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“蟹逅”在金秋——访王宝和大酒店宝和厅厨师长王浩先生谈今季蟹宴 Golden Au
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“蟹逅”在金秋
——访王宝和大酒店宝和厅厨师长王浩先生谈今季蟹宴
Chef Wang Hao Introduces the
Signature of Central Hotel Shanghai, “Crab Feast”
Interview:
Gigi Chinese Version: Lina
English Version: Yoyo Photos: Gigi
持陈恒久之久负盛名
持陈恒久之独一无二
As autumn picks
up, it is high time that we sampled the freshwater hairy crab.
Nothing can be more enjoyable than a bunch of guys, family members
and friends, assembled to enjoy crab, yellow wine (note: a kind of
rice wine) and chrysanthemum blossoms, just as Liu Yiqing extolled
in his famous A New Account of Tales of the World, “With
wine cup in one hand and crab’s pincers in the other, I feel my
life is full.”
Central Hotel Shanghai enjoys a
longstanding fame and unfading popularity among crab devotees for
its signature crab delights. Where lies the attraction, we wonder?
With this question we met Mr. Wang Hao, Chef of Banquet Hall on the
fifth floor of the hotel, with whom we had an inspiring
conversation.
Longstanding Fame and
Unfading Popularity
It’s been nearly 30 years
since Mr. Wang first engaged in cooking crab dishes at the end of
the 1970s, a time, he recalled, when “crab dish” was about to
take shape. However, it was then a trend that people ate hairy
crab, in party of three or five, at Central Hotel Shanghai, which
was much smaller than it is now. The dining experience was great
and indescribable! Not until the early years of the 1980s did the
hotel launch the extravagant “crab feast”, and its chairman was
instrumental in taking the wise step. Now, Central Hotel Shanghai
has an established fame among diners from home and abroad as the
most famous crab restaurant in Shanghai.
Founded in 1999, Central Hotel
Shanghai is centrally located in downtown Shanghai. It stands next
to the Nanjing Road Pedestrian Mall, and just steps away from the
Century Square. The hotel had a thorough overhaul before its
opening, and the refurbished hotel building looks grand and
elegant. Both the business and leisure travelers from across the
world can find a cozy home at Central Hotel Shanghai, where they
are accommodated with outstanding facilities and a full range of
hotel amenities, and taken good care of by an attentive, hospitable
team. It has become one of the first-picks for visitors to
Shanghai.
If you’re a crab enthusiast,
you’d better make a beeline for the Banquet Hall on the fifth
floor. The spacious banquet hall has an elegant décor with
influences of the traditional Chinese art and culture. With nine
private booths appointed in various styles typical of the Jiangnan
region, Banquet Hall is the only place where you can sample the
extravagant “crab feast”, able to accommodate up to 350 guests at
a time. The interior wooden structure is primarily in its original
color, several parts of which is painted with intricate phoenix
patterns in golden powder. Even the smallest detail is able to
reflect its taste and elegance and the richness of the Chinese
culture. When the crab season begins, Banquet Hall is so packed
with mouth-watery goodies that reservation becomes a necessity.
Many enthusiasts would return more than once until they’re
satiated, at least for the moment.
Signature Crab
Delights
As one of the Eight Treasures,
crab has an indisputably delicious taste, and is nutritious as
well. Our ancestors have left a wealth of crab recipes and tips.
Although they might disagree with one another in many respects,
they shared one thing in common, that is, the top delicacy
wouldn’t fail you as long as you cook the right crab in the right
way.
“We only use the best of the
best crabs,” introduced Chef Wang. “Every year when the crab
season comes, we would send experienced professional buyers to
choose crabs only at designated breeders of the famous Yang Cheng
Lake Freshwater Hairy Crab. The selection is very careful and
strict, and only the indigenous crabs with ‘green back, white
belly, golden claws and yellow hair’ would be brought back to the
hotel, when our cooks conduct a second round selection to ensure
that only the fat ones with abundant roe would be served to the
diners. Of course, only a skillful cook can bring out the
deliciousness of a crab. ”
Yes, cooking plays the key
role. Unlike many other restaurants who have eagerly embraced those
innovative cooking methods, Banquet Hall firmly adheres to the
natural method, putting the crabs in boiling water so that the
original flavors can be retained. Only the most seasoned chefs are
responsible for the cooking of the “crab feast”, a lavish
collection of crab delights characterized as “choice ingredients,
expert cutting, seductive color, light flavor, tender texture and
authentic deliciousness”.
Mr. Wang Hao gladly offered
some tips. He suggested we use plain water to cook freshwater hairy
crab. Place live crab into boiling water, cook with quick fire
until the water boils again, and keep it boiling for about seven to
eight minutes before taking out the crab. The best time for
consuming the crab is when it is 80~95% done. Remember to take it
hot, and you’re sure to be impressed by the tender texture and
delicious taste, which is enhanced by a sweet tinge. How come
Banquet Hall’s boiled freshwater hairy crab is so flavorful, you
may ask? The secret weapon is herbs and spices, added into the
water to relieve the unpleasant fishy smell of the raw crab and
expel cold. It exemplifies the principle of “tasty, healthy and
natural” which has been followed all along by Central Hotel
Shanghai.
Wang Hao is now devoted wholly
to cooking hairy crabs. However, his past experience in handling
foodstuff other than crab has benefited the seasoned chef
enormously, helping him to constantly innovate in the preparation
of crab delights. In addition to the signature “boiled hairy
crab”, other crab offerings have evoked equal enthusiasm from
devotees, such as the “chrysanthemum crab”, “tofu cooked with
crab meat” and “asparagus with crab roe”, to name but a few. The
“crab feast” menu is reviewed and updated on a yearly basis.
Based on a popularity chart, the least popular dishes of the year
would be ruled out, leaving room for the new
inventions.
However nutrient it is, hairy
crab is cold in nature. Eating too many crabs would do harm to your
intestines and stomach. That is why we usually pair boiled crab
with a dip and yellow wine. The dip, with shredded ginger to expel
cold, can bring out the original flavor of the crab meat, while a
little yellow wine, normally several cups (note: a small handleless
cup used in China), helps to not only enhance the deliciousness of
the meat and roe, but also warm the interior of the eater and expel
cold.
Wang Bao He Old Wine is the
best companion to Banquet Hall’s signature “crab feast”. First
launched in the reign of Emperor Qianlong, Wang Bao He Old Wine is
one of the oldest yellow wines brewed in China. Over the past two
hundred and sixty years, this particular yellow wine has hooked
countless lovers with its silky smoothness, mellow taste and
lasting aroma. It is a product of choice glutinous rice, wheat and
water fresh from the Jianhu Lake, handled carefully by using
traditional techniques. The high nutrition value of the yellow wine
adds to the attraction. Wang Bao He Old Wine proves to be a perfect
match for fat hairy crabs, contributing to the Central Hotel
Shanghai earning the title of “Ancestor of all yellow wines, and
the king of all crabs”.
Eating crab is demanding and
frustrating as it is delightful. You often find yourself in a
dilemma whether to keep an elegant posture at the cost of the true
pleasure of consuming a crab, or to have a hearty meal but make an
awkward scene. It leads me naturally to the thought of the 8-piece
set mentioned in A Dream of Red Mansions, a set of small and
handy utensils with which you can have a good taste of the delicacy
and need not to blush for the way you eat it. Central Hotel
Shanghai saved the 8-piece set from extinction, and simplified them
to two pieces of finely crafted tools. The tiny equipment enables
you to indulge yourself with the flavorful hairy crabs without
losing your demeanor.
When inquired of the future of
the “crab feast”, Mr. Wang Hao replied, “To cope with the
changing trends, we will stick to our fundamental principle:
keeping the prestigious heritage of Banquet Hall, continuously
innovating, and putting our heart into the crab delights we
make.”
With this, we have every reason
to believe that Central Hotel Shanghai and its Banquet Hall offer a
memorable dining experience to gourmand like you and
me.
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