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| Lau Kin Wai proudly recommending to us some of his own creations! |
25 July 2014: Dinner at Kin's Kitchen （留家厨房) - we were regaled with some rather unusual dishes....made with ingredients for which I don't have the English names.
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| The fungus from Yunnan! In season now, till end August! Hurry! |
The four best dishes that got our unanimous votes were: 1) 干巴菌抄蛋 (Scrambled egg with a seasonal wild fungus from Yunnan); 2) 头抽玉米 (stir fried fresh corn with a really tasty soya sauce); 3) Slow roasted pigeon (cooked at 75 degrees for an hour and a half); 4) 凤眼果炆鸡 (braised chicken with this kernel, a mix between gingko nut and chestnut, really interesting!). All so tasty and unique!
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| Slow-roasted pigeon; the scrambled egg with fungus (already half gone!) |
Quite a fortuitous coincidence that we had taken a bottle of 2003 Domaine de Chevalier Blanc to dinner, when Lau told us that Sauvignon Blanc would do something rather amazing to the fungus. So we tried it.....the fresh taste of the mushroom suddenly took on some rather pungent flavours.....almost sulphurous....not sure what chemical reaction that was.....but it tasted as if it had been stir fried with the essence of a thousand-year-old egg (皮蛋)! Amazing! The fresh corn was so simple, yet so full of flavours! The problem with Chinese kitchen is that all the food came rather suddenly and altogether! Quite difficult to manage!
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| The braised chicken with the gingko/chestnut cousin! Again only available this month! |
For our wines, we started with a 1995 Charles Heidsieck Blanc des Millénaires. Made with Chardonnay from 4 Grand Cru vineyards and 1 Premier Cru vineyard from the Côte des Blancs. Pale lemon. Fine bubbles. A rich bouquet of toast, shortbread, lemon confit, ripe pear, apricot, overlaid with smokey notes. Liquorice, marzipan and candied fruit and hints of minerality filled the finish. Opulent and fleshy, with perfect proportions in every aspect, eager to seduce. Finishes long and still vibrant. A very expressive wine and an absolute delight to indulge! It seemed nicely evolved now on the palate....Drink now and over next 4 - 5 years if you are less keen on the mature style. 18/20 (This yummy bottle was given to us by a friend on another occasion - thank you so much for sharing this with us!)
The 2003 Domaine de Chevalier was much fresher than some of the bottles that we had opened from the same case. Lemon colour. Creamy texture. Pineapple, quince, lanolin and lemon. There was sufficient acidity to keep the palate fresh. It went rather well with the food, and not just in such an amazing way with the scrambled egg with fungus....but it also did a great job with the drunken abalone! It's not a wine for long term cellaring but in the right condition, it makes a great food wine! 16/20
The 1995 Léoville Barton tasted quite meaty and fleshy, with less precise delineation, but packed with blackberry and cassis fruit, with notes of roasted herbs. It lacked a certain precision to be truly exciting. Nevertheless, it was balanced, well-made and certainly a tasty drop! 16/20
The 1995 Mas de Daumas Gassac was sadly corked! So disappointing! Thank goodness, our host even brought a supply of the Léoville Barton, just in case! Thank you!
Do hurry to get to Kin's Kitchen for these seasonal offerings! Quite unusual! Very special!
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