Openrice 2012 annual dinner featuring Hangzhou Cuisine

Getting to know more about Chinese foodWas invited to the Openrice 2012 annual dinner so got the chance to try Hangzhou cuisine thanks to Openrice.
To be honest, I generally avoid Chinese food but now I am learning to like it.

Before I did not know that there were so many different cuisines according to where it comes from in China.
The Chinese food I came across before was mostly Cantonese style and the food from the local Hong Kong restaurants which was mostly fusion and oily.

The wonderful banquet was headed by the famous Chef CHAN KWOK KEUNG

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Jellyfish in vinegar
This was quite refreshing as a starter, the jellyfish was brown and translucent after being soaked in dark vinegar..
You could see the chef has put effort in the presentation by adding cucumber and sliced red peppers as garnishing to give it some colour.
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Duck in brine
The duck has been flavoured by soaking it in salted water, and the taste of the duck was not too salty and just right.
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Sliced Abalone in spices
Although this was quite spicy, the abalone tasted really nice and it had that unami taste.
The flat noodles beneath it were refreshing.
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Duck eggs smoked in tea leaves
These eggs were really nice because the egg yolk was half runny.
The smoked flavouring was not too strong.
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Braised wheat gluten with mushrooms and bamboo shoots
This is was quite nice and not too sweet.
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Boneless chicken in wine
The wine was strong but you could still taste the chicken.
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Stir fried lobster with wild mushrooms
It had really strong truffle taste and there was freshly plucked peas that were sweet and tender.
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Triple crab delights
For the second round, there was crab and there were three different items: crabmeat and avocado salad, steamed egg white with crab claw in wine dressing, and crispy bread topped with crab roe.
It was advised to consume the salad first but I ate it last because the taste of the other two were lighter in my opinion and the salad does not taste savory because of the sauce.

steamed egg white with crab claw
I tried this first because it seemed like the taste was the lightest.
I liked the way they paired it with egg white (meringue type) which is usually sweet, but this time it was savoury.
The crab claw and the clear gravy was really nice. In the clear gravy there were some grains of cooked rice.

crispy bread topped with crab roe
The bread beneath the crab was a slice of deep fried mantao so it was slightly sweet.
The crab roe taste was not as strong as I expected, it could have tasted stronger.
crabmeat and avocado
Last but not least the salad, it was fruity and creamy because it had pieces of apple in it as well as avocado.
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Smoked Tea Leaves duck
The duck was tender and the tea leaves aroma was just right and not too strong.
The duck skin came of the duck easily too without leaving any fatty residue.
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Abalone, braise fish maw and deer sinew soup
The soup was really impressive because the temperature was just right to me and it was not oily.
In other restaurants the soup is always too hot and oily.
I finally got to try the deer sinew which is a more delicate and cleaner form of beef tendons.
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Shanghai vegetable rice
THIS IS NOT OFFERED AND WAS SERVED AS AN AD-HOC ITEM because it contains ham.
I really liked this but many others said it was not salty enough despite ham was added.
Anyway I was amazed how the vegetables were shredded so finely and after the cooking process it kept its green colour.
The ham was grounded so finely that it tasted like grounded tuna.
This is the best fried rice I have had because it is non oily.
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Loongjeng tea
To finished the food there was Loongjeng tea which matched it quite well and acted as good palate refresher.
Overall the food here is impressive because it is not oily.
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Chilled lychee with rose puddings
Lychee and rose always go well together.
The bottom part of the pudding was lychee and the upper part was rose pudding.
The sweetness was just right and it was light and refreshing.
The texture of the pudding melts in your mouth like jelly.
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Deep fried sesame dumplings filled with molten salted egg yolk {Jin deui}
I am not a fan of Cantonese desserts but I liked this one because the frying oil was fresh and did not ruin the delicate sesame seed taste.
When you ate it, you could smell the lovely aroma of the fried sesame and the Jin deui shell.
The molten salted egg was really nice and it tastes better than red bean puree.
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Glutinous rice rolls filled with red bean paste
This was nice and chewy, red bean paste rolled in glutinous rice flour and coated with yellow bean powder.
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