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When was the last time you had spicy food? Do you remember the feeling that rushed through your brain when you saw a pile of food covered with red chilies? It is as if every part of the body becomes firm, and the vessels dilate with blood. The sight, the smell, and the rush are indeed just foreplay. Nevertheless, it is a prelude, sensory elements that signal – “Danger, you are in for a wild ride.”
There are many cuisines around the world that offer spicy dishes, but Sichuan and Hunan cuisines are on the top of my list due to their complexities. Recently, StarWorld Hotel opened its brand new Sichuan and Hunan restaurant, Feng Wei Ju, headed by Executive Chinese Chef Chan Chak Keong. For over a year, Chef Keong has devoted himself to the study of local specialties across China’s many provinces and has searched the country for chefs who share his passion.
For Sichuan cuisine, the head chef is Chef Chen Shi, who spent 15 years honing his abilities and mastering the most intricate of Sichuan dishes, giving full expression to the unique colors, smells, tastes and shapes of this sumptuous style of cooking. Renowned for a wide range of ingredients and spicy dishes, Sichuan cuisine features unique cooking techniques and dazzling variety.
An example of such is pork neck meat with hot garlic sauce, a dish that requires both advanced cutting skills and a developed sense of seasoning. Using his superior cutting techniques, Chef Chen slices the pork into near-transparent strips no thicker than 2mm with a distinctive texture, reminiscent of films of silk drying on wooden stands. An aromatic maroon sticky dip complements the delicious meat and makes for a memorable gastronomic experience.
Equally spectacular, Hunan cuisine has always been famous for its sophisticated approach to seasoning and the compatibility of tastes between different raw ingredients. Well-versed in the science of complementary flavors and having carried out meticulous research on Hunan dishes for a number of years, head chef for Hunan Cuisine, Chef Wang Min, strives to offer diners the most exquisite delicacies.
Steamed carp with assorted red chili showcases Chef Wang’s unique insight into complementary tastes. Chopped fresh red pepper is pickled for over a week until the acidity and saltiness have been fully absorbed. The fish head, organically farmed in Dongting Lake and flown in to ensure ultimate purity and freshness, is carefully steamed to maintain its delicate texture, allowing the rich flavors of the chopped red pepper to infuse the entire dish. The whole is served on a layer of spicy oil with the mouth-watering fish head set off by richly colorful fresh red peppers for an enticing and uniquely fragrant dish.
Last but not least, the head chef for noodles and dim sum, Chef Li Shuan Xiang, ensures that noodle lovers will be able to satisfy their each and every craving. Born and raised in Shanxi, a region sometimes called the “Home of Noodles”, Chef Li has been studying the art of noodle-making since 2000.
A consummate “noodle artist”, Chef Li prepares a wide variety. These range from steamed beef kui to spicy oil wonton, knife shaved noodles and many others. One of his many praised delicacies is Sichuan Dan Dan Noodles, a prestigious dish popular for centuries in the Ba-Shu (Sichuan) state, named after the way noodles were carried by street vendors in pots hanging from shoulder poles (“Dan” means to bear something on your shoulders in Chinese). Specially selected flour is flown directly from Inner Mongolia to hand-make the noodles. Carefully prepared minced pork, ground from both lean and fat pork meat and topped with a secret mix of seasonings, is the dish’s crowning glory. Cooked to an alluring brown, the result is a moist salty bowl of noodles and the perfect end to an extraordinary dinner.