A taste of heirloom Cantonese dishes at Tin Hau

Cantonese cuisine is the most familiar of Chinese regional cuisines. It originates from the region around Canton (Guangzhou) and is characterized by a cooking style that aims to enhance the natural flavors of fresh ingredients. Cantonese dishes may be considered bland compared to the dishes that typify other Chinese cuisines. This is because the spices used are generally mild, and simple cooking methods such as steaming, stir-frying and deep-frying are employed.

Is there a difference between old style Cantonese and new style Cantonese food? As with most traditional cuisines worldwide, the old flavors of dishes may be altered, as new and modern ingredients are made readily available. This is not necessarily a negative development, but one may tend to wonder about the original flavors of traditional dishes.

At Mandarin Oriental Manila’s Tin Hau, we were able to savor traditional Cantonese cooking, such as that enjoyed by the Cantonese of a past era. Culinary research done in the Guangzhou area yielded time-honored recipes that have been handed down from generation to generation, and these form the basis of Tin Hau’s Old Style Cantonese cuisine.

We started the meal with charcoal roasted honey pork coin with sesame seed. The round thinly-sliced pork with a light sprinkling of sesame seeds tasted like dry sweet ham. The flavor of the meat was slightly familiar, and the thought crossed our mind that old style Cantonese food wasn’t too alien after all.

What quickly followed was a soup of braised fish lips, dried scallops and mushrooms topped with quail egg. The first mouthful was extremely bland, and we were tempted to dismiss the dish as another homogeneous soup. However, we were told that the dish required a dollop of black Chinese vinegar. And what a difference that made! The vinegar brought out the flavors of the different components and greatly enhanced the palatability of the soup.

Braised abalone with sea cucumber and green vegetables was listed on the menu. The contrast in textures was wonderful. The abalone was mildly flavored and expectedly chewy, the sea cucumber was soft and faintly briny, and the asparagus spears were sweet and crisp.

Our lunch group unanimously enjoyed the next dish: imperial chicken. Wrapped in a lotus leaf and infused with an assortment of herbs, the dish was as fragrant as a traditional Chinese pharmacy. The unusual herbs lent a unique and delectable flavor to the chicken meat.

Tasty baked pork spareribs with fermented bean curd followed next; along with braised bird’s nest topped with bamboo pith stuffed with shrimp mousse. Braising is a combination cooking method in which foods are initially browned in hot fat, then covered and slowly cooked in a small amount of liquid in low heat. The dish showed no trace whatsoever of cooking fat, and I am baffled how the chefs managed it. The shrimp mousse with bits of tender shrimp was very good.

As expected, the oven-baked eel fillet with honey sauce was excellent. It is no wonder that eel, with its white, soft, cottony flesh, is considered a delicacy. However, the next vegetarian dish of assorted mushrooms wrapped in cabbage with dried scallop sauce proved surprisingly delicious as well.

The last course was stir-fried mian xian noodles with slipper lobster. The slipper lobster was undoubtedly fresh, and its meat was firm and sweet. Mian xian is similar but just a tad thicker to what we know locally as misua. The noodles were perfectly seasoned and required no additional condiments. The noodles, signifying long life, were tasty. But after all we had eaten, it was impossible to consume our portions.

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The Tin Hau master chefs of Mandarin Oriental, Manila will delight Chinese food lovers and gourmands with the enticing Old Style Cantonese cuisine, available until May 14. Five new set menus consisting of a minimum of six courses for two to 10 persons are an alternative to the buffet lunch and dinner. For inquiries and reservations, call Tin Hau at 750-9999 local 2422 and 2424.