Stop Westernising Chinese Cuisine

Welcome to EDITION 735 of GRAPEVINE

Imagine if we were one day wonderfully alert, fit and productive; and, another day, lethargic, unwell, and messing up everything we did?

We would be utterly frustrated with ourselves and, if humanly possible, kick ourselves in the butt. Go on, try it.

Jerry Zhang has just started working at Made in China two months ago. He is from Shandong.

My favourite Peking Duck in the world is in Made in China. The ground floor outlet at the Grand Hyatt Beijing is a 100 Top Chinese Restaurants of the World 2019.

Consistently good, the duck is always a minimum 7 to 8 points upon 10, usually hitting 9 and 10 upon 10.

Quality is not very useful if it is not consistent. Consistency is a quality in itself. When you have consistency, you also have reliability.

Another reason I patronage Made in China is because the wine list is very reasonably priced for a 5-star hotel. There are 10 or more wines below and around RMB 300 including sparkling, white, rosé, red, and sweet. The service is also enthusiastic, professional and just the right-pitch friendly without trying to be familiar.

Last night, I visited again and had a very good meal. And excellent service.

Except for a hitch.

Their otherwise delicious Sichuan Salivating Chicken, there was no skin on the meat.

I don’t know whose wise-guy decision it was to do that, but please, please stop Westernising Chinese cuisine. We eat our chicken and fish with their skin on.

Very good Sichuan Salivating Chicken. Would be even better if it had skin.

If that decision was made by a Chinese person (instead of a Westerner), he or she deserves to be kicked in the butt.

 

Wishing you A Very Good Weekend.