Canton Class: Dim Sum and Then Some
I arrived at Hengshan Hui at 6pm. I was early. It was time for the staff’s routine menu-knowledge drill. All the waiters and waitresses were lined up facing a young supervisor. Each member of staff had to recite the price of every permanent dish on the thick menu, as well as the cost of each seasonal offering. I was really surprised by how good the staff’s memories were – almost everyone answered correctly.
Supervisor: “Do we have long dun ban (龙趸斑, a type of grouper) today?”
Staffer: “Well, I think so.”
Supervisor: “How much is it?”
Staffer: “Er, 298 kuai per jin.”
Supervisor: “Remember, anyone who sells it tonight will get a bonus half-hour break.”
Just when the final round of questioning ended, my friends arrived. Su, my Hakka friend, is a Hengshan Hui loyalist who strongly recommended the turnip cakes (萝卜糕 RMB 16): “The Hong Kong executive chef always makes it -perfectly!” exclaimed Su. Indeed, the stir-fried turnip cake was slightly spicier than the pan-fried one, but both were satisfyingly tender and juicy, accented with bits of Cantonese cured meat.
Apart from that, the plain boiled Qingyuan chicken (白切清远鸡 RMB 78) excelled, with extraordinarily tender meat and deliciously slippery skin. Imported from Guangdong, this chicken is listed among the 27 top varieties of chicken in China. The chicken flavor is so concentrated that one bite is equal to two bites of normal chicken. The glistening chicken oil delivers an amazing fragrance, making the ginger oil sauce redundant.
The steamed cod (冬菜粉丝蒸银鳕鱼 RMB 98) melts in your mouth as quick as lard, and is even more tender than bean curd. The Japanese like to roast cod in miso, but steaming makes the cod so much softer.
For dessert, try the banana and red bean paste pancake (香蕉豆沙窝饼 RMB 20), wrapped and pan-fried within a thin flour sheet – a Chinese retort to sweet crepes.
Daily 10.30am-11.30pm 1/F, Kerry EAS Logistics Building (entrance at back of building), 21 Xiaoyun Lu, Chaoyang District 朝阳区霄云路21号嘉里大通附楼1楼 (6466 1211)
Photos courtesy Hengshan Hui
