Interesting Dishes:
Course #1 - Suckling Pig
I've had suckling pig before, and never really realized how good it was. The skin was perfectly taut and crisp, while the 1:1 ratio of fat to meat made for a succulent bite that practically required some licking to capture the piggy juices that kinda oozed all over your lips... Great dish to start off my China trip '09. Very much food porn, hehe
Course #2 - Pepper Battered Fried Tofu
I've always been kinda iffy on fried tofu dishes, because the outside is so nice and flavorful but when you get into the center, it's always just bland in comparison. The crust to this was very aromatic, definitely had peppercorns group in and the szechuan (si chuan, for those real chinese speakers here) pepper brought some nice heat too. Yielded to a very tender and moist interior.
Course #8 - Blue Crab and Rice Soup
[I'm naming this blue crab because of the little flippers; someone told me blue crabs have them?] This was a soup of very typical chinese flavors to me, ginger, scallion, fresh seafood. The rice in the bottom was a pleasant surprise. Unfortunately, the rice didn't really soak up the flavor, it was kinda just waterlogged. It's the difference between cooking the rice in the broth and cooking the rice and then putting it into the broth, I think.
Course #9 - Eel Over Tofu
At first, I was really surprised by how firm the eel was. I thought it was overcooked, my sister C said that's just the way eel is. But it was pretty hard for a fish. Anyways, the eel flavor was still pretty fresh, the juices mixing with the sweet soy sauce made for a good tofu sauce.
Course #10 - Abalone in Soy and Scallions
This was one of the major lowlights (highlights->lowlights?) of the meal. Abalone, in itself, is a pretty expensive piece of meat and this preparation kinda screwed it over. The abalone was tough, rubbery, you couldn't taste the light sweetness that is its distinctive flavor.
Course #12 - Two Whole Steamed Fish
This will probably be my only time talking about this preparation of fish in China, it's just so ubiquitous. Very fresh fish, steamed to perfection, lightly doused in sweet soy sauce with shreds of scallion and ginger on top. Absolutely delicious. Common, but nevertheless, delicious. (I also will almost never have the name of the fish, seeing as how they were all in chinese -.-)
Other Courses included:
-pumpkin and taro stew (commonly done, this one was done poorly, not tender enough, flavors didn't meld completely, probably a rush job)
-snap pea, cashew, and chicken stirfry (nothing special)
-water spinach with fermented tofu (done so often, it's hard to screw up)
-shrimp in japanese mayo (kinda random, the mayo was gloppy and kinda nasty)
-chicken, bell pepper, pineapple in sweet and sour (okay, you can find it in the USA pretty easily though
-Chinese "BBQ" chicken (it was an organic, "walking chicken". That's what they call chickens that aren't raised using methods like abusive american poultry producers.)
All in all, a decent meal. A good way to start off China '09. Some good ol' favorites with family after a 16 hour flight - that's good enough for me.
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WONDERLAND SEAFOOD RESTAURANT:
MO YIN LAI - RECEPTION SUPERVISOR
MEI CHOI HOUSE, NAM CHEONG ST., SHEK KIP MEI, KOWLOON.
TEL: 2778 0278, TEL: 2778 0622, FAX 2776 3891
[More China to come later!]
