This Summer, Summer Palace at Shangri-La Hotel, Guangzhou offers guests three selected Cantonese dishes by Chef Jacky Chan, the restaurant’s Chinese executive chef.
Chef Chan combines Guangdong and Hong Kong elements into the dishes’ design, picks out quality ingredients from different places and cooks them from the heart. The three highly recommended dishes are Double-Boiled Sea Whelk Soup with Chicken, Barbecued Pork and Chicken Liver, and Summer Palace’s Signature Dim Sum Combination, which not only taste good and keep diners healthy and satisfied, but also help guests understand the local Cantonese culture.
Double-Boiled Sea Whelk Soup with Chicken
For Cantonese people, cooking and sipping soup is a kind of habit or hobby and a way of life. Perhaps it is due to the hot and humid climate; another important reason is that Cantonese chefs probably never lacked good ingredients. As an important national transportation hub and trading port since ancient times, Guangzhou receives goods from other places in China and even from around the world.
Locals use different ingredients to make soup. Summer Palace’s Double-Boiled Sea Whelk Soup with Chicken is prepared by simmering pork, chicken, chicken claw, medlar and ginger. It is very helpful to boost appetite and to nourish innards. Notably, the Chinese name for sea whelk has the same pronunciation as “gong”; thus, when this dish is presented, the waiter will strike a gong to announce that the soup is ready.
Barbecued Pork and Chicken Liver
Barbecued Pork and Chicken Liver is a part of Hong Kong’s local cuisine and its Chinese name expresses wishes and fortune. It is said that in the ‘70s, people in Hong Kong were strongly driven to become rich. Barbecued Pork and Chicken Liver not only tastes good, but its meat pieces are also shaped like copper coins, so they were very popular at the time and many shops sold them. The pork becomes crystal clear after being cured with Chinese distilled spirits and sugar, giving it a sweet and refreshing taste and making it less greasy. The chef recommends guests to enjoy this delicacy by placing the meat in a tortilla-like wrap.
Summer Palace Signature Dim Sum Combination
As the signature food in Guangdong, the local dim sum is a must-try for every visitor to Guangzhou. Summer Palace’s dim sums are popular among local guests because of their good taste and the realistic presentation never fails to “wow” guests.
Inspired by the local culture, Executive Chef Chan prepared eight kinds of dim sums in a birdcage. Legend has it that, in old Guangzhou, the rich young masters always went out to play with a birdcage. The teahouses then began preparing the holder for their birdcages. Today at Summer Palace, waiters wearing ancient clothes will show off a birdcage for guests who order these dim sums and take them back to those flourishing times.
This Dim Sum Combination offers a variety of sweet and salty dim sums. Guests may also order various types of steamed buns, such as Steamed Shrimp Dumpling and Cha Siu Bao.
Guests may call (86 20) 8917 6498 to know more or make bookings.
