Featured Cuisine: complex by design
Cuisine from Qufu is relatively obscure in China and it might not be known at all if not for the fact that the city, in southwest Shandong province, was the home of Confucius.
Cuisine from Qufu is relatively obscure in China and it might not be known at all if not for the fact that the city, in southwest Shandong province, was the home of Confucius. Hong Kong diners can sample some of its finest dishes at Island Shangri-La from Monday to February 3.
The qualities that make the cuisine stand out are richness and delicacy, and it was the Kong family - Confucius is known as Kong Zi in Chinese - who helped it to develop.
It has two regional influences: Lu cuisine, derived from Shandong cuisine, is centred on seafood; and Su cuisine, which comes from Jiangsu province and is noted for, among other qualities, its soups and a focus on retaining the flavour of each ingredient.
On top of these influences comes imperial cuisine, based on the personal favourites of several generations of emperors and the food served at royal banquets. It is complex, labour intensive and demands great attention to detail.
"All the dishes we're creating are backed by an important Confucian teaching: 'Food can never be too good, and cooking can never be too sophisticated'," says chef Washington Lin Shu-cheng, who studied the cuisine in Shandong. "It hints at the fact that Kong family cuisine is made so meticulously."
Lin, together with chef Ng Kok-leong and three others, designed a menu inspired by the history surrounding Confucius and his writings, such as the Analects.
Each item of the Six Arts Cold Appetisers, for example, is inspired by the six arts and skills that Confucius suggested should be adopted by nobles and seen as the virtues required of a well-rounded individual.