China led the 2016 Asia’s 50 Best Restaurants awards with 13 eateries on the list, which was announced in Bangkok at the end of February. Shanghai chef Tony Lu once again made the list, this time for his Shanghai Buddhist vegetarian restaurant Fu He Hui, at No. 18 – the only Chinese restaurant from mainland China to be featured.
Check-in Asia was lucky to interview the media-shy chef in 2013 about his background and inspiration. The below excerpt was part of a feature for our client Mandarin Oriental Shanghai, Pudong, and was published in global MO Magazine to coincide with the opening of Yong Yi Ting, the hotel’s signature Chinese restaurant for which Tony Lu is Chef Consultant.
Shanghai Born, Cantonese Trained
Like many young chefs in his hometown of Shanghai, Lu went into the business as a boy with no greater expectations than to learn a trade and make a modest living. The job of a chef has traditionally been considered a lowly one in China and, even today, Chinese chefs of the finest restaurants are rarely known outside their steamy kitchens. Tony Lu is becoming a notable exception.
He credits a perfectionist streak and “jumping from here to there” without the traditional influence of a mentor, known as a ‘shifu’, that gave him the freedom to forge his own unique path. After years of working in Cantonese restaurants (his fluent Cantonese was learnt in Mainland kitchens), he was ultimately drawn to the cuisines he grew up with. “I believed we could offer a more memorable experience by bringing together great food, ambiance, professional service and a good wine list,” Lu remembers. He partnered in his first high-end Shanghai-style restaurant at the age of 30.
Today, at just 37 years, he oversees five acclaimed restaurants, one of which was named on San Pellegrino’s ‘Asia’s 50 Best Restaurants’ in 2013 – the only Chinese establishment to be included from Shanghai. The judges described Fu1015, which is housed in a heritage villa styled to evoke a 1930s private Shanghai residence, as being “sophisticated yet understated; refined without being overwrought or fussy”.
When Mandarin Oriental was looking for a talent to headline its signature Chinese restaurant Yong Yi Ting in Shanghai, Chef Lu was an obvious candidate. And in a bold departure from most hotel restaurants in the city that tend to stick with the widely known Cantonese or Sichuan flavours, locally inspired cuisine was the definitive focus.
The Secrets of Shanghai Cuisine
Beyond its famous soup dumplings, Shanghai cuisine sometimes gets a bad rap, dismissed as overly sweet and laden with oily sauces. It can be so in lesser hands. It bears remembering that China’s most cosmopolitan city was a simple fishing village until the early 20th century. Lu counts only about 20 dishes that can be authentically attributed to Shanghai. Like the city itself, Shanghai’s cuisine is a melting pot of regional and international influences that is constantly evolving.
Fortunately, Shanghai lies in the midst of a fertile delta – classically known in China as the ‘home of fish and rice’ – and the neighbouring cities of Hangzhou, Suzhou, Shaoxing, Wuxi and Ningbo (where Lu’s grandparents hail from) have their own rich culinary heritages. Lu calls upon all of these at Yong Yi Ting, collectively defined as Jiangnan, or literally ‘south of the Yangtze River’ cuisine.
On his menu, he stays true to the classical preparations of many of the dishes, with the occasional suggestion of creative license that seems to win over even the most ardent traditionalists. His light-of-touch approach allows the region’s exemplary freshwater fish and seafood and plethora of seasonal vegetables to shine through as they deserve. The more intense flavours of the region – usually involving red-braised sauces rich with soy, star anise and orange skin – rather than drowning out the fresh ingredients, are sparingly rethought to give extra zing.
The heavy, silk-embossed menu can be a tad daunting. Twenty-five appetisers and 13 soups, and that’s before you get to some of the more challenging ingredients for foreign diners, like sea cucumber and cordyceps. (Hint: the latter is a type of parasitic fungi revered for its medicinal benefits in Traditional Chinese Medicine. It sounds alarming but it makes a very tasty double-boiled chicken soup.)
Restyling Culinary Traditions
Fortunately our smiling waitress was ready to assist with recommendations as to what’s in prime season and which are Shanghai must-tries. The crispy pomfret, a tower of golden-fried fish pieces, is a rendition of a popular Shanghai household appetiser. Instead of the usual black carp, a river fish that is tasty but riddled with bones that, for the uninitiated, have a tendency to lodge painfully in the roof of your mouth, Lu uses deliciously light pomfret. Not a single bone disrupts the joy of crunching through the warm, sweet-soy exterior. We devoured it right down to the fried fish tail – that was not unlike a particularly tasty potato crisp.
A cold appetizer of soy braised mushrooms with mustard greens contrasts firm black mushroom caps that ooze dark soy juices as you bite into them, with fingers of fresh green bok choy that look pretty and innocuous on the plate, but cut through with a surprising wasabi bite.
The Braised boneless beef rib arrives on a clay plate looking deceptively dark and rustic. Lu’s play on Shanghai’s best-known dish, red-braised pork, swaps fatty pork belly with a boneless beef rib, braised for hours so that the meat is meltingly tender. Lin’an hickories, a walnut-like kernel native to nearby Tianmu Mountain, provide a crunchy contrast to the soft flesh. It’s a lighter taste than its appearance suggests, and pairs wonderfully with a gutsy 2009 Chateau Haut Barrail from Bordeaux, recommended by Yong Yi Ting’s suave sommelier.
Out visit happily coincided with hairy crab season. Locals go crazy for these tiny crustaceans that are at their prime between October and December. Get past the hairy legs and finicky extraction process, and their delicate meat and rich nugget of bright orange roe is superb. At Yong Yi Ting, all the hard work is done for you and the precious morsels infuse an entire menu of decadent dishes, like Chilled hairy crabmeat with vinegar jelly and ginger sauce, and Steamed hairy crab cream in a whole orange with Shaoxing rice wine. We chose the rather non-traditional Baked hairy crab soufflé of dainty filo pastry encasing a creamy crab-scented filling, delicately puffed to perfection.
Shanghai-Style Dim Sum
Just like the food, Yong Yi Ting’s design maintains its classic Chinese demeanour, shot through with fresh inspiration. There’s not a red tassel or lazy susan in sight. A huge cluster of glowing white clay lanterns announces your arrival. It’s an arresting sight as you pass through the restaurant bar area, lined on one side with a towering wine wall housing the restaurant’s extensive wine cellar.
The main dining room is a vision of soft cream with scarlet accents. Lattice screens and hanging strips of transparent silk, delicately embroidered with the crimson outline of a fire-breathing dragon, are beautiful nods to Chinese culture. Slate walls, red eel-skin upholstery and feature gold chains hanging from the ceiling are a cool departure.
By daylight, the tropical sunken garden visible through soaring windows adds another dimension to the dining room. But there’s an even better reason to return in the daytime. Since opening, Yong Yi Ting has been getting rave reviews for its Shanghai-style dim sum, the full menu of which is served at lunchtimes only.
The evening menu offers a smaller sampling of self-titled ‘Exquisite Dim Sum’. I was eager to try the Wuxi style steamed pork dumplings, a cousin of Shanghai’s delicate dumpling parcels filled with a soy-laced broth and meat for an extra umami kick. If you like to finish on a sweet note, you’re in luck too. Chef Lu’s Chinese inspired desserts tends toward the indulgent – like a homemade ice cream flavoured with Shanghai’s own milky ‘White Rabbit’ candies and served with sugar-dusted doughnut sticks, a play on the popular local breakfast food.
The post 2016 Asia’s 50 Best Restaurants: In Conversation with Tony Lu appeared first on Check in Asia.
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