Another eye-opening meal awaited at Fumee not far away from
where we stayed for the evening. Through door at the entrance on the side of
the stone and wood façade inside the lower level of an office building in
Nanshan District on the west side of Shenzhen, we were led into our seats at
the long bar counter in front of the kitchen studio, where part chefs, part
owners Janet and David and their teamwork and where culinary magic was created.
With the natural style décor with dark wooden color theme, I felt like sitting
in a modern hut in the forest but with a soft ocean breeze, well suited for the
contemporary cooking style using ingredients from land and sea that Chef Janet specializes at.
The well curated tasting menu told an amazing story,
starting from the sea then slowly moving inlands with increasing intensity in
flavor, like a symphony in four movements. We started with something brisk and
lively, like a prelude. Braised abalone was served on top of a seaweed crisp
garnished with edible flowers; the sphere-shaped kanpachi tartare brighten up the
mood with sharp color and flavor, with the acidity from kimchi and sweetness
from berries mixing well with the umami flavor of the mildly cured fish. What’s
described as mushroom and razor clam was the last of the trio, with the tartlet
shell made with yuba (or beancurd sheet), and on top, sauteed mushrooms from
Yunnan, toasted peanuts, razor clams, and finished with freshly grated truffles
from the nice land-and-sea flavor. If one dig deeper, they would find more in
this little finger snack, with subtle ingredients like thai basil, or
caramelized pine nuts, each adding to the complex flavor and texture profiled,
and foretelling what was to come in the later courses.
Two types of bread were served – the Asian style Mantou
(steamed rice flour bun) was filled with air-fried eel while the brioche (done
with 50% butter, we were told) was baked with hint of salted lemon flavor and
served with whipped namyu (red fermented tofu) butter on the side. We continued
with the seafood theme in a series of dishes marked under “Chapter 1” on the
menu. First the seasonal matsuba kani (snow crab) served cold with yuzu jelly
on top and pear brunoise at the bottom. Love the umami flavor from the crab meat
picked fresh, but what made the dish shine was the use of herbs and spices,
including Mitsuba, lemongrass and litsea (mountain peppers) giving it a subtle fragrance.
Turning into something richer flavor was the “Fish of the Day”, that is local
star grouper with the fillet grilled skin-on stove top with the bright green pine-leaf
mayo underneath and daikon shavings on top. The dish was briefly smoked with
pinewood hence there’s the distinct aromatic smoke to go with the smoky flavor
in the ingredients. A piece of French oyster was served in a broth steeped with
local hard clams with white peppers and pumpkin seed oil. The hearty broth with
white pepper reminded me of the Chiuchow style soup perfect for winter and kept
us warm.
More seafood dishes were coming in Chapter 2, but they are
more expressive and showed some personal style by the Sichuan-born chef Janet.
The piece of Akamutsu (blackthroat seaperch) fillet was pan-fried and served
like a chazuke with a twist (or soupy risotto, depends on how you see it), with
sticky rice mixed with daikon cut into mini brunoise. The dab of yuzu-kosho on
top gave it a nice kick. The lobster was served two ways, with the tail
pan-seared and the rest turned into mousse, stuffed into pumpkin flower and deep-fried
(Italian fritti style). On the side was the bell pepper “flower” and a sauce
inspired by the “Gwai Wei” flavor, a complex sauce combining all the classic
Sichuan flavor with prawn broth base and soybean paste. There were the distinct combination of Chinese
and western elements there and it was amazingly delicious. We finished this
chapter with a palate cleanser, a tomato water sorbet topped with jasmine tea espuma
and accented by the sanxi aromatic liquor (fen chiew) with the nice floral
aroma.
Chapter 3 brought us to the high point of the menu in terms
of intensity with a few meat dishes, with wild forest being the inspirations. The
pigeon leg was stuffed inside the duck liver sausage, seasoned with Sichuan pepper
and slightly smoked with cinnamon and lavender. The meat jus was reduced with
black vinegar and Shaoxing yellow wine for the nice combo of sweetness and acidity.
On the side was a piece of porcini with a smear of coffee-liver sauce. I love
the earthy flavor done with a elegant touch. The second meat course was beef,
with the piece of Miyura Wagyu tenderloin served with cheese crisp, pickled
vegetable “soil”, Puning soybean sauce and grilled peanut shoots and vegetables
on the side. The dish was executed perfectly with interesting fusion combinations;
I even like the dish that was used to serve too, a nice round plate glazed and
fired in traditional Shino-style, consistent with the rustic and delicate characters
this course showed. We ended the savory courses with a bang, or in our case, “biang”.
The pasta course was the spiciest of all, with the flat wide noodles inspired
by Sichuan “Biang biang” noodles tossed with the sauce made with tomatillo and
plenty of pickled peppers and chilies – guess you could call this a Sichuan
salsa with a nice kick.
Guess it was Chef Janet’s intention to bring much heat in
our last savory course to lead in to the dessert – that certainly made the dishes
tasted extra sweet. Quite a few coursed of dessert were served as our finale
chapter. The piece of seasonal persimmon was served with hawthorn jelly and rice
wine lees, then it’s a taste of forest, with black truffle gelato, yogurt and
pistachio cream. We finished with a few bite-sized snacks including the meringue
tart with coconut sorbet, pear jelly (with pear puree inside and shaped like a
pear), chocolate truffle with white almond filling (inspired by the Cantonese
white almond cream sweet soup) and along the same thinking, the black sesame
madeleine.
The meal was impressive in so many dimensions – starting from
the whole concept and décor (kudos to owner David with his vision), to the unique
culinary ideas by the young chef Janet combining her own personal journey and
experiences, to the teamwork showed as they worked through the courses in the
open kitchen like a well-oiled machine. This is one fine example of how the
culinary scene in Shenzhen has involved so much in the last few years with the
influx of talents and ideas from within China and around the world, and I am
glad to have a glimpse of this through this one fine meal. This trip truly just keeps on giving.
When? January 13 2024
Where? Fumée, 3/F Hanking Center, 9968 Shennan Road, Nanshan District, Shenzhen, Guangdong Province
Menu Highlights? Mayura Wagyu, Sichuan Pepper, Puning Bean Paste
Drinks?
Champagne Pertois-Moriset "Les Quatre Terroirs" Blanc de Blancs NV
2021 Crystallum Clay Shales Chardonnay, Walker Bay, South Africa
2016 Mon Tirius "Le Clos" Vacqueyras AOC, France
Web: (Instagram) www.instagram.com/fumeerestaurant
No comments :
Post a Comment