Embracing spring through tea and champagne dishes

By He Jianwei

Spring seems to be getting shorter each year. It’s almost like going to bed in winter and waking up to summer. But spring can be reclaimed – through specially prepared food. The French, creators of champagne, add the sparkling wine to their dishes to give them a fruity flavor, reminiscent of springtime.

In southern China, green tea does the trick. Below are two restaurants that serve spring on a plate with the help of champagne and tea.

Tofu with XO Sauce (6 yuan)

Hangzhou comfort food

 

 

Waipojia, or Grandma’s, is a typical Chinese restaurant although its English name resembles that of an American diner in town.

The restaurant chain, established in Hangzhou, Zhejiang Province where it has 20 branches, serves “comfort” Hangzhou food. The restaurant s recreated the atmosphere of southern China with its wall of waterfalls and bamboo room dividers. It can hold a banquet given its seating capacity of 200.

Grandma’s is best known for its chicken in green tea flavor (45 yuan), whole chicken cooked in Longjing Tea for around seven hours. Longjing, or Dragon Well, Tea is a popular green tea from Hangzhou.  A restaurant staff said that for 750 grams of chicken meat, their specialty dish needs about 20 grams of Longjing Tea.

The meat is first immersed in salt water for two hours, then stewed for another two hours over a low flame. Afterwards, tea, salt and wolfberry are added before it is roasted for a few more hours. The meat is served sliced and, although it looks like a regular roasted chicken, it is more tender and has the unmistakable scent of green tea. 

The restaurant staff said they use two varieties of Longjing to prepare this dish: Xihu, or West Lake, Longjing and Pre-Qingming Longjing. She said the people of Hangzhou also cook shelled shrimps in Longjing Tea.

The dishes at Grandma are reasonably priced. For instance, a cold dish of Tofu with XO Sauce is only 6 yuan. As the restaurant is popular among local diners, it is better to reserve a table before going.

Waipojia
Where: B1, Beijing Zhongguancun International Building, A18 Zhongguancun Nan Dajie, Haidian District
Open: 11 am – 2 pm for lunch; 5–9 pm for dinner
Cost: 40 yuan per person
Tel: 6215 6325

Champagne in everything

Diners will get a whiff of expectation in the air as soon as they enter Petrus. The French restaurant is luxurious. Oil paintings adorn its walls. Seats are covered in blue velvet, fixtures and trimmings are gilded in real gold and its silverware is the famous Christofle brand imported from France.

This spring, Petrus is offering a set three-course lunch menu and five-course dinner menu with all the dishes from appetizer to dessert featuring champagne.

The bubbly wine is named after a region in northeastern France around the cities of Reims and Epernay, from which all “true champagnes originate.  “Champagne’s chemistry with food produces a fruity flavor. It is suitable for spring dining, said Patrick Perie, the executive chef, who hails from Provence, France.

Provence’s geographic location influences the local cuisine, which incorporates seafood from its coastline, meat from lambs that graze on its rugged landscape and regional produce such as olives, garlic and grapes that grow in the warm and dry Mediterranean climate.

Perie brings this Mediterranean touch to Petrus’s menu. One of his newest creations, the appetizer variation of Fine de Claire with champagne, which is included in the set menu, contains four oysters: two that are boiled, one fried and one raw.

The fried oysters are crisp on the outside and tender on the inside. The boiled oysters are flavored with mushroom and cream sauce, while the raw ones are doused in sauce made of tomatoes, onions and champagne.

The champagne gives the shellfish a slightly fruity flavor. A glass of champagne is best paired with a fish or chicken dish.

For the main course, Perie recommends either capon chicken with truffle champagne sauce or crusted salmon with kadifi caviar and champagne cream sauce.

Champagne also goes well with fruits like peach, orange, pear, strawberry or blueberry, Perie said. So for dessert, diners can sip the bubbly with orange and pear available on Petrus’s menu.

Petrus French Restaurant
Where: 90-92 Jinbao Jie, Legendale Hotel Beijing, Dongcheng District
Open: 12-2:30 pm for lunch; 6:30 pm for dinner
Cost: 198 yuan per person for lunch set; 388 yuan per person for dinner set
Tel: 8511 3388 ext. 8928