'Clear' century egg, braided eggplant in Hong Kong-Filipino 4-hands dinner menu
MANILA, Philippines — Filipino chef Margarita "Gaita" Fores reunited with Hong Kong chef Vicky Cheng to create an experiential four-hands dinner in Manila that marries the familiar flavors of the Philippines with Hong Kong's vibrant cuisine.
The two chefs recently headlined the "When Stars Align: A Four Hands Dinner and Culinary Showcase" held at the Penthouse No. 66 in Grand Hyatt Manila that afforded its diners with the beautiful cityscape of Bonifacio Global City. The dinner was brought together by the Hong Kong Tourism Board.
Chef Gaita, a famous name in the Philippine culinary scene behind popular brands such as Cibo, was delighted to work with Chef Vicky after seven years since they last worked in 2017.
"The collaboration dishes that we do is not just about one chef and another. I think it's about the relationship between us and I hope that you would taste that good food," said the Hong Kong chef.
Cheng is excited to give a preview of his award-winning Wing restaurant for the first time in the Philippines.
Wing recently entered the list of Asia's 50 Best Restaurants, an annual list created by the Asia's 50 Best Restaurants Academy in 2013. The academy is composed of over 300 leaders in the restaurant industry across Asia.
Wing is another feather to the cap of the Hong Kong-born, Canada-raised chef who also helms another award-winning restaurant, Vea, which he founded nine years ago. Like Wing, it was also included in the annual list.
Those who were present at the dinner had the privilege to try his famed braided eggplant, which chef Vicky shared was born out of a bonding session with his daughter.
The braided eggplant is a staple at Wing. It was part of the dinner's appetizers, which featured two dishes from the chefs.
"The inspiration came from one day when I was braiding my daughter's hair. And I thought, 'Wouldn't it be so nice if food looked like that braid?'" the chef shared.
Completing his appetizer offering is his signature century egg, which is uncharacteristically white and soft that glides inside the mouth.
"If you ever had century egg, it always come in a black color and it's quite solid. So I thought one day that it would be so nice if we made our own century egg and made it clear. That's the version that we have with the runny egg yolk," Chef Vicky shared.
He and his team also painstakingly worked on producing a clear century egg that comes with a strong ammonia taste.
Marrying Filipino tastes with modern Hong Kong
Chef Gaita, meanwhile, showcased the flavors she knows best. The Italian chain restaurant Cibo might be synonymous with her, but at this dinner, Chef Gaita harkened back to her Negrense roots and Filipino palate.
One of her starters was the "Negrense" way of eating Ukoy, a deep-fried savory treat of shrimp fritters.
While the usual Ukoy will be dipped with spiced vinegar, her Ukoy came with a Blue Marlin Kinilaw, which is similar to Ceviche. The Kinilaw was cured with biasong lime, tuba vinegar and a little bit of tabon-tabon from Butuan City.
She also served Banana Heart Salad with Bohol Fish Maw.
The two chefs returned after a few minutes for their first course, the White Pepper Virgin Mud Crab Thick Soup.
Chef Gaita noted how soup is important in Chinese cuisine, and for their menu, they chose a gay crab, which is considered one of the best crabs.
The thick soup, Chef Vicky said, was done the traditional Chinese way.
Their next courses, just like the previous ones, featured a blend of Filipino and Hong Kong ingredients.
The second course featured Pancit Canton-style Hong Kong noodles that came together with Bulacan River Prawn and Smoked Kalinga Black Pig paired with an XO Sauce made from the essence of Etag, Cordillera's preserved pork.
The third course was another highlight for the visiting Hong Kong Chef as it featured a tweaked version of a popular offering of his Wing restaurant.
The Sea Cucumber Spring Roll was done exclusively in a different way for the 4-hands Manila dinner.
Chef Vicky said that the garnish was the special tweak because they used palm hearts, a tribute to Chef Gaita's Negrense roots, which filled their Lumpia or spring roll with ubod or palm hearts.
"This is a real nice way to blend Chef Vicky's inspirations and mine, and we hope that you ate it with your hands because that's the way you're supposed to eat it at Wing as well," the Filipino chef said.
The spring roll was plated in such a way that diners will have to put their ubod or palm hearts and sea cucumber inside the spring roll and enjoyed it with the scallion sauce, a welcome break from the otherwise more formal dinner of fork and spoon or chopsticks.
The fourth course was a fancy Pares with Wild Pampano or Pomfret Fish and Abalone Sauce Rice.
Chef Gaita said that the Abalone Rice is usually the "most beautiful ending at Wing."
To tweak it for the Manila dinner, the chefs decided to include jackfruit or langka in a savory way, just like the Ginataang Pork or Langka that many Filipinos love.
The dinner concluded with a trio of desserts called Snow Gum Ube Gelato, Pili Nut Hojaldres and Mochi, made from world-famous Cebu mangoes.
The 4-hands dinner was not just a preview of Chef Vicky's Wing, and by extension Chinese-French Vea restaurant, but also of Hong Kong's upcoming anticipated annual Hong Kong Wine and Dine Festival, celebrated every October. The festival will be held at the Central Harbourfront from October 23 to 27.
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