All the wonders of Wenzhou

GREETING DINERS at the Shangri-La Hotel Bangkok’s Shang Palace restaurant this week along with the big gilded “Happy Buddha” surrounded by dancing children is a life-size cardboard cut-out of visiting chef Stephen Zou. They’re both auspicious signs.

Zou is on loan from the Shang Palace at the Shangri-La Yangzhou to introduce Bangkok palates to the cuisine of his hometown, Wenzhou on China’s southeast coast.

Seafood naturally predominates in Wenzhou cooking, and Zou is adept at maintaining both the natural flavour and its nutritional content in the eight a-la-carte dishes he’s added to the menu.

The Bangkok restaurant can seat 300 diners and also has five private rooms trimmed with latticework and lovely glass features. Crimson and gold hues offset the celestial pattern on the carpet, the red mock-Tang Dynasty chairs and the canopy of crystal chandeliers. Hand-painted silk murals of flowers and birds draw the gaze.

Apart from the bounty of the sea, Wenzhou is also famed for duck’s tongue, so an immediate must-try is the Marinated Duck Tongue with Special Sauce (Bt350). The meat rests in a “secret” soybean sauce before being steamed for hours to soften it. 

Marinated Bean Curd (Bt170), a chilled dish, comprises four hunks of soft and tender bean curd topped with XO sauce, salted yolk, spring onions and olives for an astonishing gamut of tastes. “These toppings are popular with Wenzhou people and they make for a colourful presentation as well,” says Zou, who learned his trade from celebrity chef Huayun Qiu at a particular restaurant back home that’s regarded as “the cradle of Wenzhou cuisine”.

Double-boiled Quail Eggs and Minced Prawn Soup with Mushroom and Ham (Bt230) |also features the light flavours of ginseng and goji berries, while prawn powdered with Chinese tapioca flour and then beaten thin lend a jelly-like texture.

Braised Sea Cucumbers and Wonton with Soy Sauce (Bt2,200) is also delightful with the sea cucumber cooked to softness and wok-fried with a rich sauce, bamboo shoots, ginger, mushrooms, spring onions, carrots and broccoli. The deep-fried wonton, stuffed with seasoned minced pork, is wonderfully crisp.

Zou’s signature dish is Steamed Rice with Yellow Croaker (Bt220), using a fish widely available along the shore of the East China Sea. Served as a piping-hot casserole, the fish fillets sit on steamed rice seasoned with soy sauce, spring onions and chopped chillies. The tender fish flesh is aromatic to both nose and mouth and the all the ingredients combine beautifully.

There are three other dishes I didn’t get to try, to my chagrin – Stewed Shredded Yellow Croaker with Tonic Wine (Bt250), Braised Prawns with Ginseng (Bt810) and Steamed Fresh Blue Crab with Pork Ribs (Bt2,300).

Zou perhaps believes you should skip dessert, but others will invariably disagree, and there are all sorts of choices on offer in the regular menu. The chilled options include Mango Sago with Pomelo Ice Cream and Ice Bean Curd with Fruit Salad. Warmer possibilities are Rice Dumplings in Ginger Tea and Sweetened White Fungus Tea with Gingko Nuts. Each of these costs Bt180.

And you won’t want to go without tea, an integral part of any traditional Chinese meal. Shang Palace has a large variety proffered from a trolley, and Chinese white wine, cognac and bourbon are available too.

 

ONE WEEK ONLY

Stephen Zou’s Wenzhou cuisine is available through October 18. 

Shang Palace is on the third floor of the Shangri-La Bangkok Hotel and serves lunch Monday through Saturday from 11.30 to 2.30 and Sundays from 11 to 3, and dinner daily from 6.30 to 10.30.

Book your table at (02) 236 9952 or www.BangkokRiversideDining.com.