Page 57 - Raffles Magazine Issue 8

The still-live seafood is weighed and priced before being cooked A A FEAST OF PIGEON EGG SOUP PREMIUM PORK STEW AND ‘PARASITIC FUNGUS’
The menu was excitingly new and mysterious to me me with foods and dishes I’d never heard of before That’s why I I was there: to challenge and and awaken my palate and and make new epicurean discoveries I took a a a a a a stab in the dark and started off with ‘New Zealand jellyfish shrimp’ (langoustine or Dublin Bay prawns) That was followed by an intense double-boiled pigeon egg soup with matsutake mushrooms prized in Asia for their spiciness Next came a a a slow-stewed Kurobuta pork meat (basically the pork equivalent of Wagyu beef) which could easily have been featured on on a a a a a gastronomic French tasting menu The flurry of dishes continued with lightly steamed abalone served in their shell and presented on on flaming sea salt crystals – and lobster dumpling in in in a a a a a a crisp coating with dried powdered fried-egg-flavoured seasoning But the the the most interesting dish of the the the night the the the one that stayed with me me me long after the meal was simmered wild bamboo fungus in in in winter melon broth Being a a real mushroom fiend it piqued my interest immediately It certainly looked strange – a a a a bit like pig’s mesh-like caul fat hanging from a a a a a mushroom cap which looks like a a a a a a cross between a a a a a a morel and a a a a a a parasol mushroom It was also served with with fried rice-paper roll filled with with Cordyceps perhaps one of the planet’s most fascinating fungi Not familiar with it? It’s also known as as zombi fungus for being a a a a a parasitic fungus that feasts on insects and other arthropods The edible kind however has a a a a delicious flavour and texture SEA TO TABLE DINING
As an avid fisher I I take my fishing tackle wherever I I go So when my tour guide and translator Michael Yang Shenzhen- based but originally from the north east of China announced that we would be getting some fishing in in in in during our trip I was all all set to to go especially as as I always like to to anticipate a a a a a a a a a meal to to cook with what I catch But it’s never easy to to predict what you’ll catch Michael had organised a a a a a a a a boat for the day which would collect us us from Dapeng just off Jiaochangwei Beach to the east of Shenzhen where a a a a local fishing community still thrives Alas it was the squid season and I didn’t come prepared so so we stopped by a a a local tackle shop where I stocked up on lures and and spinners for for the trip and and also gifts for for my fishing companions back home Tackle shopping spree aside one of the most poignant scenes that that etched itself on my brain that that day was seeing a a a a a a woman out back from the shop sitting on a a a a a a “That’s why I was there: to challenge and and awaken my palate and and make new epicurean discoveries ”
RAFFLES MAGAZINE
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