22 | Friday, February 1, 2019 HONG KONG EDITION | CHINA DAILY LIFE Eat beat Gallery gears up Tabletop traditions for holiday season Different regions in China have their own delicacies for Spring Festival. Li Yingxue checks out restaurants in the capital that offer specialities from around the country. wenty­third, eat the His version uses black fungus, sticky candy; 24th, clean mushrooms, day lilies and bamboo As the Year of the Pig draws near, the house; 25th, fry the shoots. chef Martin Aw Yong and his culi­ tofu; 26th, stew the lamb; “Eight­treasure” rice pudding is nary brigade have crafted two T27th, butcher the rooster; 28th, leav­ another indispensable Shanghain­ special menus of auspicious dish­ en the dough; 29th, steam the buns; ese dish. es prepared with premium meats and 30th, stay up all night. Zhu has designed a family­dinner and seafood, along with wine­ So goes a Beijing folk song that menu that adds a bit of modernity to pairing options, for Feb 4 at The describes how people prepare for the traditional annual feast. Gallery. Lychee black tea, water­ Spring Festival, starting from the chestnut rice pudding, “eight­ 23rd day of the 12th lunar month. Cantonese cuisine treasure” radish pudding and Most of the activities revolve around Hong Kong chef Benson Fok has “golden mandarin” lucky choco­ food. been working in kitchens for more late are on offer. The Lunar New Year’s Eve family­ than four decades. He previously 3F, No 2 Jianguomenwai Street, reunion dinner is the celebrations’ worked for hotels and restaurants in Chaoyang district, Beijing. main event. People from different such Asian countries as Indonesia, 010­8567­1567. areas have different traditions for Singapore and the Philippines. that special meal. He was appointed as executive Northerners eat dumplings. chef of Ming Court restaurant in Celebrate with Shanghainese stew meats with egg Beijing at the end of last year. Cantonese fare dumplings. People in Guangdong And he’s bringing one of Canton­ and Hong Kong enjoy pencai, or ese cuisine’s most traditional dishes, poon choi, which literally translates poon choi, to Beijing’s Spring Festi­ as food served in small basins, as the val celebrations. main dish. All symbolize auspicious Poon choi is believed to date to the meanings. Song Dynasty (960­1279). It’s said to Many Beijing restaurants are originate in the walled villages of breaking out their best traditional Hong Kong’s New Territories. recipes for holiday delicacies from The ingredients usually include around the country. China Daily pork, beef, lamb, chicken, duck, aba­ looks at a few top spots for festival lone, ginseng, fish maw, prawns, Chef Ho Hau Yuen brings over 20 fare in Beijing. crabs, dried mushrooms, squid, years of culinary experience to dried eel, dried shrimp and pigskin. the Chinese restaurant Jia with Beijing cuisine “The ingredients of poon choi are his approach to classic Cantonese Country Kitchen’s executive chef becoming more plentiful every cooking that he calls “new Can­ Chai Xin’s Spring Festival dinner year,” Fok says. tonese palates”. Ho has his ver­ menu is inspired by his childhood “When it started in the walled vil­ sion of poon choi, traditional memories of Beijing’s hutong (tradi­ lages, people had limited access to Cantonese­style roast suckling pig tional alleyways). fresh ingredients. But now we only and rice dumplings. He still recalls wandering around use premium ingredients.” No 2A Jiangtai Road, Chaoyang and setting off firecrackers with his The dish traditionally took three district, Beijing. 010­5926­8281. friends on Lunar New Year’s Eve days to prepare. The first day was when he was a child. spent collecting firewood in the Xiagong combines “My grandma would stew a pot of mountains. The second was spent classic cuisines meat and prepare equal numbers of preparing fresh ingredients. On the cold and hot dishes for the dinner,” third day, people would first cook Chai says. the ingredients separately and then He prepares braised mutton with stew them together. soy sauce in old Beijing style for the Fok takes more than a week to feast. The mutton is boiled on a low make his version, which uses at least fire for two to three hours and then 18 ingredients. is marinated in the soup for another “Each ingredient has a separate five hours. It’s next sliced and deep­ cooking method and takes a differ­ fried to seal in the juices and aroma. ent amount of time to prepare. For Xiagong combines classic Can­ Pig­trotter jelly and black­chicken instance, dried abalone must be tonese and light Huaiyang cui­ feet with pickled garlic are tradi­ Clockwise from top: Beijing chef Chai Xin designs a northern­style Spring Festival family­reunion soaked for a week, and shrimp has sines. Executive chef Kenny Chan tional cold dishes. dinner for the coming Year of the Pig; “Eight­treasure” rice pudding; quanjiafu, a stew of various meats to be panfried before it’s stewed.” has designed a special menu for Chai recalls that his grandmoth­ and vegetables; sixi (four­festive­ingredients) baked bran; poon choi, a traditional Cantonese dish for The ingredients are placed in the the Lunar New Year family­reun­ er would put the stewed pig skin festival dinners. PHOTOS PROVIDED TO CHINA DAILY basin layer by layer. Those that can ion dinner with his own crea­ and soup in a bowl in the kitchen, withstand intense boiling, such as tions. His quanjiafu, which which had no heating, and the radishes and lotus roots, are placed translates as “family portrait”, is pork­trotter jelly would be ready Shanghainese cuisine chicken, pork and vegetables. on the bottom. And the bamboo made of boiled egg dumplings the next day. Chef Zhu Haifeng will not return “The soup ... is really tasty because shoots and taro are added before the with pork, shrimp, homemade His restaurant is adding chilled to his hometown to celebrate Spring it has so many ingredients,” Zhu says. meat. fish balls and vegetables, and a hawthorns to this year’s menu to Festival with his family for the sec­ “We also put egg dumplings on “The more valuable the ingredi­ fried crispy prawn with fruit bring an authentic northern­style ond consecutive year since he I will make the top.” ent is, the higher the layer it occu­ sauce that symbolizes good luck. experience to the festival’s meals. opened his Shanghainese­cuisine dumplings in two Traditionally, cold dishes are eat­ pies,” Fok says. No 1 Jianguomenwai Street, Dumplings are a must for the big restaurant, Wulixiang, in the capital. en before hot dishes during the The dish also has to be tasted layer Chaoyang district, Beijing. meal and are prepared before mid­ “We traditionally make egg colors — gold and Lunar New Year’s Eve dinner. The by layer, without mixing the ingredi­ 010­6505­2266. night to eat on the first day of Lunar dumplings in Shanghai,” Zhu says. sliver — to stew is served last. ents, from the meat at the top down New Year to bring good luck. “We hold raw egg in spoons and represent wishes Zhu says the sixi (four­festive­in­ to the vegetables at the bottom. Sifang Sanchuan Chai prepares dumplings filled heat it while adding meat fillings. gredients) baked bran is the most “The best part of poon choi,” Fok with baby cabbage, glass noodles, The most­fun part is folding it with that my customers common cold dish on every Shang­ says, “is the atmosphere of the offers Sichuan treats eggs and black fungus. your hand while holding it on the become wealthy.” hainese table. whole family gathered around the “I will make the dumplings in two spoon.” “It’s interesting that every family pot to eat it.” colors — gold and sliver — to repre­ The main dish is quanjiafu, which Chai Xin, executive chef of has its own sixi baked bran recipe sent wishes that my customers translates as whole family portrait. Country Kitchen and believes theirs is the most deli­ Contact the writer at become wealthy,” he says. It’s a stew of such ingredients as fish, cious,” he says. [email protected] Sifang Sanchuan is offering three Eating around the sun throughout the year set menus for families to cele­ brate Lunar New Year with a touch of authentic Sichuan flavor. By LI YINGXUE osmanthus and butterfly­pea seeds The restaurant’s signature dishes, to conjure a fragrance like that of such as the sifang crisp luffa and The ancient Chinese created the the blooming of flowers as the ice sanchuan garoupa, are on offer. 24 solar terms to guide agricultural melts. 2F Mercedes me, No 1 South activities based on changes in the For Lesser Fullness, Hartono has Sanlitun Road, Chaoyang climate and natural phenomena created a unique blend of whisky district, Beijing. 010­8588­7150. that greatly influenced many and barley tea served in traditional aspects of daily life, including food, Chinese bottle gourds, representing clothing and festivals. the harvest season’s bounty. A French twist to The solar terms were inscribed on “I’ve learned the details and Lunar New Year UNESCO’s Representative List of the meanings of the 24 solar terms, and Intangible Cultural Heritage of I also read Chinese stories, such as Humanity in 2016, renewing interest Three food­and­beverage estab­ Romance of the Three Kingdoms and in the tradition. lishments — The Red Chamber, Journey to the West, to get inspira­ Three food­and­beverage estab­ The Lounge and Atmosphere — tion for creating cocktails with Chi­ lishments — The Red Chamber, The join forces to create a food­and­ nese elements,” Hartono says.