Sichuan extravaganza 

Chef Theign Phan and Susan Jung

LANDMARK’s highly successful Tasting Mastery Series, which combines the creative talents of food personalities and acclaimed chefs, announces its first 2024 culinary adventure from now to March 31, this time bringing together two independent and successful professional women: celebrated food critic Susan Jung and Executive Chef Theign Phan of Grand Majestic Sichuan LANDMARK.

[L] SICHUAN GUI HUA BING FEN (Osmanthus ice jelly crowned with candied cumquats) and [R] XIANG LA ER CAI (Chinese brassica, sliced with finesse, is infused with a blend of green peppercorn, sesame oil, chilli oil, and sweet aromatic soy)

XIANG LA CHAO BAN QIU (Wok-fried grouper fillets, deftly balancing dried chillies, garlic, ginger, leeks and Chinese celery)

The duo aims to enthuse diners by highlighting that besides the spicy and mouth-numbing mala flavour, for which Sichuan cuisine is best known, there is a surprisingly diverse range of unique and balanced aromatic sensations and flavours to discover. The result of the collaboration is a menu which is spellbinding in its flavour variety, from the starter right through the dessert.

Ms Jennifer Lam, Hong Kong Land’s director and head of Marketing and Communications, says, “We are delighted to kick off our Tasting Mastery Series this year with such a powerful female duo whose formidable, combined talents are sure to present a memorable and one-of-a-kind culinary adventure.”

The menu begins with the cold appetiser XIANG LA ER CAI. Delicate Chinese brassica, sliced with finesse, is infused with a blend of green peppercorn, sesame oil, chilli oil, and sweet aromatic soy, weaving a spell of flavours that lingers on the palate. Er cai, or Chinese brassica, is a vegetable Chef Theign Phan recently discovered in Shenzhen, and is normally used to make zha cai, a type of preserved vegetable in Sichuan cuisine. Instead, she incorporates the spiciness and numbness profile to create a refreshing Sichuan “salad” as a complement to the main course of crispy Sichuan Fried Chicken. This will be the debut of the er cai dish at Grand Majestic Sichuan.

With the SICHUAN ZHA JI, Chef Theign Phan crafts a taste sensation with locally sourced three yellow chicken, a recipe from Susan’s Cookbook, expertly finished with a specially crafted Sichuan spice mix that incorporates spicy, salt, sweet and numbing flavours.

Next, XIANG LA CHAO BAN QIU reigns supreme with a symphony of flavours in the wok-fried grouper fillets, deftly balancing dried chillies, garlic, ginger, leeks and Chinese celery.

The finale unfolds with Chef Theign’s masterpiece: SICHUAN GUI HUA BING FEN in the form of Osmanthus ice jelly crowned with candied cumquats, a sensory delight to savour.

The inspiration for this collaboration, according to Susan, is her admiration for Theign Phan, who has elevated Sichuan cuisine to new heights while maintaining its essential spirit and flavours under the mentorship of Fuchsia Dunlop, the British cookbook author famous for her knowledge of Sichuan cuisine, who is also a consultant to Grand Majestic Sichuan.

“Sichuan cuisine is known for its numbing and spicy flavours, but it’s not only that – there are dishes that can be subtle, too,” says Susan.  “But even with the traditional mala flavours, there needs to be balance – you can’t just have only spicy tastes without adding other ingredients that balance the spiciness. That’s where the skill of the chef is so important – if all you’re tasting is the heat of chillies, then the chef isn’t doing their job right. Chef Theign is really good at balancing the flavours.