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2011-01-23
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hoi king heen is run by chef leung (梁輝雄) who has been with the restaurant for more than 15 years. the restaurant situates at the basement of the inconspicuous intercontinental grand sanford hotel (next to hotel nikko) in TST east, a district once frequented by the rich japanese but since then had been spiraling down. on a side note, i recently spoke with savills the real estate agent and was told that the TST east retail rental rate had plunged 20-25% in the last ten years, whereas the canton ro
winter melon stuffed with olive leaves (欖菜玉珠) – first came the award-winning winter melon dish. presentation was impressive – the melon balls were arranged to shape like a bunch of grapes and colored with a dash of finely shaved carrots. it looked so cute that i did not even want to eat it taste-wise was rather refreshing and subtle; the olive leaves were a bit salty and bitter, but matched nicely with winter melon’s light sweetness.
beef brisket with papaya (萬壽果牛肋肉) – i do not eat beef, but i was told the beef brisket was tender and flavorful, while the papaya surprisingly matched the beef well and lightened up the otherwise slightly heavy dish.
glass prawn (玻璃蝦球) – this is one of my favorite chinese delicacies (功夫菜) that calls for skills and long preparation time. glass shrimps are usually made of tiger prawns, and in order appear snowy white (compared to the regular pink color), the prawns need to first be chilled overnight, then the shell, head, tail, intestines, and outer gray membrane removed (the memebrane gives the classic pink color) together with the ligament near leg area. marinate with egg white, pepper, salt, sugar, oil, for a couple of hours. blanch in boiling water for a couple of minutes then in hot oil (yes, you will get oil splattered all over so wear long sleeves!) et voila. the glass prawns at hoi king heen were excellent, but the truly remarkable was actually the shrimp paste that came with it – it was deeply flavorful, with heavy brine taste and slightly sandy texture that screamed shrimp roe. marvellous!
sweet spare ribs in secret sauce (蜜梅京燒骨) – this was my favorite dish for the night. the spare ribs had perfect fat proportion, and the secret sauce was simply addictive – it was sweet with a hint of tartness, and the spare ribs had a thin caramelized crust outside while the meat inside was crispy and juicy. the dish was chopstick-licking good – kudos!
Pan-fried rice cake (家鄉煎茶果) – minced pork and pine nuts inside the glutinous rice cake. i really liked the shell, which was soft, fluffly, and less chewy than the regular chinese rice cake that gets stuck between your braces like bubblegum, if you have them.
it was a good dining experience, one of the best cantonese restaurants i have eaten at and yet not bloodsuckingly priced. the winter melon dish looked better than it tasted, and glass prawns were good though not great; but the spare ribs were very impressive while the soft rice cake was a nice finish. next time i would love to try the black truffle chicken...
full post with pics: http://randomnomad.wordpress.com/2011/01/23/hoi-king-heen/
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