Family Li Imperial Cuisine (厲家菜 Reikasai)

Our good friend Arufa visited Shanghai.  One of his favorite dinner was at Family Li Imperial Cuisine (Reikasai 厲家菜) in Huangpu Park (上海灘 黄浦公園).  He sent us his dinner menu and a set of photographs.

10 SMALL DISHES 手碟

Stir-fried fresh green bean paste with fresh scallops 翡翠豆腐

Deep-fried bean cake炸咯喳

Sweet and sour rib糖醋排骨

Stir-fried mung bean paste with pork 炒麻豆腐

Crisp-fried prawns wrapped with egg 鼓板大蝦

Beijing smoked pork 北京熏肉

Boiled Chinese cabbage with mustard seed 芥末墩

Fried beef with chili sauce 麻辣牛肉

Deep-fried duck meat and shrimps paste with sesame 芝蔴鴨子

Mixed vegetable (Shredded carrot, pickled vegetable, bamboo shoot, coriander) 炒咸什

6 MAIN DISHES 熱菜

Deep-fried fresh scallops 青松鮮貝

Braised abalone in sesame sauce & Julienned braised abalone and cabbage & Braised abalone soup 麻醬鮑魚 + 鮑魚絲拌白菜 + 鮑魚湯

Steamed snow frog with egg 清蒸蛤什螞

Fried grouper with soy sauce 焌油石班魚

Stir-fried eggplant with soy sauce and minced pork, served with white rice 小炒茄子 + 米飯

Double boiled “fish lip” thick soup 三絲魚唇湯

3 DESSERT 点心

Baked fresh milk 宮廷奶方

Walnut kernel 琥珀桃仁

Fried egg custard 三不粘

                                                                                  

Five small dishes (Clockwise from top):

·         * Deep-fried bean cake炸咯喳 – A traditional Beijing snack.

·         * Stir-fried fresh soy bean paste with fresh scallops 翡翠豆腐 – Minced fresh Australian scallop and green soy bean are mixed together and stir-fried; served with red chili pepper specks.

·         * Sweet and sour rib糖醋排骨 – Tender and fat free, sweet and sour without the neon orange red sauce.

            * Stir-fried mung bean paste with pork 炒麻豆腐 – Another Beijing specialty; it is the left over after separating the “milk” and “juice” from fermented paste of ground mung beans and water.

·         * Crisp-fried prawns wrapped with egg 鼓板大蝦 – Flaky crispy egg pancake wrapping around tender prawns.

The second round of small dishes (Clockwise from top):

·        *  Boiled Chinese cabbage with mustard seed 芥末墩 – Crisp Napa cabbage spread with mustard, rolled up into a cylinder and topped with sesame seeds.

·         * Fried beef with chili sauce 麻辣牛肉

·         * Beijing smoked pork 北京熏肉 – Pork belly braised in special broth, colored with natural vegetable juice and slow smoked with wood of fruit trees.

·         * Deep-fried duck meat and shrimps paste with sesame 芝蔴鴨子 – The white layer between the sesame “skin” and the meat is shrimp, not duck fat.

·         * Mixed vegetable炒咸什 – Shredded carrot, pickled vegetable, bamboo shoot, and coriander.

 

Deep-fried fresh scallops 青松鮮貝 – Australian scallops in a special batter, and pickled green vegetables, are both deep fried.

Braised Japanese abalone in sesame sauce, Julienned braised abalone and cabbage, and Braised abalone soup 麻醬鮑魚 + 鮑魚絲拌白菜 + 鮑魚湯

    

Steamed snow frog with egg 清蒸蛤什螞 – The English name of this dish is misleading as it contains no frog meat.  “Snow frog” refers to the Fallopian tubes of a kind of frog from Manchuria that hibernates under frozen ground, lakes and rivers (thus the name).  It is a Chinese delicacy with a reputation for being  beneficial to women’s beauty.

Fried grouper with soy sauce 焌油石班魚 – Fish cooked in very hot oil.

   

 

Stir-fried eggplant with soy sauce and minced pork, served with white rice 小炒茄子 + 米飯

 

 

Double boiled “fish lip” thick soup三絲魚唇湯

   

Dessert (Clockwise from top right):

·         * Baked fresh milk 宮廷奶方 – Smooth and fragrant sweet and sour yogurt.

·         * Walnut kernel 琥珀桃仁

·        *  Fried egg custard 三不粘 – The ingredients are thoroughly mixed and then whipped over 600 times before it is cooked.  The resultant mass does not stick to the plate, the spoon or the teeth of the diner, thus the Chinese name of “Three Not Sticks”.

                

 

“Petits Fours” 菓品

From Arufa’s photographs, I can see that the service at Family Li is similar to that at high-end Chinese restaurants in Japan.  To those expecting a “family style” Chinese meal with large plates of food serving at the same time, the individual portion size of each dish looks awfully small.  I wrote “looks small” because I think it is a perception issue for people not used to being served Chinese food in this fashion.  You may see my point if you consider how much food one gets if a dish at a Chinese banquet is equally divided among the 10 or 12 people at the table.  Anyway, with the large number of dishes on the menu, even just a few bites per dish should keep most diners well fed yet not uncomfortably stuffed.  Of course for those with the appetite of a sumo wrestler or a growing boy, it would be a different story.  

Most of the dishes look deceptively simple.  One often does not realize how much work is necessary to deliver those simple looking dishes.  The restaurant claims that it does not use artificial coloring and flavor enhancement.  Instead it relies on careful sourcing of quality ingredients, careful blending of seasoning and sauces, painstaking preparation and perfect cooking.  However, delicate and balanced flavors could be interpreted as bland to diners whose palate has been conditioned to liberal use of MSG or strong flavored sauces and spices.  So I suppose Reikasai is not to the liking of everybody.  Our friend Arufa has a refined palate.  He says that the dishes at Reikasai were very good and I accept his verdict.  

An obvious weakness of Reikasai is its presentation of food.  For a restaurant that charges as much as a Japanese ryotei or an haute-cuisine restaurant, putting a slice of meat or a glob of custard on a plate without appropriate garnishes is lackluster.  Plain white plates, bowls and cups do not help either.  It is an area that not only Reikasai, but also most Chinese restaurants, can work on.   

Reikasai is expensive.  As far as value goes, I cannot say since I have not eaten there.  I would like to taste the food first hand one day to judge on that myself.

NOTE:  For the story of Family Li Imperial Cuisine, visit this link www.theworlds50best.com/a-chat-with-chinas-only-grand-chef-ivan-li-of-family-li-imperial-cuisine/12385/