CHINA DAILY SUNDAY, DECEMBER 04, 2011 sundayfood 13 bon appétit

EATout TEMPLE OF GASTRONOMY Th e Temple is now open, much to the It’s a very good year, delight of Beijing’s worshippers of haute cuisine. Temple Restaurant Beijing or TRB as it wants to be known, is tucked 1421 — the year the away in the Dongcheng hutongs past the National Art Museum and promises to Ming Dynasty admi- be an instant draw for the city’s gourmets. Dishes “are thoroughly 21st-century but ral Zheng He led the also fi rmly rooted in the grand traditions of the past”. You won’t need to consult an mighty Chinese fl eet oracle to know it’s going to be the fl avor of the month. — PAULINE D LOH 23 Songzhusi, Shatan Beijie, south on the fi rst Dongcheng District. Beijing 010-8400 2232 of many voyages of E-mail: [email protected] discovery. And now, STAY. SIMPLE. TABLE the same year marks another milestone. It is on the label of China’s fi rst traceable wine. Pauline D Loh tells you more. Th e capital city’s latest restaurant by a Michelin-starred chef is S.T.A.Y. or “Sim- ple Table Alleno Yannick” at the Shangri- La Hotel, Beijing. S.T.A.Y. has been chal- lenging existing benchmarks of both food and service aft er it opened in September this year. Alleno has already collected a total of fi ve Michelin stars for his culinary expertise in Paris and Marrakech and he’s obviously out to collect another in Beijing. Th e Wagyu beef, black cod and crab ravi- IN THE ADMIRAL’S SPIRIT oli are all good, but you have to save room for the signature ribbon plate of sweet nothings. Be warned. — PDL Shangri-La Hotel, Beijing, ine made in China. It suff ers the same credibility problems that other Chinese produce battles in and 29 Zizhuyuan Road, TASTING NOTES 010-6841-2211 ext 26727 out of the country. If the wine is good, connoisseurs query if it has been secretly imported and then ADMIRAL’S RESERVE E-mail: [email protected] placed in a Chinese bottle. It seems nothing the Chinese vineyards do can convince them otherwise. CHARDONNAY 2010 GLUG GLUG ... Clear pale straw in color, the Until, that is, a Hong Kong oenophile and a Chilean winemaker decided the answer is to let the world wine has the scent of limes with If you didn’t brave the crowds at the know where the grapes come from, where they are grown and who made the wine. Th e result is a pair a hint of white peach. The palate German Holiday Charity Bazaar last is refi ned and very fresh, and the weekend, you can still get a fi ne cup of of white and red that has quietly hit the market, stirring up both interest and curiosity. citrus and lesser peachy notes mulled wine at the Kempinski hotel’s balance the racy acidity that Gluhweinstand at its Paulaner Brauhaus lingers on the tongue. Terrace, 5-8 pm daily through to Dec 23. WTh e crisp fresh Chardonnay and The barcode on the bottle was and willing to follow biodynam- — MIKE PETERS the unusually cold climate influ- scanned and information started ic principles in the winemaking, 50 Liangmaqiao Road, Chaoyang District, enced Cabernet Sauvignon are now popping up on Chan’s phone, thanks to the Australian infl uence. ADMIRAL’S RESERVE Beijing 010-6465-3388 in very good company — served at zooming right to the vineyard in 1421 uses grapes that come CABERNET SAUVIGNON 2010 DESIGNER CUPPAS Beijing’s top hotels like Th e Raffl es, Xinjiang where the grapes came from vineyards sharing the same Brilliant red, the wine boasts red Th e Westin, Opposite House, Ritz from, and including a short biog- latitude as Bordeaux, and the vines and black berry fruits with some Join fellow tea connoisseurs and ama- Carlton and restaurants like the raphy of Australian Yarra Valley were brought back from France by black olive and cassis. There are teurs on a day trip to Beijing’s Maliandao venerable Maison Boulud. winemaker Sergio Carlei, the man Johnny Chan and planted about 11 underlying notes of vanilla, cedar Tea city on Dec 11. Start the late morning The other smart move Johnny who turns the juice into wine. years ago. and cigar box characters, which off with some light green teas, then a make it very interesting. Unlike Fujian-style lunch, followed by an Chan and Andronico Luksic made “The vineyards in Xinjiang are Th e cold winters also mean there the warmer climate cabernet aft ernoon of more robust teas. Tea and was to piggyback on a traceable watered by the snowmelt from are few diseases, while the warm sauvignons, this wine is lighter gift -shopping at the end of the program. products project by the Metro Tianshan, and the long cool grow- sunny days and cool crisp nights on the palate and will probably 10 am - 3 pm; 250 yuan (includes a large — MP China hypermarket group. In fact, ing season allows the grapes to provide ideal growing conditions. improve in the bottle as it ages. lunch with drinks). Metro specially commissioned mature slowly and develop the “What we are producing are Th e Hutong, 1 Jiu Dao Wan Zhong Xiang Hutong, Beijing 1421 to produce a Chardonnay and best fl avors,” says Svendsen, who is wines based on what the terroir Reservations: [email protected] a Cabernet Sauvignon to be exclu- packing up his home in Las Vegas can off er, therefore, refl ecting the jing Hotel’s Yi House restaurant or call 15901046127 sively sold under their Star Farms because he has decided he’s going to 1421’s Johnny Chan at the Xinjiang true characteristics of the wines, on Jan 16, 2012. We are pairing the Traceability System. spend the rest of his life in China. vineyard. PROVIDED TO CHINA DAILY refreshing and easy drinking to food with the Admiral’s Reserve SESAME’S SNACKS Under this system, all products He firmly believes that 1421 enhance the multi-layers of fl avors wines, and look forward to con- Cooking school Black Sesame’s gour- can be traced back to the farms or augurs well for the Chinese wine with the Grace Beijing Hotel that in food today,” Svendsen says. Th is verting more fans for the Admiral’s met class this week focuses on two simple producers through a simple smart industry, and he is committed to we got to know about the wines. It is is as good a mission statement as collection. street snacks, Chinese fl atbread and baozi. phone application. We were given promoting the wine through his also a pleasant surprise to stumble any, and we look forward to more Dec 6, 11 am- 2pm; 300 yuan. — MP a demonstration by Randy Lee regular columns in hotel trade pub- onto a wine producer who believes vintages from 1421. For more details on how to join the 3 Heizhima Hutong in Nanluoguxiang, China Daily Readers’ Club dinner, Dongcheng District Svendsen, 1421’s spokesman and lications and through his networks in traceable quality, and who col- China Daily is organizing a Read- 13691474408 Ken Chan, key operations manager within the food and wine industry. lects grapes from vineyards that are ers’ Club Dinner featuring Beijing’s please send an e-mail to RSVP: [email protected] of Beijing Summit Wines. It is through Svendsen’s contact converting to organic cultivation, organic farmers at the Grace Bei- [email protected]. www.blacksesamekitchen.com EATin WHITE, RED, ORANGE SHANGHAI At the markets, the root vegetables are at their sweetest and fattest and the best in season are white radishes, cherry radishes, watermelon radishes and the Award-winning beef noodles cross the Straits green-skinned turnips. Orange pumpkins are also in season. Th e white radishes beloved throughout By ERIC JOU is to eat at one of his two establish- IF YOU GO the country have been sweetened by the CHINA DAILY ments in Taipei. cold snap and can be used grated into sal- BEIJING APM MALL ads, or slowly braised in a warming stew Eager to try the noodle soup, I 5TH FLOOR with beef, or cooked into soup. Northern- Beef noodle soup, so simple yet enlisted the help of two of my col- ers oft en just cut the crisp white roots into 138 Wangfujing so delicious, has been escaping my leagues and we headed to Chef chunks and eat them like pears, or dipped clutches for the last two years that Hung’s Beijing location, at Wang- Dongcheng district, Beijing into the ubiquitous bean sauces. I’ve been in Beijing. In Taiwan, I’ve fujing. 70 yuan per person. Cherry radishes, the little bright red balls with snowy white fl esh and tiny tails, had the pleasure of devouring bowl Th e outlet is in a mall, and Chef are a local salad favorite. Th ey are best aft er bowl of the delicious beef soup, Hung feels like a fast food joint. eaten aft er a quick wash and trim and they but there was nothing like it in Bei- Much to my surprise there was also Overall this was our favorite bowl, add color and texture to any dish. jing. a bubble tea bar inside. I was glad and my only problem was the lack of Th e watermelon radishes are my favor- Even back home in New York to see that the homely nature of beef suan cai — but that was probably an ite vegetables this time of the year. Th eir bright red magenta centers are City, I was able to come across the noodle soup wasn’t lost in a place oversight on the server’s part. hidden underneath a thick green skin but simple mixture of braised beef in a like Wangfujing. We also liked the clear soup noo- the centers are crisp and chewy. Pickled tomato-based beef broth with noo- On the very fi rst page of the menu dles, a dish which was elegant in its with a light sprinkling of sugar and vin- suan cai egar, the watermelon radish lives up to its dles, bokchoi, and (pickled is a list of Chef Hung’s championship ERIC JOU / CHINA DAILY simplicity. Chinese cabbage), but in Beijing the bowls, the very recipes which won Th e red roasted beef noodle soup name and are great palate cleansers that Chef Hung’s clear beef noodle soup is the universal favorite. refresh and add color to the heavy foods closest thing to it had been at the him consecutive titles at Taiwan’s was least appreciated and was the of winter. My husband keeps the scrubbed fast-food chains of Yonghe King and beef noodle soup competition. beef noodle soups. All the bowls My other two colleagues, who had only bowl we left unfi nished. green skin, pickles them and crunches the Goody House, and both ver- We ordered the Champion Beef on the front page were priced at 58 never tried authentic Taiwanese beef Despite Chef Hung’s claims that them up as snacks. sions were only mediocre on their Shank with Noodle in Soup, a tra- yuan ($9), which is very expensive noodle soup other than the instant no monosodium glutamate (MSG) Pumpkins, advertising their beta- best days. ditional red roasted noodle soup, for a bowl of noodle soup in Tai- noodle version, were immediately was used, I still felt a tingly aft ertaste. carotene content boldly and brightly, are also cheap and plentiful. Steam them in Chef Hung Jinlong, chef and a bowl of the Champion Beef Bris- wan where the average bowl of beef awestruck by the natural beefi ness Overall, it was pleasant to see how chunks, cut them up for a stir fry or make founder of Chef Hung, an award- ket in clear soup, a simple clear noodle soups is only NT$ 150 ($5). of the broth and the springy nature Chef Hung has replicated the fl avors them into a creamy soup. You can’t go winning Taiwanese noodle beef beef broth, and a bowl of Cham- We also ordered a Taiwan street of the noodles. from Taiwan in Beijing. wrong with pumpkins. soup chain, hopes to fi ll the void in pion Braised Beef in Tomato Soup, a food staple, xianshuji (Taiwan-style We rated the tomato-based soup You can also get to taste other — PAULINE D LOH Beijing. more authentic Taiwanese-style beef crisp-fried chicken chop). the best, and personally I found it to favorites like luroufan (Taiwanese At the opening in November, noodle soup. Th e bowls arrived promptly and taste the most like what Taiwanese braised pork rice). If you are in the For organic supplies, visit World Heath Stores at Shunyi and Dongda-qiao which Hung said he is bringing his winning Th ere was one more bowl on the were very good portions. Each bowl beef noodle soup should be. neighborhood, drop in for a taste. stock produce from De Run Wu Farm. broths and noodles to the Chinese front page, the award-winning beef was filled to the brim with beefy Th e beef was also braised to melt- Th e farm off ers greens in season as well as mainland completely unchanged, shank, tendon and tripe soup, but broth and the servings of beef were ingly tender, much like the pork You may contact the writer at organic eggs, rice and tofu. E-mail: jiyun- offering patrons a taste of what it we were going for the tried-and-true more than adequate. found in Japanese pork bone ramen. [email protected]. [email protected] or call 139-1189-3712.