{"id":201,"date":"2011-10-24T00:00:00","date_gmt":"2011-10-24T07:00:00","guid":{"rendered":""},"modified":"2011-10-24T00:00:00","modified_gmt":"2011-10-24T07:00:00","slug":"Sherman1022","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/chineserestaurantawards.com\/archives\/Sherman1022\/","title":{"rendered":"Signature Dish Dining Festival (Richmond) – Sherman’s Food Adventures"},"content":{"rendered":"

It’s always a treat to be invited for eats, whether it be someone’s
\nhouse, a restaurant or a pot luck of some sort. What can I say, I love
\nfood (duh…). However, it is an outright honour to be included in
\nevents such as Hot Chefs, Cool Jazz<\/a> and the Tourism Richmond Media Dine Around<\/a>. So when I was contacted about the Signature Dish Dining Festiv<\/a>al<\/a> tasting tour, they didn’t have to ask me twice! The whole premise of the Signature Dish Dining Festiv<\/a>al<\/a> is to help introduce the nominated dishes for the Chinese Restaurant Awards<\/a> as well as exposure of other items that would not normally be on most people’s radar (in particular, non-Chinese diners). <\/p>\n

\nThink of it as Dine Out, Chinese-style<\/a>
\nwith meals designed to accommodate parties of 4, 6 and 10 at price
\npoints of $100.00, $150.00 and $300.00 respectively. That is roughly
\nbetween $25.00 – $30.00 per person. Considering the quality of
\ningredients in these set menus, these price points are pretty good
\ndeals. If you check out the menus, Alberta beef and pork, as well as
\nB.C. Dungeness crab are featured ingredients in all of the menus (as
\nwell as Amoy products as a title sponsor). The event runs from November
\n1st <\/a>through to the 18th. Much like Dine Out, a reservation can be made via their website<\/a>.<\/p>\n

There
\nwere 3 media tours that concentrated on the areas of Richmond,
\nVancouver and Burnaby. My schedule only allowed for Richmond and
\nBurnaby. In hindsight, that was a good thing since the amount of food
\nconsumed in one night would be just plain nuts. Our Richmond tour
\nstarted at Northern Delicacy<\/a> in Aberdeen Centre. We began our meal with the Lanhua Tofu i<\/span>n Signature Cold Cut Platter<\/span> consisting of jellied pork, mushrooms wrapped in bean curd sheets, Lanhua tofu, smoked beef shank and a julienned <\/a>vegetable
\nsalad (mushroom, pressed tofu, celery and carrot). This was a
\ncarefully constructed plate (but of course!) and for me, the jellied
\npork really stood out. It had a wonderful texture and was seasoned
\nnicely. Next was a truly sinful dish of Steamed Alberta Pork Belly<\/span>
\nwith Amoy Black Vinegar Sauce on a bed of baby bak choy. Wow, the pork
\nfat in this thing plain melted in my mouth. The only chewing required
\nwas for the small layer of moist meat underneath. The sauce was a tad
\nsalty and runny, yet exhibited plenty of depth.<\/a><\/p>\n

Each of us were presented with their award-winning S<\/span>pecial Soft Tofu Dump<\/span>l<\/span>ing<\/span>.
\nA purely vegetarian offering, the tofu dumpling skin surrounded a
\nfilling consisting of shitake mushrooms, five spice tofu and pickled
\nspinach. It rested on a bed of pea shoots and finished off with a egg
\nwhite starch-thickened glaze. Normally, I’m as vegetarian as Charlie
\nSheen is celibate. Therefore, this dumpling had to be fantastic to make
\nme want to finish it. And yes, I finished it despite the fact I really
\nshould have been pacing myself with the food. I found the use of the <\/a>crunchy
\npea shoots as a textural contrast to the soft dumpling a necessity.
\nThe dumpling itself was very pleasant to eat with its soft exterior and
\nabundance of filling. I only wished the sauce was less salty. Yet then
\nagain, I ate the whole thing happily…<\/p>\n

As if this wasn’t enough food for the night (remember, this was only restaurant #1 of 4), the Szechuan Style Alberta Beef Sho<\/span>rt<\/span> Ribs<\/span>
\nwith Squash arrived next in a hot pot. I found the ribs to be perfect
\nin texture which was the right combination of being tender while still
\nretaining a <\/a>slightly
\nchewy texture. The ribs were meaty with very little in the way of fat,
\nwhich in turn made them easy to chew. The sauce had a complex flavour
\n(definite 5-spice hit) which was a bit spicy. Lastly, we were presented
\nwith Smoked Chicken <\/span>with Tea <\/span>Leaves and Rose Pedals<\/span>.
\nBy appearance alone, this looked like any other order of fried crispy
\nchicken with some steamed mantou on the side. However, the juicy flesh
\nrevealed aromatics that was consistent with its namesake.<\/p>\n

So seemingly full after a complete meal at <\/a>Northern Delicacy<\/a>, we made our way over to Richmond Centre for our 2nd stop – Shi-Art Chinese Cuisine. Starting us off was the Deep-fried Shrimp Roll<\/span>
\nwhich was uniquely constructed and plated. At first, I incorrectly
\nthought that the outside of the shrimp roll was mung bean thread.
\nHowever, upon close inspection, it was merely a flour and water batter.
\nThe whole thing was friend perfectly. It was crisp, light and not
\noily. The sweet shrimp filling inside was complimented texturally by
\ncarrots and green onions. Next up was the Sau<\/span>t<\/span>eed<\/span> B.C. <\/span>Dungeness Cra<\/span>b with Vermicelli<\/span>. Naturally, <\/a>they
\nchose one of the plumpest, most meaty crabs to prepare for this dish.
\nBy now, it would be no surprise to anyone reading this post that all
\nefforts were put into the dishes to impress. As mentioned, the crab was
\nmeaty, sweet and perfectly fried. The accompanying vermicelli was
\ntossed with mushroom, shallots, egg and garlic. The resulting flavours
\nwere subtle, yet apparent. The vermicelli itself had the proper
\nconsistency of chewy while still soft enough to eat.<\/p>\n

The Stir-fried Silver Cod<\/span> with Green Onions and Amoy Light Soy Sauce confused some of us at <\/a>first.
\nWe thought it might have been black cod, but in the end, it was silver
\ncod which is very close in texture and taste. Hence, the flesh was
\nbuttery and soft. Despite being fried, the hot pot as a whole wasn’t
\noverly oily nor was it saucy either. This in turn allowed the pieces of
\nfish to still retain some crispiness from the frying. The flavours
\nwere not overpowering with just enough soy, ginger and green onion. For
\nthe beef course, we had the Stir-Fried Alberta Beef Tenderloin with Wasabi & Eggplant<\/span>. The veggies underneath (snap peas and red pepper) were vibrant and had a nice crunch. The eggplant <\/a>was
\nlightly battered which added a crispiness that contrasted the soft
\nflesh. There was a touch of wasabi to add a unique taste to the flavour
\nprofile. As for the beef, it was super tender with just the right
\namount of seasoning. Our last dish at was the Pan-fried <\/span>Diced Alberta Pork Cheek with Crispy Sliced Pork Belly<\/span>.
\nSince I am totally biased with anything cheek, I loved that part of the
\ndish. The pork cheek had the requisite rebound texture which was
\nuniquely stir-fried with lemon and orange segments including the rind.
\nThe tart-bitter sweetness was an interesting flavour combined with
\nshallots, <\/a>straw
\nmushrooms and chili flakes. I could’ve done without the fried pork
\nbelly though. Since they were thin slices, it ended up to be somewhat
\ncrispy, yet chewy. If it was thinner, it would’ve been a more crisp.
\nAnd if it was thicker, there would be a meatiness to it.<\/p>\n

So this crazy food tour continued across the street to Bamboo Grove<\/span>.
\nWith a name like that, many would assume that this would be a Dragon
\nInn-type of restaurant. Well, it was back in the day, but with new
\nownership, they just didn’t change the name. The food is all authentic.
\nAnd to <\/a>start us off, they did so with an impressive dish – Stir-Fried Tiger Prawns with Minc<\/span>ed Pork and Eggplant<\/span>.
\nThese bad boys were enormous and would give any other prawn tail envy.
\nThese were succulent, sweet and exhibited that desired snap. The wok
\nheat in this dish was very apparent with the absence of any excess
\nmoisture. Furthermore, the flavours were rich and the ground pork add
\nthe necessary depth. The eggplant was perfectly oil-blanched as well.
\nWhile we were enjoying the prawns, a huge plate of pig stomach, ginko
\nnuts, pork and bean curd skin was presented before us. It was served
\nwith <\/a>a soy dipping sauce on the side. Rather than being really a dish, this was the ingredients of the Award Winning Pork Stomach<\/span> & G<\/span>inko <\/span>Soup<\/span>
\nwhich was being heated table side on a portable gas burner. Therefore,
\nthe bowls of soup were scalding hot when served. This was the
\nintention though since the subtle flavours were magnified. The soup had
\nsweetness and depth without tasting gamy (a clear indication that the
\npork stomach was rinsed properly). The addition of white pepper was the
\ningredient that brought the whole soup together. Not only did it
\nprovide a nice bite, it also helped subdue any remnants of <\/a>gaminess from the pork stomach.<\/p>\n

Once again, we had beef (of course) in the form of the Stir-fried Alberta Beef Rib Eye Steak with Green Onion and Garlic<\/span>.
\nSince they used the rib eye rather than the tenderloin, there was more
\nnatural meat flavour as well as meat texture. The starch-thickened
\nsauce clung beautifully to each piece of meat and provided a subtle
\nflavour without disturbing the meat. Moving along to a dish we had an
\ninteresting time trying to figure out. The Stir-fried Luffa, <\/span>Wood Ear and Assorted Mush<\/span>rooms<\/span> was <\/a>pretty
\nstraight forward except for the luffa squash. At first, I though it
\nwas either cucumber or chayote; but one bite and it was clear that it
\nwasn’t either of them. The squash was pretty nice. It was soft, yet
\nnot mushy. The combination of oyster, king and wood ear mushrooms
\nprovided a good mix of textures and flavours. This was a vegetarian
\ndish that I would order for myself (or maybe I was going on meat
\noverload at this point). On that note, the next dish was another
\nprotein – Alberta Pork S<\/span>pare Ri<\/span>bs in Sweet Vinegar Sauce<\/span>. Okay, this my friends was the best dish, in my mind, that we had at <\/a>Bamboo
\nGrove. I mean, how could one not like deep-fried spareribs wok-tossed
\nwith a savoury sweet vinegar sauce? This could’ve been served at a BBQ
\njoint and wouldn’t have been out of place. The meat was on the chewier
\nside, yet it was a desirable chewy (does that sound right?). I mean, it
\nmade my mouth happy. Er… Anyways, the texture combined with the
\ncrispy exterior coated with the tasty sauce made me want more. Pour me a
\npint and sit me down in front of a hockey game, I’ll take a plate of
\nthese.<\/p>\n

OMFG. At this point, I could barely get up out of <\/a>my
\nseat. C’mon! 3 full meals consisting of many courses of both Alberta
\nbeef and pork. What now? How about one more restaurant at nearly
\n9:00pm??? Well, off to The Jade we went… And let’s just get right
\ninto the food. We were presented with the Alberta Beef Brisket <\/span>Braised in Amoy Light Soy Sauce<\/span>
\nfirst. The brisket had a meaty texture with just enough fat to keep
\nthe meat moist. The sauce was not too salty nor too sweet. In fact, I
\nfound it to be a bit mild. Something as simple as cucumber sticks made
\nall the difference in the world. It lightened up the meat dish with a
\ncool crunch. At this point, <\/a>I wouldn’t have minded more veggies and my wish was granted with the Buddha’s Feast <\/span>with
\nAmoy Light Soya Sauce. The dish was really large consisting of jicama,
\nsnow peas, cabbage, mushrooms, enoki, vermicelli and tofu. Lots of
\ncrunch from the jicama and snow peas as well as the strong mushroom
\nflavour from the enoki. Not a spectacular dish by any stretch of the
\nimagination, but welcomed at this point of total food coma.<\/p>\n

But the food coma would have to wait. Our second crab dish of the night arrived – Sautéed <\/span><\/a>B.C. Dungeness Crab with Dry Curry<\/span>.
\nAlthough there was a good amount of curry flavour, it was far from
\nspicy. And honestly, if it were too spicy, the delicate crab would be
\noverwhelmed anyways. On that note, I do realize some people prefer it
\nspicier as well. If I had to do a direct comparison, the one from Luda<\/a>
\nis better. I found the one here a bit too mild and kinda wet. By now,
\nthe amount of food we consumed for one night was getting to be
\nridiculous. Thankfully, we reached our last dish with the Baked Sliced Alberta Pork Fillet with Herb & Mushrooms<\/span>. This consisted of a piece of <\/a>tenderized
\npork resting on a slice of portabello mushroom and cucumber topped with
\na fresh basil leaf. Despite being stuffed, I still found this
\nenjoyable to eat. The pork was super tender and exhibited
\ndepth-of-flavour. The cucumber provided a fresh crunch while the
\nportabello did its woodsy thing. The fresh basil on top was a nice
\ntouch. It added an herbiness at the tail end of the chewing.
\nDefinitely a unique dish not normally found in a Chinese restaurant.
\nAnd this form of ludicrous eating would be repeated a few days later
\nwith the Burnaby tour! Aiya! Whatever the case, I was honoured to be
\npart of this eating marathon and strongly encourage people to check out
\nthe Signature Dish Dining Festival<\/a>.\n<\/p>\n

\n \n<\/p>\n

\nRead at original source <\/a>\n<\/p>\n

<\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

It’s always a treat to be invited for eats, whether it be someone’s house, a restaurant or a pot luck of some sort. What can I say, I love food (duh…). However, it is an outright honour to be included in events such as Hot Chefs, Cool Jazz and the Tourism Richmond Media Dine Around. […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3,5],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-201","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-news","category-cra-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/chineserestaurantawards.com\/archives\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/201","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/chineserestaurantawards.com\/archives\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/chineserestaurantawards.com\/archives\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/chineserestaurantawards.com\/archives\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/chineserestaurantawards.com\/archives\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=201"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/chineserestaurantawards.com\/archives\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/201\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/chineserestaurantawards.com\/archives\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=201"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/chineserestaurantawards.com\/archives\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=201"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/chineserestaurantawards.com\/archives\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=201"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}