Awesome Vegetarian Banquet

I visited the Chi Lin Nunnery in Hong Kong on a recent trip and had one of the best vegetarian feast I've tasted at its restaurant Chi Lin Vegetarian. What made it so exceptional is that there was no "pretend" food - there was no "vegetarian duck" or "vegetarian bbq pork"  kind of dish - no fake stuff made with soy or artificial ingredients. Most of the dishes were fresh vegetables in combination with innumerable varieties of fungi.  Lunch was an amazing ten courses (for our group of ten) beautifully presented and prepared. The meal was the crowning glory in the visit to this awe-inspiring temple complex - the ambiance was sublime, to say the least.  It is no wonder the restaurant is packed, with reservations made months in advance.

Mini baby zucchinis with fungus - love the contrast in textures between the crunchy baby zucchinis and the fungus!

Beet salad

Golden tremell (yellow fungus) broth

Mushroom stew

Mushroom dumplings with broccoli - the dumplings were delicious pockets of chopped mushrooms and bamboo shoots

Pumpkin and cheese tempura

Asparagus fungus stir fry

  

Tofu dish with fungus

Choy sum with fungus

Fried rice with white beech mushrooms

Healthy fruit dessert

Menu

Nan Lian Gardens is part of the Chi Lin Nunnery temple complex

A taste of Chiuchow (or Teochew) cuisine

Chiuchow or Teochew cuisine was the food of my ancestors although we only had it occasionally when growing up and always at restaurants because my mother was not from that area of China. It was therefore not household food for me as a child and as an adult it became just one of many regional Chinese cuisines that we might try if friends suggested it but ultimately we always go back to Cantonese cuisine which is more like "home".

Recently we had a private dining experience with chiuchow cuisine and I have a better understanding of it. The surprising thing is, it is in the dining room of a retirement residence!  Here is the description from Wikipaedia: "Teochew cuisine is well known for its seafood and vegetarian dishes. Its use of flavouring is much less heavy-handed than most other Chinese cuisines and depends much on the freshness and quality of the ingredients for taste and flavour. As a delicate cuisine, oil is not often used in large quantities and there is a relatively heavy emphasis on poaching, steaming and braising, as well as the common Chinese method of stir-frying".  That explained why it was chosen as the cuisine of choice for a retirement residence and over dinner, I found that it is quite an accurate description.

We had our special dinner at the Vintage Garden Dining Room 葡萄園會所 - prepared by the team led by chef Franky Yeung who is considered one of the top 10 celebrity chefs in Canada. The 10 course banquet was sumptuous but not overwhelming as the food is generally light and not fatty. Decoration of the plates were impressive but I was particularly impressed by the quality of the food. 

  Appetizers - tofu stuffed with shrimp and fish paste, shrimp, grilled chicken                        潮洲四弍拼盤

    Extra delicious duck soup with salted lemon and shitake                                                                       咸檸檬炖鴨

This was what was in the soup

Haven't had this in a long time - shrimp and bamboo shoot pouches in egg-white wrap - could have used some mushrooms in it to improve texture      䔵花石榴球

Bacon-wrapped scallop rolls served on snow pea shoots 彩帶玉龍卷 - love the contrasting textures!

Tea-smoked duck 茶熏鴨

This is the most unusual and interesting dish with vegetarian centre (different kinds of fungi) inside a winter melon bowl but surrounded by braised pork belly on the outside!      白玉藏珍寶

Vegetarian abalone with fried vermicelli 素鮑魚撈米粉 - this one looked good and I really like the crunchy vermicelli.  The fake abalone looked good but texture could be improved.

Refreshing dessert with green bean and tapioca 清心丸綠豆爽  and one that I didn't take a photo of, sweet mashed taro 福菓芋泥

Enjoyed the dinner very much and no ill effects afterwards even though it was a big meal!