That Epic Casserole

I could only count with one hand of a meal as memorable as this in recent times when we went back to this secret spot in Sheung Wan for a feast with some friends. It’s been around a year since my last visit, and the first time CYY managed to make it to this unmissable place for the first time since they moved to its current location.

As usual, our friend RC sorted out the menu with Chef Tak Chow and also arranged for the wine list and pairing – all we needed to do is to get the wines and show up. Snake soup is my favorite dish at this place, but as we were not yet in the season for it, we tried quite a few dishes that were new to us here instead. This evening we began with the Bird’s Nest Meringue Cake, with braised bird’s nest, egg white and crab meat shaped into a “flat quenelle” and gently seared for the light and delicate flavor.

The stir-fried “prawn” looked simple and straight forward, but in fact it’s probably one of the more time-consuming dishes and took great skills on the wok to perfect. Vegetables were thinly julienned, and prawns were deshelled, minced and piped into thin strips in the same width of the vegetables. All the ingredients were then quickly stir-fried, and finally topped with toasted almonds, so in every spoonful there’s a good combination of different textures and flavors all came into play in one bite – the crunchy vegetables with the bouncy prawns and the smoky nuts. Our next course was the crab claws, and this time it’s dusted with a light batter mixed with salt and white pepper and deep-fried.

The “Buddha Jumps Over the Wall” casserole was very much the main reason we gather for dinner this evening. This pinnacle of Southern Chinese cuisine made use of all ingredients considered exquisite in classic cooking and combined into one dish, and we have never had a better version of such than one served by Chef Tak here. And this time we went for the original, full-fledged version using the ingredient which must not be named, and the rest of the premium ingredients – abalones, fish maw and sea cucumbers – came in amazing portions too. But my favorite bit was the pork and the sauce, which took in all the good flavors from the cooking – and they were perfect with a bowl of rice mixed in like a risotto. I could just have that and called it a satisfying meal.

The comforting taste of duck, conch shell and yam soup was served as a good palate cleanser after the rich casserole, then it’s a pair of steamed wild sole. We counted ourselves lucky to have not only one but two of this wild-caught fish, and the best part was the delicate meat near to the skirt with extra soft tissues. The salt-baked chicken was perfectly cooked with the well-marinated and slightly crispy skin with plenty of offal bits offered on the side. The pea shoot was perhaps my least liked dish of the evening – the vegetables were slightly overcooked but it’s somewhat compensated by the rich crab sauce poured on top, with a mix of freshly picked crab meat and roes.

We finished with the “water crab congee” as the last savory course. The soft-shell brackish crabs caught in the river delta region nearby were perfect for congee, taking in all the fresh umami flavor from the young crabs. Red bean soup was a common dessert offered in just about any Cantonese restaurant, but this is one of the very best I have had, with perfect sweetness, smooth texture and that subtle but noticeable hint of aged mandarin peel flavor that made all the difference.  

Went with an amazing array of wines with good varieties and they all worked well with the dishes. Most impressive with the pair of Meusault, similar age but by different winemakers, both exceptional by all means and worked perfectly well with the seafood dishes in the beginning of the meal. Not often would we be able to say the one by Maison LeRoy came up second best but this is one of those nights when it went head to head with one by Arnaud Ente which ran away from the start, with intense nose of violet and orchard, ripe stone fruit and some citrus acidity on the palate and such long and pleasant finish that rhymed almost as long as that unforgettable sauce of the casserole in the mouth.

More photos here: https://www.flickr.com/photos/g4gary/albums/72157711721170613

When? November 8 2019

Where? SBI Kitchen, Mercer Street, Sheung Wan, Hong Kong

Menu Highlights? "Buddha Jumps Over the Wall" Casserole

Drinks?

2009 Champagne Dehours et Fils Lieux Dit "Maisoncelle" Extra Brut

Champagne Vouette et Sorbee Fidele (Harvested 2015, Disgorged 2017)

2000 Champagne Henri Giraud Grand Cru D'Ay Fut de Chene Brut

2010 Domaine Arnaud Ente Meursault Clos des Ambres

2011 Maison Leroy Meursault 1er Cru Blagny 

Remy Martin Louis XIII Cognac

2009 Vincent Dauvissat Chablis Grand Cru "Les Preuses"

1995 Domaine Zind-Humbrecht Pinot Gris Clos Jebsal, Alsace