Cream of the crop
It is an exciting time for the food and beverage industry as Asia’s 50 Best Restaurants, sponsored by S.Pellegrino & Acqua Panna, announces the list of venues voted between positions 51-100 ahead of its in-person awards ceremony in Singapore. Macau’s Golden Flower and Jade Dragon are two restaurants among them.
Spanning the region, the 51-100 list includes restaurants from 17 cities. Hong Kong leads the rankings with eight places, including three new entries such as Yong Fu (No.54), Ando (No.61) and Estro (No.62) August in Jakarta is the 2023 recipient of the American Express One To Watch Award, and enters the list at No.95.Tokyo is represented by six restaurants, including new entries Esquisse (No.67), The Pizza Bar on 38th (No.80) and Hommage (No.91). New entrant L’évo (No.60) is the first ever restaurant from Toyama to make the list. Singapore and Bangkok both have six establishments each in this section of the ranking. Shanghai claims four spots on the list, amongst which new entry Meet the Bund sits at No.89. Kuala Lumpur, Seoul and Mumbai are represented by three restaurants each. The much-anticipated 2023 list of Asia’s 50 Best Restaurants will be revealed at the awards ceremony held in Singapore on Tuesday, 28th March.
Recipes from East and Southeast Asia
Susan Jung has travelled all over the world and has tried and tested every fried chicken recipe you could ever wish for. In Kung Pao & Beyond, she has selected her favourite fried chicken recipes from across East and Southeast Asia.
Susan’s love for fried chicken has never ceased. As a child, she marvelled at the deeply flavoured and fantastically crunchy drumsticks her uncle would cook at family gatherings. As a student, she revelled in her midnight snack of cold fried chicken while studying for exams, and during her near 25-year tenure as the food and wine editor for the South China Morning Post, her fried chicken recipes were in constant demand. Through years of exploration Susan has discovered the huge range of possibilities for this beloved dish, showcased in Kung Pao & Beyond.
From popular dishes like restaurant favourite Chicken with Black Bean Sauce and comforting Chinese-American Deli Fried Chicken, to exploring new flavours in a plate of piping hot Japanese Chicken Karaage and freshly fragrant Thai-Flavoured Chicken with Lemongrass & Mint. Discover the sweet-savoury tang of Korean Fried Chicken with Yuja Tea, taste the complex spices of Malaysian Ayam Goreng Mamak, and sample Taiwanese Night Market Chicken, nuggets dusted with a sweet-savoury-spicy seasoned salt and served with fried basil leaves.
Full of recipes that take this humble fast food to a whole new level, plus amazing accompaniments, Kung Pao & Beyond is a fried-chicken lovers’ compendium of the unique twists and flavours that cooks in east and southeast Asia have brought to this iconic dish. IS
