Unbottling Shaoxing's culinary palate pleaser
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Chilled yellow wine chicken. [Photo by Richard Whiddington/chinadaily.com.cn] |
Zhu is proud of the restaurant's tradition of training budding Zhejiang chefs and after tasting the accompanying cold dish, a chilled yellow wine chicken, it is little wonder why. Fresh, locally sourced ingredients are central to everything Zhu oversees at the restaurant.
"We use local Yue chickens and prepare the dish in the traditional method of marinating the chicken and covering it for two days."
Having been steamed, carefully cut and salted two days prior, the meat is perfectly tender and maintains a lightness that seems improbable given the logic of having soaked in alcohol for 48 hours. Certainly,the chicken is more tipsy than drunk.
As for the diners, it goes without saying that no serious Shaoxing meal is complete without a glass of local brew. In winter, wine is presented inside a traditional ceramic pot that is warmed to keep the worst of the season at bay- locals swear by the medicinal benefits of yellow wine and several Shaoxing-based producers openly hope to convince consumers that daily consumption should be a part of a healthy diet.
As Chinese alcohols go, yellow wine accompanies food far more smoothly than its big brother, baijiu. Perhaps this is connected to the relatively lower alcohol content (13-16%, as opposed to 40-60%) that leads to sipping not slugging.
Whereas baijiu so often seems to render table fodder a lukewarm sideshow, yellow wine quietly embellishes flavors and its dry variety beautifully pairs Shaoxing Hotel's crispy lake fish, one that resembles the original muse for bad Chinese takeaway fry-ups gone right. Sprinkled with pine nuts and served in a tangy tomato sauce, Chef Zhu claims the dish to be one of the most popular with the out-of-towners.
However, the most pleasant surprise of the meal is saved till dessert. Most foreigners view the course as the gaping vacuum in China's culinary armory, but most foreigners haven't tasted Shaoxing Hotel's tang yuan in sweet yellow wine. Tang yuan are savory glutinous rice balls and they arrive in slightly sweet egg congee topped with osmanthus flowers, delicate flavors that round the meal off with a soft diminuendo.
The last course to arrive is a platter laden with a cornucopia of fruit and, though a somewhat perverse desire, the intoxicated section of your taste buds hopes they come infused with some Shaoxing spirit.
Although the north/south divide in modern China has lessened in ferocity, Shaoxing locals continue to cherish an expression capable of repelling condescending northerners; neither the northeast tiger nor the northwest wolf can out-drink the small Shaoxing sheep.
The putdown humorously captures the folly of braggadociosnortherners who lose face through underestimating the potency of yellow wine. But undoubtedly, the hope remains among Shaoxing's slow stepping stone bridges and meandering canals that with a little more culinary appreciation, rice wine can help to bring the two closer together.
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