‘Off Menu’ celebrates dining scene with one-of-a-kind culinary experiences
Off Menu will showcase local flavours reimagined in unexpected new ways by the world’s most innovative chefs, mixologists and tastemakers. The event will be anchored by chef collaborations between Hong Kong and Macau’s culinary trailblazers and their international counterparts to create twelve one-off dishes.
These collaborations are centered on a simple premise: local ingredients spotlighted by two chefs with distinct culinary styles who will be working together for the very first time.
Pairing up with Hisato Hamada of Wagyumafia (Tokyo), Vicky Lau of Tate Dining Room will be putting a Chinese spin on Wagyumafia’s signature beef with her Sesame Sichuan Wagyumafia Beef Tartare. Sichuan spiced oil and local sesame oil combine to create an emulsion sauce that is mixed with the beef tartare. The tartare is served with a rice crisp, featuring a medley of Hokkaido, Chinese and local rice, inspired by both the Shanghainese cake and the toasty rice crackling lining the base of the traditional Cantonese claypot rice, and topped with generous mounds of caviar.
Richard Ekkebus of Amber and Jordy Navarra of Toyo Eatery (Manila) on the other hand will spotlight the local Lung Guang chicken. Inspired by the classic Chinese dish of chicken with yellow wine, Chef Richard’s take sees Lung Guang chicken breast made into a roulade and seasoned with dried sea lettuce and its skin seared for textural contrast. A jus is made from chicken carcasses and flavoured with oyster sauce. The chicken roulade is served with dried oysters, shaoxing wine sabayon, bok choy and topped with sudachi zest.
Palash Mitra of Rajasthan Rifles and Uwe Opocensky of Petrus found culinary kismet having discovered the interesting parallels between Bengali cuisine and French cuisine.
Bengali cuisine, like French cuisine, is served in a specific sequence of courses, and there are strong similarities between the cooking techniques used in both, particularly their predilection for slow cooking and making reductions. Chef Palash uses copious amounts of seafood such as scallops, shrimp, squid, crab as well as a local short grain rice similar to Gobindobhog (a variety of sticky rice from West Bengal) for his Bengali-inspired Seafood Biryani which is served with a saffron raita, ‘transparent’ raw green papaya chutney and a fennel and onion salad for freshness. Also using seafood, Chef Uwe slow cooks abalone for four hours before finishing it on the grill. The fork-tender abalone is served with a cream made with its own liver, smoked vegetarian XO sauce made entirely with vegetables grown locally in Tai O and locally foraged pepper leaves.
Vicky Cheng of VEA and Richie Lin of Mume (Taipei) will make local rice the star of their dishes. While Chef Richie will be serving his take on claypot rice, Chef Vicky’s rendition of Flower Crab & Fish Maw Congee sees rice bloomed in salt and oil, cooked with a flower crab shell stock and topped with handpicked flower crab, braised fish maw, house-made chye poh (preserved turnip) and pieces of fried dough sticks.
Vicky Cheng of VEA and Richie Lin of Mume (Taipei) will make local rice the star of their dishes. While Chef Richie will be serving his take on claypot rice, Chef Vicky’s rendition of Flower Crab & Fish Maw Congee sees rice bloomed in salt and oil, cooked with a flower crab shell stock and topped with handpicked flower crab, braised fish maw, house-made chye poh (preserved turnip) and pieces of fried dough sticks.
The other chef collaborations include May Chow of Little Bao Diner who will join Nobu Namiki of Kermis (Tokyo) and Tam Kwok Fung of Wing Lei Palace who will team up with Simon Rogan of L’Enclume (Cumbria, UK) and Roganic. The acclaimed master of Edomae-style sushi Mitsuhiro Araki, of soon-to-open The Araki that will be taking up an exclusive residency at heritage hotel House 1881 this winter, will also make a special appearance to showcase his tuna cutting skills and share some special treats with event-goers.
Off Menu also takes pride in championing the next generation of rising culinary stars, including Stephanie Wong of Roots, Gary Wong of Rech by Alain Ducasse and Eleven Madison Park alum Leonard Cheung. These up-and-comers will draw on their deep-rooted connections to Hong Kong to create a selection of canapés that highlights local heritage ingredients. Professing it to be “the anchovy of the Canto World”, Chef Stephanie will be incorporating dried salted white croaker fish into a sauce with chopped peanuts and burrata to accentuate the flavours of deep-fried abalone.
Hong Kong’s top mixologists will also be shaking up creative cocktails that spotlight local ingredients. The line-up of award-winning mixologists include Agung Prabowo of The Old Man, Sandeep Hathiramani and Gagan Gurung of Tell Camellia, Victoria Chow of The Woods Nomadic, and Joe Villanueva of The Wise King.
Additional beverages will continue to quench the thirst of eventgoers, with an exclusive presentation by Baijiu Society of their east-meets-west craft offering, Baijiu Beer, and by local champions Josh and Caleb Ng of Interval Coffee Bar who will be serving up hand-drip coffee and natural wines.
Off Menu will showcase the best of Hong Kong’s music scene with a line-up of local music legends and indie stars. Spinning great tunes on-stage will be Mukzi & The Island (Hong Kong) and world-class DJ KULU, one of the most recognised faces in the city’s club scene.
The single-day ticket will grant diners access to sample 12 distinct dishes, experience a variety of bespoke alcoholic beverages, and taste thoughtful canapés. Tickets can be purchased at offmenuhk.com.
Comments
Post a Comment