Eight dishes, one seal. 获奖菜肴
The dishes below have been recognised by New Tang Dynasty TV’s Global Chinese Culinary Competition and by features in the Epoch Times. They’re on the regular menu, cooked the same way every day. This is where we keep them together, in case you want to know what to order.
Named by NTD TV & the Epoch Times.
The Global Chinese Culinary Competition is a serious event: a jury of Chinese chefs and food writers evaluates classic regional cooking on technique, faithfulness and taste. Being cited at all is meaningful; being cited for eight dishes is why we still fold every dumpling by hand.
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Shanghai · 01
Steamed Soup-Filled Dumplings 小籠包
Pork wrapped by hand in a thin, pliant sheet, pleated closed, and steamed to order. The broth is set inside the filling as gel and melts under the steamer. Eat within the minute they arrive.
Xiaolongbao -
Shanghai · 02
Shanghai Pan-Fried Pork Bun 上海生煎包
Yeasted dough, wrapped around fresh pork, steamed and then pan-fried in a shallow pool of oil until the bottom is dark and crisp. Finished with sesame and scallion. The bun that Shanghai neighbourhoods queue for at breakfast.
Sheng jian bao -
Nanjing · 03
Nanjing Salted Duck 金陵鹽水鴨
A quarter of lean duck, dry-cured with spices, ginger and scallion, then gently poached in a spiced brine and rested. Sliced through the bone. Clean, savoury, quietly complex. The dish that named Nanjing.
Yán shuǐ yā -
Yangzhou · 04
Yangzhou Sweet & Sour Ribs 揚州糖醋小排骨
Tender pork rib, pan-fried until the exterior lacquers, then finished in a balanced sweet-sour glaze made in the pan. The Yangzhou version leans into vinegar and away from ketchup: a rounder, more savoury flavour than the Cantonese version most people know.
Táng cù xiǎo pái gǔ -
Hangzhou · 05
Longjing Tea Shrimp 龍井蝦仁
River shrimp, briefly stir-fried with Dragon Well tea leaves and their brew. A classic of the Southern Song court, and a featured dish at Chinese state banquets. Restrained, aromatic, and green in the glass.
Lóngjǐng xiā rén -
Shanghai · 06
Fried Shredded Eel 游水鱔糊
Fresh eel, cleaned and cut into thin strips, pan-fried with garlic, pepper and sesame oil, then finished with scallion greens and a spoonful of the pan sauce. Rich, but sharpened by the aromatics.
Shàn hú -
Yangzhou · 07
Fish Granules with Pine Nuts 松仁魚米
Fresh striped bass diced into small cubes and stir-fried with lightly roasted pine nuts and diced red and green peppers. A dish of controlled cutting and fast heat: the pieces have to be uniform, the wok has to be hot, and the timing has to be exact.
Sōng rén yú mǐ -
Yangzhou · 08
Yangzhou Pressed Bean Curd 揚州煮乾絲
The signature knife-work dish of Huaiyang cooking. A block of pressed bean curd is sliced by hand into hundreds of hair-fine strands and simmered in a clear chicken broth with ham and greens. Judged on the fineness of the cut.
Dà zhǔ gān sī
These are on the regular menu, every day.
Order the seven-dish set if you want to taste most of them at one table; call ahead so we can pace the kitchen.