Mainland China

About

 

When people think of Chinese food, they tend to think of diced meat and vegetables fried in an oily wok over a roaring flame. But Mainland China’s the recent Clay Pot Festival drew on Chef Ram’s knowledge to introduce a very different kind of Chinese cooking. Legend has it that dishes cooked slowly in clay pots were invented to restore the appetite of one of China’s early emperors. The cooking technique is healthier than frying, using much less oil, and allows the different aromas of the dishes to remain intact.

The braised chicken with orange and black bean at the festival which ended this past Sunday, showcased the cooking method’s potential to produce tender meat saturated with flavour. The sauce beautifully balanced the pungent black beans with the sweetness of orange. It was the slight, tingling spice from chillies that carried the sauce beyond the usual ‘sweet and sour’ combinations.

A pot of Hunan chilli prawns (Rs. 495) was a little less exhilarating. The prawns were nice and plump but they didn’t really combine with the sauce all that effectively. Although this sauce had the earthy brown colour characteristic of dishes from China’s Hunan region, it lacked that tantalising spiciness which also makes them so distinctive.

However, this was more than made up for by the drunken chicken, a legendary Chinese dish that’s virtually impossible to find elsewhere in India. It is prepared by soaking small cubes of chicken for over four hours in Chinese wine so that their toughness breaks down and they emerge meltingly tender and full of the wine’s potent fruity flavours. The dish was a good example of how Chinese food can also offer some very subtle flavours, alongside radiant sweet and sour and sizzling chilli.

Besides, the two vegetable pots were also satisfying accompaniments. The exotic vegetables in chilli basil sauce had baby corn cooked al-dente to hold their freshness. The dish was made more interesting than the standard Chinese vegetable dishes by the liberal use of fresh basil which gave its sauce an earthy texture. Similarly, the other dish, Yuling’s hot and numbing vegetables, gained added piquancy from the numbing spice of Sichuan peppercorns.

Overall, the clay pot dishes offered further proof that Mainland China, at Greater Kailash Part II, can produce some of the most interesting Chinese food in India. The restaurant’s décor matched the restrained interpretation of Chinese style shown in the food, with simple paper lanterns and smoked glass screens.
 

Boh Loh Bau

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This is a personal ode to one of my favourite snacks in Hong Kong. The wonderful boh loh bau, or pineapple bun, which actually doesn't contain any pineapple at at all. Nobody seems to have quite made up their mind why its got this name, but I'm guessing its because the top crust has a texture a bit like that on the outsides of pineapples. In some places you also see them called 'rocky buns' - an alternative name also drawn from the virtually unique topping.

The bo loh bau is essentially a white bread bun with a slightly sugary custardy topping poured like molten lava over the top and left to soldify into the unique slightly cracked crust. It's the contrast in texture between the slightly crispy, crumbly crust and the spongy bread beneath that makes them so delightful to eat. Available in almost every Chinese  bakery, of which there are thousands in Hong Kong, the boh loh bau actually vary quite a lot from one place to another. In some the crust will be really crisp, like a hard shell over the soft bread beneath. At others it will be more crumbly and soft.  You can also go to the cha chaan tengs and take your boh loh bau buttered, with a cup of silken tea. This makes each new bau you have an adventure, while at the same time most still achieve delightful results.

Even with the variation however, one thing remains consistent. That is that bo loh bau are best fresh. Ideally you want to step into the bakery just as the man at the back is pulling a tray out of the over. You want to watch as he lays down a dozen or more boh loh bau with golden tops glowing, and to know that one of those is yours. When fresh each bite fills the mouth with warmth; the bread of the boh loh bau has a more sublime softness, and the top while lightly crisped still has that molten, slightly buttery quality that makes it really amazing. The whole thing just melts in your mouth and I find I can eat one, two, three, four, or more without really noticing at all. To experience this subtle delight, its worth noting the baking times of the bakery nearest to you, so you can dash out quickly.

For me, this is the ultimate comfort food. Whenever I'm anxious about something, or feeling a bit glum, my first instinct is to head out and pick up a bo loh bau. There's something soothing about biting into it and getting that familiar texture and taste. If I'm walking somewhere, the walk is always made better by stopping off to pick up a boh lo bau. But equally often, the bau becomes the excuse for the walk rather than the opposite way around. Sometimes I find I've got up from my desk, put shoes on, gone out of the door, and made it all the way to the nearest bakery without even quite realising I've moved at all. In fact, rarely a day goes by here when I don't find some excuse for picking up at least one bau.

Boh loh bau are a hidden icon of Hong Kong, as much as the tram of the the Star Ferry. In the Hong Kong comedy Chicken Duck Talk, there's a great scene where the main character battles against the tendency of the boh loh bau crust to fall off by squashing the whole thing down with his fork until its virtually destroyed. I'm told this is common practice. In the mainland, and Chinatowns accross the world, boh loh bau are sold as a distinctive Hong Kong snack. Whilst back in Birmingham UK a while ago, I trekked over to China Town and paid more than two pounds (HK $30) for a slightly dried out imitation of the genuine boh loh bau. This is almosy a luxury food item, while here in Hong Kong the bau are so cheap that people almost forget how special they are. 

Of course there are other breads in the bakeries which also come close to this zenith. The lihn yeung bau, egg tarts, cha siu bau, and others can all be almost as impressive. Different bakeries tend to do one of these particularly well, so it's worth visiting them all. What I also like is how each different bakery has its own character. Some are bustling, with customers shoving past each other in the crampt space. Other's are more relaxed, the owner sat dreamily behind the counter. Some stay open into the lonely hours of the morning, while others have fresh breads laid out late afternoon and then shut their doors soon after. 

Directions

Sometime soon I want to do a real face off between the different bo loh bau in Hong Kong. But for now you will have to settle for this map of some of the bakeries around the island.

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Cost

HK $2

Hong Kong Flower Lounge

About

I have previously lived in Hong Kong where I would go for Dim Sum about once a week. Although the Flower Lounge's Dim Sum here doesn't quite match that, it is pretty close and is probably the best of all the Chinese Restaurants I have tried in the bay area. Unlike a lot of the restaurants around here, the Dim Sum is not swollen to suit American appetites and I feel this improves the quality.

The small, custard filled 'bo loh Bau' are really good, with a very crisp, still savoury topping. The golden, flaky pastry of the 'cha siu sou' melts in your mouth, with none of that all too common dryness. The 'ha cheung fan' (shrimp rolled in a rice wrapper) are free from the kind of doughy sloppiness which often puts me off eating them. The 'cha siu bau' (steamed bread with honeyed pork) always taste really fresh and have the right balance of sweetness and meatiness for me. The 'siu long bau' (shanghai dumplings holding soup and pork) are a little dissapointing, lacking any soup at all really. This restaurant is one of only a few places to serve 'jung' (flavoured rice cooked in large leaves, often served around the Dragon boat festivals) and these are well worth trying.

If you live in the city, its probably not worth making the trip out here specially however. The dim sum at Great Eastern is equally good and much closer to you.

Directions

[googlemaps http://maps.google.com/maps/ms?ie=UTF8&hl=en&msa=0&msid=110278381660667080594.00045fa995580a90bb9ec&s=AARTsJrYYQyzlhTZETSu0_1SZSr1yfuVMQ&ll=37.598055,-122.387933&spn=0.00595,0.00912&z=16&output=embed&w=425&h=350]

51 Millbrae Ave
Millbrae, CA 94030
(650) 692-6666

Wang Fu

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About

Excellent, authentic and cheap Beijing food.  One of my favorite places in HK. Really good, hearty, home-cooked-style food. No peking duck here, but the jing jiang rou si is probably the best I´ve ever had in either China or HK. Its doesn't come with many pancakes so ask for more beng if necessary. 

The hot and sour soup is also excellent, a really thick mix of mushrooms and other chinese vegetables with just a hint of spice to it. It may however seem a bit strange to pallets that are not used to this dish.

Also recommended are the dumplings, which as freshly made by the restaurant each day. They sometimes also offer some special dumplings, so look out for those. 

The vegetables taste beautifully fresh here and are not smothered with soy sauce and garlic in the way that some places do. 

I have never ordered anything here that was not delicious. They dumplings are all handmade, fresh, and tasty. If you have a sweet tooth, try the banana fritters (pulled silk bananas) for dessert, a specialty Beijing dish.

Directions

On Wellington Street in Soho. Go up escalator and look out on your left hand side. Early on is a street with a yellow sign for ‘curry’ – Wang Fu is near to this place. It has a red sign on the front with three chinese characters. 

Cost

Around HK $60-80 a dish

Time and Notes

Closes at 9:30