CELEBRITY CHEF Jereme Leung (who is one of the judges of MasterChef China) is in the Philippines again. The real news here is how much he cares for his restaurants and how he visits each one, and brings ingredients from one place to another.
During lunch on April 21, Mr. Leung gave a preview of his new set menu at China Blue by Jereme Leung at the Conrad Manila.
The meal started with suckling pig stuffed with black glutinous rice and salted egg; deep-fried sea cucumber and shrimp with taro in spicy hawthorn sauce and marinated dehydrated vegetables; and Century Egg with porcini mushroom sauce in a crispy tube. The crispy suckling pig’s skin and its clean flavor provided a contrast with the mushy, earthy rice. The deep-fried sea cucumber was served as a black dumpling, appearing like a little puff of smoke. It was strange and crumbly, but what a spectacle in terms of mouthfeel. The last appetizer, the crispy tube with a Hangzhou peanut crust, was also a contrast in textures with its crispy skin, and was a pleasure, despite it being a bit messy to eat.
The soup, slow-boiled yellow croaker stock with water bamboo shoot and black fungus, according to Mr. Leung, was a traditional hangover cure. It had an opaque broth (which reminded one of sinigang, a local sour soup), dense and restorative in its taste.
The next course was a slow-cooked duck leg with pickled olive dark sweet soy glaze, arguably the meal’s star. Chinese olive leaves are sprinkled on top of the rich duck, all shiny and savory in its glaze. The Chinese olive leaves give the dish an edge: they taste what an unlit cigar smells like, fragrant but powerful.
This was followed by steamed spinach egg custard with seared US scallop in dry scallop pickled ginger sauce; mild and delicate. The poached flat noodle with fresh crab meat, fragrant shallots and spring onion sauce was a real treat with the bouncy noodles and the excellent play in textures.
Dessert was almost too pretty to eat: a tree made out of chocolate with cotton candy foliage and pandan sponge and raspberry ice cream.
The last time we met Mr. Leung, he concentrated on ingredients from Yunnan. This time, he’s bringing in a few from Hangzhou. “Hangzhou is one of the most livable cities in China,” he noted in a group interview. “(With) the four seasons, you get different ingredients. It’s really quite wonderful.”
Mr. Leung will be opening four restaurants in two years, including the second China Blue in Conrad in Kuala Lumpur. This means that he will have another source of ingredients.
At his restaurants abroad, when he holds special meals like this, he brings ingredients from one place to another: the Philippines has given him coffee beans and mangoes. “We try and interchange ingredients for the cities where I have my restaurants,” he said. “We want to infuse the menu with more innovative ideas through ingredients.”
Diners will have the opportunity to meet Chef Leung personally from April 22 to 24. The exclusive multi-course set menu (P6,588 net) is available for lunch (11 a.m. to 2:30 p.m.) and dinner (6 to 10 p.m.), daily from April 22 to April 30. For inquiries and reservations, call 8833-9999, 0917-650-4043, or e-mail MNLMB.FB@ConradHotels.com. — JL Garcia