| OUR JIANG NAN RECOMMENDATIONS |
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Wu Ming Ju is another Savour Asia favorite. Jiangsu cuisine is known for its fresh mild flavors as well as for richer flavors that emerge from slow cooking. Wu Ming Ju has good examples of both tastes, and has the added advantage of having only private rooms and booths, even for just two people. It’s a place to come for an intimate meal of with a group of friends where you can chat and enjoy your food undisturbed by the usual cacophony of a large Chinese dining room.
Our favorites among the lighter dishes are 清汤狮子头 (shi zi tou) or lion’s head meatball (because they are as large as tennis balls), and
鱼米之乡 (yu mi zhi xiang) composed of tiny fragrant tender morsels of fish shaped liked grains of rice). The 水晶虾求 (shui jing xia qiu) or crystal shrimp is also good. For slow roasted goodness, try the Beggar’s chicken, 推荐菜:叫化鸡 (jiao hua ji) and 黄泥煨蹄 (huang ni wei ti), a slow roasted leg of pork. As these specialties take a long time to prepare and often sell out, in particular the roasted pork, you'd better reserve them in advance when you call for a table. Pass on the Lion’s Head meatballs if you prefer them Taiwanese style, which are usually a hong shao 红烧 preparation, braised in soy until it is dark and rich. The Jiang Nan meatballs are tender and light, and served in a clear broth.
鱼米之乡 - yu mi zhi xiang: rice fish with pine nuts (fragrant tender morsels of fish shaped liked grains of rice)
叫化鸡 jiao hua ji: Beggar’s chicken
黄泥煨蹄 huang ni wei ti: slow roasted pork leg
清汤狮子头 shi zi tou: Lion’s head meatball in clear broth
洪湖麻鸭 - hong hu ma ya: southern style flattened roasted duck
What we think
Our tasters are always skeptical of places that try to up sell a mediocre kitchen with fancy décor, so a group of us were reluctantly dragged to a meal at the new Kongyiji in the upmarket Chaoyang Park West Block 8 Compound. We were already not very impressed with the two other (very popular) Kongyijis, and when we saw garden and pond setting, the goldfish and the beautiful plating of the food, we thought “here we go again.”
Recommended Shao Xing 绍兴specialties
东坡肉 dong po rou: the classic Zhejiang cousin to the Hunan hong shao rou is slowly braised melt-in-your-mouth squares of pork belly served in their own juices
醉鸭 zui ya: drunken duck in a pot 响油鳝糊 xiang you shan hu: rich dark stewed baby eel dish (sometimes translated as pudding, but it’s not really, just cooked into a thick saucy dish) yum 酒香草头 jiu xiang cao tou: vegetable from the region, very seasonal
宋嫂鱼羹 song sao yu geng: Auntie Soong’s slightly thickened soup with
small pieces of white fish, generally brightened to taste at the table
with a touch of red vinegar
黄酒 huang jiu: the local fermented specialty wine is safe to drink and fun to try in their little hot tumblers. It has a full and slightly sweet flavor unlike the usual toxic varieties of distilled Chinese rice wine.
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北京朝阳区麦子店枣营北里32号
