A touch of Taiwan at grand cafe

Fried noodles with pumpkin slices is another example of authentic Taiwan cuisine. Photo by Ye Jun / China Daily

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In China, Taiwan is known as "treasure island" for its rich agricultural products, while fruits and seafood are available around the year.

Chef Smith Lu says Taiwan cuisine is an age-old style, with Japanese and aboriginal influences. The jellyfish appetizer, for example, is prepared with cucumber and sea urchin, with a taste similar to Japanese sashimi.

"We've brought seasonings from Taiwan to ensure the authenticity of taste," says chef Hsieh Cheng Chih, adding that they brought rice wine and soybean sauce to the tasty "three cup chicken", a typical Taiwan dish. The three cups refer to wine, sugar and soybean sauce. The chefs adapted the ingredients and made it into a "three cup" frog.

Instead of serving braised pork rice and sesame oil chicken, as in previous years, the chefs opted to offer fried rice noodles with pork, mushroom and pumpkin.

It is a bright golden plate topped with tasty bits of pumpkin and pork slices, with the color concurring with the Chinese beliefs of good fortune and prosperity.

The secret, the chefs say, is to use mashed pumpkin color to give the noodles rich color.

"It is a banquet dish in Taiwan," says Lu. "Usually rice cake or rice noodle is served toward the end of the meal, so guests will not go back home still feeling hungry."

Another outstanding dish was deep-fried sea bass fillet, crisp and sweet from the use of sweet potato starch and served with a vinegar and garlic sauce that added contrast.

Finally, traditional almond cream soup is matched with deep-fried flour fritters, which works like magic when it is dipped into the sweet soup.

Taiwan restaurants in Beijing give the impression that Taiwan cuisine is mostly street food. The chefs say that it is definitely more than just oyster omelet or spring rolls and sausages.

Taiwan cuisine has three major characteristics, and there is plenty of high-end produce to play with, such as golden tail moray and blue fin tuna.

"The first is freshness and taste. The second is lightness of flavor. The third is quick frying, with the perfect timing," says chef Hsieh. And at the Grand Cafe, they certainly showed off the best examples.

If You Go

Grand Cafe

2/F, Grand Hyatt Beijing,

1 East Chang'an Avenue, Dongcheng district, Beijing.

010-8518-1234 Ext 3628.

Average cost per head: 300 yuan ($49)

Recommended: "Three-cup" Frog, Deep-fried Sea Bass Fillet, Traditional Almond Cream Soup.

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