great talk on all things chinese food....and then some

Life is good!

a food fantasy scene - en chine

I am perched at the end of the stainless steel counter and wait with anticipation.
The young handsome chef looks over at me, and gives me a shy crooked smile.  He pushes back his sleeves and turns his attention back to the sizzing hot wok. 
His movements are confident, skillful and graceful.  His muscles flex as he effortlessly tosses the wok. I  am mesmorized by this vision.
One by one he tosses in the ingredients from the mise en place -  so carefully prepared.
From the below the range, a fiery flame shoots up.  My heart skips a beat.
The air is suddenly filled with a tantalizing, ambrosial aroma. I am yearning for a taste.
Finally, with a flourish, he slides the completed dish onto a waiting platter and presents it to me.
I carefully compose a bite. The flavors dance off my tongue and fill my mouth. I close my eyes as the pleasure of this dish transports me to a sublime state.
He is watching attentively.  Our eyes meet.  No words are exchanged. He smiles knowingly.  Another masterpiece has been created.

Yes, I'm watching too many daytime soaps........ heehee!  Okay, okay, I'll get to the food.

For today's lunch, Executive Chef of the award winning Shunde Sheraton, Chef Johnson He, has invited us into the intimate setting of the Sheraton Banquet Hall kitchen for a private cooking demonstration and lunch.  

This kitchen is where meals are prepared for thousands participating in events in the Hotel's Banquet Hall.  Fully stocked, and spacious enough to accomodate three large banquet tables for our group + one for a table of writers, photographers, and videographers from local media.

It really is quite a thrill to see a brigade of (young, handsome) chefs prepare an entire 12 course meal, up-close.  The first thing that hits your senses is the noise - the hum of the exhaust, clanging of woks, clatter of plates.  It sounds like chaos, but in reality, it is a well-oiled machine.  Mise en place ingredients are stacked neatly at each station.   Chefs gracefully move among each other preparing one dish after another.  Dishes are plated, garnished, and handed off to the servers.  As a guest, it almost looks easy - the completed dishes keep appearing like magic!

At our tables, the staff have washed and prepared some ingredients that Martin had picked up from the Wet Market - star fruit, water chestnuts, lotus root.  The chefs had also provided some freshly picked fruit from a nearby market - dragonfruit, logans, kumquats, apples, grapes and plums.

The first demo was for the famous Shunde Fish Chowder. It iw a milky white soup with minced fish, shiitake mushrooms, bamboo shoots, black fungus, and water chestnuts.  It is warm and soothing, and eases our hunger for the next course. The next dish was the most delicious Char Shiu Pork I had ever tasted - not dry and chewy like the ones hanging in the windows of Chinatown, but juicy, tender and sweet pieces of fat-full pork.  I definitely indulged in many pieces of this!  The next dish was Scrambled Water Buffalo Milk with Seafood, served on top of pieces of deep fried bread.  Then members of our group were able to try their hand at making Sweet and Sour Pork.  Lynne, created a beautiful and delicious dish to share with the group!  The final dish was, Deep Fried Cantonese Wontons - shrimp and pork dumplings deep fried and served with dipping sauce.  Everything is better when it is deep fried!

I have recipes for all of these dishes, but frankly, I doubt I will be making these dishes at home, since ingredients like "fried terminalia" and "milk of water buffalo", are not likely to be readily available - even at The Berkeley Bowl.

The highlight of the lunch was the Peking Duck.  Before they were served, the ducks were first given a bath of hot oil. Then the crispy skin was delicately removed from the bird.  To eat, wrap the duck skin and garnishes - thinly sliced cucumber and scallions, a dab of hoisen sauce, all into a thin pancake.  And, if you are nice to the chef, he may give you the leftover duck legs for a snack - lucky Winnie!! 

Other items on the menu: Scrambled Eggs with Chinese Chives, Stemed Pork Dumplings, Emerald Stir-Fried Prawns over Noodle Pancake, Crystal Wrapped Duck (aka Lettuce Wraps), 5-Spice Spring Rolls, and finishing off with a delicious Sweet Creamy Grapefruit Soup.

A few weeks after we got back from China, my friend Peggy sent me an article written from one of the journalist who attended our lunch.  I'm not sure who wrote it, but it is someone from this group.......