we still have the fresh matsutake (松茸) from Yunnan (雲南).

Conch is another premium item often seen in Chiuchow cuisine, and is often damn expensive.

Sea cucumber • spring roll • spring onion (蔥燒婆參春卷) - well, this is something that Vicky got famous doing... a crispy, puffed up spring roll with a unorthodox filling.

The paper-thin spring rolll wrapper stayed crispy, and you can hear it when they bring it tableside and cut them with a cleaver in front of you. The texture of the sea cucumber inside was just as it should be, and that sauce with the spring onions...

Steamed wild yellow croaker • salted pork • dried bamboo shoots (咸白肉筍乾菜蒸野生大黃花魚) - very grateful for this treat, which was fished from the East China Sea (東海) and Vicky hand carried back from Wenzhou (溫州). Love the golden hue of the fish.

The croaker was, of course, very, very tender and beautiful. The dried bamboo shoots brought powerful, savory flavors which worked really well with the sweetness of the fresh peas. What a wonderful combination!

Baked pomelo skin (焗蝦子柚皮) - an off-menu seasonal item that Vicky very kindly sent us, it being close to Mid-Autumn Festival (中秋節) and all. The traditional dish of braised pomelo skin - which the kitchen spent three days to rid of its bitter taste - was simmered and then likely baked to achieve a dry and lightly crunchy surface.

Aaaaaand... this was the dish that Vicky chose to give me my gold flakes. Très jolie, n'est-ce pas? Served up with a dried abalone sauce.

Clay pot baked Alaskan king crab • lemongrass • litsea (木薑子香茅乾煸阿拉斯加帝皇蟹) - the crab came on a bed of fragrant herbs like lemongrass, perilla, lime leaves, litsea...

Accompanied by the first Shanghainese hairy crab (大閘蟹) roe.

This was really, really fragrant with all the herbs. Rich but elegant at the same time.

Soy sauce chicken • Maotai (香滑茅台豉油雞) - they added Moutai (茅台) in the soy sauce marinade, which was a little on the sweet side.

Chrysanthemum tea (菊花茶) from Hangzhou (杭州).

Chinese white cabbage • ginger (上湯薑汁鶴藪菜) - the first time I was served this dish, I had kinda ranted about the manual labor required to deliver this presentation. I won't do that again.

When one is served only the tender hearts of vegetables, it's a given that this would taste good. The superior broth (上湯) that came with the veg certainly helped.

Spicy fish maw • salted fish • rice (魚香花膠飯) - so the fish maw came with the classic dish of braised eggplant with shredded pork (魚香茄子).

They actually used salted fish (鹹魚) to make this, and it was really nice with a little spicy kick.

Ice pearls • coconut sorbet • maple syrup (楓糖冰粉配椰子雪葩) - this was so refreshing, with coconut sorbet, taro balls, sesame, and coriander. The sesame seeds were really nice and fragrant.

Finally we have the mignardises:

Lotus seed paste: salted duck egg, caramel - this was something I've had at VEA a few years ago around Mid-Autumn Festival, but it was slightly different today. You've still got the different balls of white lotus seed paste (白蓮蓉) and yellow lotus seed paste (黃蓮蓉), and salted egg yolk mousse all sitting on a caramel tart. Very nice, and I'm grateful for Vicky's take on the traditional mooncake.

Walnut mochi (核桃麻糬) - with walnut custard inside.

The fruits at the end are always a highlight:

Persimmon - from Wakayama Prefecture (和歌山県).

Mango - from Panzhihua (攀枝花) in Sichuan Province. Apparently many varietals grown there were originally imported from Taiwan.

Shinkansen pear (新甘泉梨) - from Tottori Prefecture (鳥取県).

Star fruit - from Taiwan.

Pineapple - from the Philippines.

Vicky very kindly started us off with a very nice bottle of Champagne:

2020 Ulysse Collin Les Pierrières, dégorgée en Janvier 2025 - a little vanilla on the nose, with mineral and flinty notes, and there was almost a little bit of wampee.

2007 Joh. Jos. Prüm Zeltinger Sonnenuhr Riesling Spätlese - this was so classic with the petrol and white truffle, and also white flowers. Reasonable sweetness on the palate.

2010 Hospices de Beaune Beaune 1er Cru Cuvée Rousseau-Deslandes, mis en bouteille par Lucien Le Moine pour MNSC - opened 2½ hours before serving. The nose was pretty toasty, and still had a lovely amount of fruit, with leather and meaty notes.

Another wonderful meal from Vicky. I'm very grateful for the care that Vicky and the team took to make sure we had a good time, and suddenly there was a request that we revisit Wing for team dinners on a monthly basis...