Wineshark Mystery Restaurant - Jija by Vicky Lai 吱喳小館

This new restaurant is under the helm of famous Chef Vicky Lai, who got the inspiration from her travels in Yunnan and Guizhou. Having a great dinner at her Michelin 2-star Tate Dining Room a couple of months ago, I have high anticipation to come to the newly opened Kimpton Hong Kong in TST, to try her new venture out.

Seated at a table on the window side, looking out to the gorgeous Victoria Harbour, the space is intimate, with a lively ambience of dark wood, marble tabletop, and textiles with local Southwest China design touches, offering us a comfortable experience to enjoy the cuisine prepared by Chef Sean Yuen and his team.

We have decided to try the Jija Dinner Set Menu ($590 each), and picking different selections in the soup, main course, and rice / noodle to try out the food. I also have a bottle of 2022 The Starting Point Riesling ($1,380) to pair with the food. This Riesling, from Ningxia China, has good acidity, nice citrus, stone fruit, white flowers, and stony mineral.

Jija Pickles Trio is an assortment of seasonal house pickled vegetables. On the first dish there are pickled daikon and pumpkin, with nice crispness on texture. The second dish features the pickled root of fennel, with its unique anise flavours, while the third dish is pickled yam with shredded bitter melon on top. 

There are also three appetizers. The first one is Lime Shredded Chicken, with the tender chicken meat hand-shredded before mixing with lime juice, some aromatic herbs, Sichuan peppercorn oil, and peanuts. Together with some shredded celtuce to give contrast in texture, the fragrance of the herbs complements the refreshing starter well. 

The second one is Chicken Liver Parfait. The silky smooth and very delicious liver parfait has plenty of shallot and spring onion on top, and is served with scallion focaccia, with the bread having a nice fragrance from the chopped scallion added, balancing the richness of the parfait spreads perfectly. 

The third one is Rushan Cheese Spring Roll. The presentation reminds me of Italian cannoli. With tomato and fennel pollen, the Yunnan Rushan cheese is used to make the spring roll dough, and stuffed with Mozzarella cheese and basil inside, before deep-frying to wonderful crispness, with shaved Rushan cheese on top. 

There are two options for soup, and we pick one of each. The Smoked Tofu Pumpkin and Wild Mushroom Soup is rich in taste, with sliced champignon and black bolete added to the soup of intense mushroom flavours and sweetness of pumpkin, together with a hint of smokiness from the tofu. Delicious, it is a vegetarian soup as well.

The other soup is Guizhou Sour & Spicy Shrimp Soup. The broth is prepared using tiger prawn heads for its rich flavours, with the sour taste coming from Yunnan passion fruit and sour papaya. With also some shrimp meat and coriander in the soup, this appetizing soup has a slight similarity to the Thai tom yum minus the spiciness and lemongrass. 

Then comes Wok-Fried Chinese Chive Deluxe. A very nice dish, the chef has shredded Jizong mushroom, dried squid, baby silver fish, chive, red bell pepper to stir-fry at high heat, creating nice ‘wok hei’. Having some deep-fried enoki mushroom on top, this dish is just perfect together with the homemade chili oil. 

For the main course, Dry Aged Roasted Pigeon. The pigeon has been aged to intensify the flavours, and then roasted it to crispness on the skin, while retaining the flesh moist and tender. Apart from the pigeon jus as a sauce, the chef has prepared a lemongrass dipping sauce with the combination of flavours unique and delicious. 

The other main course is Charcoal Grilled Pork Skewer. Using pork jowl, the chef has put it on skewer to grill over charcoal, getting it nice smoky aromas, with delicious chars on the edges. There are also slices of homemade mushroom sausage, with good earthy tones on the side, served with the jus and a fermented tofu dipping sauce. 

Coming towards the end with the option of rice or noodle, and the Yunnan Style Fried Rice is my preference. Each grain is distinct, with the fried rice picking up nice savoury notes from the deep-fried pork fat, Yunnan ham and ganba mushroom. The mushroom is a prized wild fungus from Yunnan, with signature meaty flavours. 

The Dai Sou Beef Soup Noodle is also very good though, with the homemade noodle having a nice al dente texture, served with some braised beef which are very tender but did not break apart, apparently having been cooked in a special broth with many herbs and spices for long hours. The soup is so good I end up finishing the last drop from the bowl.

Interestingly dessert is not included in the menu. Although quite full, we decide to go for Yunnan Black Rose Croustillant ($98) to share. Sandwiched between two crunchy pastry is a layer of Yunnan black rose pastry cream, with some more of the cream on top, decorated with fresh raspberry and some petals. 

Service is very good, with the staff friendly and joyful, eager to help and checking in repeatedly throughout the meal to explain the dishes. The bill on the night was $3,008. Considering the quality of the food, the ambience, and the overall dining experience, I would rate this restaurant for an Excellent 80 points. Worth returning. 

Wineshark Home Cooking - Fish Tripe Thick Soup with Aged Tangerine Peel, Pearl Barley and Ground Pork 陳皮洋薏米肉碎魚肚羹

Ingredients (for 4):

• Pork - 200g
• Pearl barley - 40g
• Fish tripe - 40g
• Unsweetened tofu pudding - 200g
• Rice gruel - 500ml
• Dried plaice - 1
• Aged tangerine peel - 1 piece
• Fish sauce - 2 tsp
• Ginger - 3 slices
• Chinese celery - 1 sprig
• White pepper finely - dashes

Procedures:

1. Rinse the pearl barley and soak in water for 2 hours.

2. Soak the aged tangerine peel in water to soften.

3. Rinse the pork and rub 2 tsp of coarse salt evenly on it. Keep in fridge overnight. 

4. Rinse the fish tripe and soak in water until softened.

5. Chop the Chinese celery into small dices.

6. Cut the ginger into shreds.

7. Grill the dried plaice over fire until lightly browned on edges. Scrape off any burnt part with a knife.

8. Cut away the bones and cut into large squares.

9. Squeeze dry the fish tripe, then add a pinch of salt, 2 tsp of oil and 2 tsp of tapioca starch. Mix well.

10. Steam the fish tripe for 6 minutes. 

11. Cut the fish tripe into big pieces.

12. Cut the aged tangerine peel into fine shreds.

13. Remove the salt from the pork and rinse well. Mince the pork.

14. Heat the rice gruel in a pot to boiling.

15. Add in the minced pork and mix well. 

16. Add in fish tripe and pearl barley. Keep stirring while continue to cook.

17. Add aged tangerine peel, fish sauce, tofu pudding, and ginger shreds. Mix well. Add in tapioca starch and water mixture to thicken if necessary.

18. Serve with some dried plaice and chopped Chinese celery on top. Sprinkle with some white pepper powder. 

Wineshark Mystery Restaurant - Sushi Moto 鮨本

With a week to go before Christmas, today I started my non-stop holiday feast. The first stop of this two-week eating spree started with this sushi restaurant located at Aura on Pennington in Causeway Bay.

Pushing open the noren curtain, the two chefs busy in preparation behind the L-shaped sushi counter of beechwood greeted us warmly. About to accommodate 12 customers, there are also a few tables at the side. We were served by Chef Leo on the day.

We ordered the Omakase menu ($1,780 each), with also a bottle of 酒々井の夜明け 純米大吟釀 生酒 ($750). From Linuma Honke 飯沼本家 in Chiba, this sake had a nice floral character, fresh and smooth, and was good in food pairing. 

The first course was Tsubugai 粒貝 from Hokkaido. Paired with a bit of coarse rock salt and lime juice, together with a bit of wasabi, the crunchy texture of the whelk was very appealing, rich in umami. 

The second course was Shirako 白子. The cod milt had been poached and then lightly grilled over charcoal, creamy and soft on the bite. With a touch of lime juice, it exhibited wonderful richness in taste. 

Transitioning to sushi, the first piece was Sumi-Ika 墨烏賊 from Kagoshima. The cuttlefish had a tender texture, with subtle sweetness. After carving on the surface to make it easy to chew, a bit of seaweed salt was added to season the sushi for best effect.

The second sushi featured Kawahagi 本皮剥. After cutting a thin slice of the thread-sail filefish, with the meat semi-transparent to allow one to see through to the scallions inside, the chef also added a large piece of its liver on top, rich in fish oil and flavours. 

The third sushi was 鯵 Aji from Kyoto. Seeing the chef meticulously prepared the Japanese horse mackerel, removing the small bones and taking the tough skin off, the fatty flesh was fantastic in taste, perfect with a bit of scallions on top. One of my favourites tonight.

The fourth sushi was Chu-Toro 中とろ, with the tuna caught in Aomori Ohata, weighing 210kg. The medium fatty tuna had a rich fish oil, having the right balance of lean and fatty meat which was always my preference over the more pricey O-Toro. 

Taking a break from the sushi, we were served the seasonal Kobako-gani 香箱蟹. The chef prepared a deep-fried crab cake, with a thick crab shell sauce, together with crab meat, miso and roes, plus some seasonal shungiku. Amazing taste.  

The fifth sushi was Kuromutsu 黒鯥. The bluefish was a deep-water fish, renowned for its fattiness, and this one, after grilling on the surface, was bursting with delicious fish oil and very flavourful. 

The sixth sushi was Hokkigai 北寄貝. The surf clam was very large in size, completely covering the shari, with the crunchy texture of the clam, its appealing sweetness in taste, made this another top-notch sushi. 

Coming to the fourth sakesakana, it was Ankimo 鮟肝. The monkfish liver was slow-cooked in the homemade special sauce, with great softness and essentially melting in the mouth. Flavourful without the greasiness of foie gras, it was very delicious.

The seventh sushi was Katsuo 鰹. The skipjack tuna had a nicely layered texture, showing the increasing deeper shade of red from the skin down, having good fattiness, rich in flavours and umami. 

The eighth sushi was Shima-Ebi 縞海老 from Hokkaido. The prized striped shrimps had a great sweetness and succulent texture. The chef also removed the shrimp roes during the process and then put them back on top of the sushi for slight poppy texture. 

The ninth sushi was Buri 鰤. The matured Japanese yellowtail had been briefly grilled over binchotan, to infuse the flesh with a light smoky note while also vitalizing the fish oil to enhance the flavours. Another very nice one.

The tenth sushi featured Bafun-Uni 馬糞雲丹 from Hokkaido. Prepared in a gunkan roll, the Bafun sea urchin had nice sweetness in taste, without any weird notes, and Chef Leo had also generously scooped a large portion for my piece. 

The fifth and final sakesakana was Karasumi 唐墨. The salted mullet roes had a soft and gluey texture, and after grilling over charcoal, were served on a piece of Shogoin daikon, with the delicate light taste of the turnip helping to balance the salty taste to good effect.

The eleventh sushi was Akami 赤身. The lean meat of the tuna had been briefly marinated in shoyu to infuse the meat with savoury flavours and made them silky smooth on the texture. While often being overlooked it could be phenomenal. 

The twelfth and last sushi was Anago 穴子. The conger eel had wonderful softness, dissolving in the mouth even without biting. I liked the homemade sauce used for this one, not too thick or too strong in flavours to mask the great taste of the conger eel.

Feeling still a bit of room to enable me to go for a couple more, we both had an extra piece of Oomizogai 大溝貝 ($70), and I also had another Aji ($60) to encore. The Dall’s razor clam was very large, meaty with a sweet refreshing taste. Very good.

The Tamagoyaki 玉子焼 was being reheated at a toasting oven before serving, to ensure it was warm in temperature. With a sponge cake texture, the egg omelet had caramelized surface, rich in egg and seafood flavours.  

The dessert included a piece of Daifuku 大福, with the soft mochi wrapping the red bean paste, with a fresh strawberry inside. The other one was a Tiramisu Mochi, with the chocolate powder coating the soft mochi with mascarpone. Very nice. 

Service was good, with the chef friendly but not too talkative. However, seeing him doing his job in care and attention in front of us was a treat on its own. The bill on the night was $4,961. Very good value for money considering the overall experience.