SHANG Garden, the Chinese restaurant of Shangri-La Hotel Shenzhen, recently launched a brand new menu featuring over 140 new dishes and classics, including Huaiyang cuisine, Cantonese cuisine and Sichuan cuisine. The menu is presented by the culinary team led by Anthony Dong, executive chef for the hotel’s Chinese food and chef of Shang Garden.

The new menu reflects Dong’s remarkable culinary expertise and 25 years of experience. It includes a series of the restaurant’s specials such as the marinated duo-flavored chicken made with a 1-year-old free-range hen. The chicken is marinated in spices and salt, then soaked three times in alternating ice and hot water to remove the bones and retain the meat and served with green and red peppers, ginger slices, taro slices and other vegetables. The dish is similar to the Singaporean combo fish plate and it is advised that diners order and enjoy it at the same time, a practice symbolizing auspiciousness.

In addition, the literally heavyweight dish of stewed Qiandao Lake fish head with fish balls, shrimp and baby abalone is specially made from a Qiandao Lake fish with a head having a net weight of three kilograms. The meat is tender and the sauce is thick, and it is served in a stone pot with a diameter of 50 centimeters.

The seemingly ordinary dishes on the new menu conceal the restaurant team’s unfailing dedication to craftsmanship and extraordinary cooking techniques. For example, the braised “lion head” meat ball is one of Dong’s masterpieces that represents his tireless pursuit for quality. The stewing technique with the clear vegetable broth brings the freshness up to a high level, preserving the original taste and color of the soup. Dong knows that the slightest difference in knife work and fire will affect the customers’ experience, so he insists on cutting the meat by hand, which may explain the reason why the “lion head” is tender, fragrant, and fleshy but not greasy.

The innovative ingredients combination is another highlight of the menu. For example, the roasted eggplant-truffle and sea urchin sauce is made with roasted purple eggplants soaked in a precious truffle and sea urchin sauce, which elevates the flavor of ordinary eggplants. The pan-fried egg white with foie gras and bitter gourd exudes a rich and natural taste. The yellow croaker in crab meat soup with green onion has a rich and nourishing aroma and its preparation is limited to only three per day. The cold dish Liaoning sea cucumber with tiger vegetables featuring the precious ingredients of sea cucumber, green onions, cucumber, cilantro and chilli pepper is a creative collision of fresh and spicy flavors and perfectly presents the richness and uniqueness of the cuisine.

In addition to the new creations, the menu also includes the acclaimed classics from the Shang Garden, such as the double-boiled bean curd with matsutake and sea cucumber in superior broth. The dish is made from a piece of tofu cut into 3,600 slices and includes Liaoning sea cucumber and mushrooms from the mountains in Yunnan and is served in a Guangdong-style soup, showcasing Dong’s amazing knife work. The main course includes classics such as fried rice with beef, sea urchin and black truffle, which uses black truffle from mountains, sea urchin and M grade wagyu beef.(Yang Mei)