New food faves at Modern China

In the pursuit of diverse gustatory delights, distance is not an obstacle for foodies. They scour the most remote nooks and crannies of the metropolis to find new delicacies. They are eager and excited to discover new restaurants and food outlets. For them, the quest for new flavors is a constant and enjoyable adventure. However, it is always a happy event when one finds excellent food without going through the gauntlet of horrendous traffic and frayed nerves.

Modern China Restaurant, at the ground floor of Glorietta 4, Ayala Center in Makati City is readily accessible. My brothers and I dined there for the first time on a leisurely Sunday evening, and discovered that it serves delicious Shanghai and Beijing cuisine.

To start the meal, we had fried golden crispy noodles, a dome-shaped concoction rendered golden yellow by a generous topping of rich crab fat. Just right, it was tasty without being overwhelming. The contrast of crunchy noodles and soft, delicious crab fat was a perfect prelude to the meal. By taking the edge out of our appetites without diminishing our cravings, it allowed us to better savor the dishes that followed.

Southern-style pork, slow-cooked to perfection with various herbs, was seasoned with a precise balance of salty and sweet. A fresh sprig of coriander decorated the dish. Was this one of the herbs used? We couldn’t isolate the taste of coriander. As fathoming the different herbs and other flavorings proved too difficult, we resolved to relish each tender morsel instead. Soon enough, we polished off the entire serving.

What followed was the chef’s special chicken wanton soup. The distinct flavors of shrimp dumplings, chicken and vegetables were intact. Yet, they complemented each other and lent even more flavor to the clear and excellent broth. The soup was light, uncomplicated and soothing. Perhaps, what puts Modern China’s wanton soup a cut above the rest is the attention to detail. The wantons, in particular, were choice. Unlike lesser wantons, which are an indistinguishable mash of ingredients, fresh and sweet shrimps lent bounce to each savory mouthful.

The roast goose was a pleasant surprise. Like most Filipinos, we were more familiar with the usual duck served in most Chinese restaurants. We initially thought that there would be no considerable difference between duck and goose. Happily, we were proven wrong. I finally understood why the character Clever Gretel, in the Grimm’s fairy tale of my childhood, ended up eating all four geese that her master asked her to roast. The goose was plump, fleshy and tasty. Served with a tangy plum sauce, it was definitely superior to the ordinary duck.

A gastropod found in warm seas, the abalone has a large adductor muscle that fills the entire shell opening. Its ivory-colored flesh is valued as a food item worldwide. The large demand for the mollusk, however, has led to over-harvesting and severe depletion of abalone beds. Consequently, the market price of abalone has reached exorbitant highs.

At P320, it is unlikely that vegetarian whole abalone is the expensive mollusk that thrives in warm seas. Instead, vegetarian abalone looked like a giant mushroom. Nevertheless, it did not disappoint with its chewy texture and mild flavor. Without the accompanying guilt of pushing the abalone to the brink of extinction, we thoroughly enjoyed this unique and vegetarian version.

We thought that we were already satiated, but the braised fish brisket with eggplant in a hot pot emitted an aroma that was impossible to resist. The combination of fillets of white fish, eggplant, garlic and other spices was superb. The dish was excellent because the fish remained firm and the eggplant was cooked to perfection: Soft, but not mushy. I must mention, at this point, that my brothers are extremely partial to meat. The fact that they genuinely enjoyed this fish dish says a lot about its gustatory merits. I did not have to cajole them into eating it. They helped themselves to generous servings and declared the dish one of their new-found favorites.

I was able to peruse the restaurant’s menu more closely as we waited for dessert. Chef Kwok Tai Ng must indeed be an expert in hot pot cooking, as all hot pot dishes in the list were preceded by stars. Aside from fish brisket eggplant hot pot (P280), other choices included spicy eggplant minced pork (P198), Chinchiang bean curd seafood (P220), braised bitter gourd fish brisket (P238), special chicken with liver (P228), and vegetarian mix (P228).

Other chef’s recommendations in the menu include southern-style pork (P158), honey garlic spareribs or sweet and sour pork (P220 each), roasted goose (P280), beef in spice sauce (P228), and Hong Kong white chicken (P280), among others. I was somewhat surprised to see sizzling lamb chops (P328) and shredded lamb with green pepper (P198) in the menu. Was this a modern innovation to Chinese cuisine? I didn’t think that lamb was usual fare in Chinese restaurants.

For dessert, traditional taro balls first, and then a marvelous Snickers turtle pie accompanied by a scoop of vanilla ice cream. And yes, the turtle pie was made using the Snickers chocolate bar. What a wonderful and unusual way to cap an excellent meal in a Chinese restaurant!

The exceptional turtle pie encouraged us to pay closer attention to the other interesting items in the dessert list: Absolute fudge cake, cookies and cream cheese cake, Toblerone tiramisu, Caramello nut tart, dulce de leche Butter Finger crunch cake, M&M apple crunch, choco peanut fudge brownies and the Modern China cheese cake, three layers of plain cheese, chocolate cheese and strawberry cheesecakes, and topped with Toblerone and strawberries.

Clearly, this isn’t what one would expect from a Chinese restaurant. Perhaps, however, the innovative and Western-influenced dessert list embodies the rationale behind the restaurant’s name. Modern China, like the country it is named after, is currently an interesting mix of traditional and new. By giving importance to tradition and opening itself up to foreign influences at the same time, it is able to distill the positive and offer the best of both worlds.