Celebrities at the opening
More than 200 people took part in the official opening night of the Wang’s Chinese restaurant. Many celebrities and media persons were presented too. Pierrot, Edit Varga (Duna TV), Kozi (TV Paprika), Mariann Falusi (Pa-Dö-Dö), László B. Tóth (Sztár FM), Ágnes Balla (TV Paprika), the event organizer Gábor Turóczi (chairperson of the 6-year-old Lucullus Gastronomy Bt.) and of course the chef-owner Wang Qiang cut the ribbon.
Before tasting the menu containing 23 Xinjiang and Beijing courses, guests watched and assisted in a noodle-preparing show, a Beijing duck show and listened to a Chinese musician playing the zither.
About the flavors of Xinjiang dishes
Xinjiang (pronounce as sindjian) region is inhabited by many ethnical groups this is why
Local gastronomic traditions are varied as well. Xinjiang kitchen is a mix of many other kitchens, because the territory has many bordering countries, such as Russia, Kashmir, Tajikistan, Mongolia, Tibet, Kazakhstan…
One of the organizers of the official opening event, Gábor Turóczi believes “the flavors of this kitchen check up with the palate of Hungarian people due to the fact that they are not as hot as the Sichuan kitchen which is widely known in Hungary.”
Chinese Xinjiang kitchen differs from Chinese flavors known in Hungary in that these dishes are not rice based. This means they use less rice for garnish, specially prepared noodles dominate the different courses. The most characteristic dishes are grilled lamb, kebabs, fried fish and rice eaten by hand.
“The local lamb is nearly as famous as the Beijing duck or the little piglet from Guangzhou” declares Turóczi. “The preparation is the following: they get a two-year-old lamb, salt the meat from the inside and outside too and put it on the grill. When it is half-ready, take it off the grill and smear it with a sauce made of egg, ginger, pepper and scallion. After this, they put it back on the grill and roast it till it is golden-brown, crispy on the surface and soft inside.
Xinjiang kebabs are widely favored snacks all around China. We can bump into them while people sell them on the streets or in restaurants too. While they are prepared, they are turned all the time. When they are ready, they put salt, pepper and other spices on them so they get a little bit spicy and hot. They are crispy outside and the soft inside.
Other typical food are the oily pyramids (a kind of noodle-bags), the nang pancakes (filled with sausages), the sanzi (twisted noodles), the ququ (round noodles filled with lamb meat) and the fried fish and meat sausages filled with rice.
Guests watched a noodle show during the official opening event. A noodle-chef presented the noodle preparation, who has learnt the skill for more then 10 years.
Stretching Chinese noodles
From a loaf of noodle, he streched tiny, very long strings only by hand.
About Chinese drinks
“Special drinks only typical for Xinjiang do not exist.” says Turóczi. “Beers, wines, soft drinks can be found in the assortment of a typical Chinese restaurant too as in any other international restaurant. The only difference is that these drinks are mainly coming from China.
European red and white wines are not really known in this Asian country. Of course some of them are imported and there are a few regions where they grow classical types of grapes but this is not common.
Most famous and renowned Chinese wines are flowerblossom wine, lychee wine and plum wine. Lychee wine is often beloved by women, because it is sweat and they put the real fruit in it too. After one has drunk the alcoholic drink, one can eat the lychee too.
“Chinese brandies are quite famous too.” Turóczi states “One of my favorites is the Confucius brandy which is made of water, barley, sorghum and green pea. It is usually 39 degrees but at Wang’s restaurant, guests can drink 65 degrees Confucius brandy as well. I have tried it too, it was good but it burned my throat.”
Chinese people produce champagne and soft drinks too, such as lychee champagne and lychee soft drink.
About the menu of the evening
The menu consisted of 23 Xinjiang and Beijing courses. Many of the meals were very tasty and some of them were strange for a European palate.
Some of the many courses on the opening night:
Duck soup with vinegar radish
Pink ginseng
Fried small fish
Roast beef with fruit flavour
Yu Xiang Can Dou (Chinese bean)
Beijing duck
Mutton in Gan Guo style
Picant chicken with Wu Dong noodles
Seasonal vegetables with fish aroma
Lamb kebab
Bei Jing pizza
Sesame ball
Coconut ball
Pumpkin pie
Some opinions about the dinner"Tonight’s dinner was fantastic.”
“The duck soup is very special from the starters, it has a special soury taste. It is also a little bit hot and spicy and I can feel the ginger as well. It is an ideal starter for the coming courses. The vinegar-radish is a little bit strange in it but You must try everything and at least it fits the soup.”
“Every dish has its beauty from the menu.”
“I cannot decide on the beef with a fruity taste. It is beef but sweat. Quite strange. For me it is something like garlic chocolate. However, Chinese people eat it while drinking brandy, so in that situation its aroma might be different."
