A Taste Of Imperial Dishes

One of the richest aspects derived from the 5,000 years of Chinese civilization is its cuisine. Since there were emperors and palaces, there had always been imperial cuisine served to the emperor and his extensive family which included a wife or two, dozens or hundreds of concubines, royal descendants and court officials.

During the Eastern Zhou Dynasty (770-221 BC), Imperial banquets and feasts followed precise rules set by the Rites of the Zhou Dynasty. When the Son of Heaven gives a banquet, “there must be six cereals and six animals for food, the six clears for drink, 120 delicacies, eight dainties and 120 urns of sauce”. Wild rice stem was included in the cereal classification, the “clears” refer to water and various types of wine and the six animals were sheep, pig, chicken, horse, cattle and dog. Well, this was Ancient China!

Fast forward to November 2009, a select group of media personalities were invited to a luncheon at the elegant Cheon San Restaurant of the Imperial Palace Waterpark Resort & Spa (M. L. Quezon Highway, Maribago, Lapulapu City, 494-5000). Other restaurants at the Imperial Palace are the Maru (Korean cuisine), Coral, Delmar, Café Amiga, Bel Ami and Familia.

Imperial Palace GM Richie Kang, P.R. Kyra Cabaero, Asst. Restaurant Manager George Mascardo and P.R. Asst. Mariecris Pelacio joined to feast on an elaborate banquet prepared by an old friend, Executive Chinese Chef Kenny Yong Tze Hin.

Two cooking techniques, steam and deep fry, were used to prepare the Dim Sum Appetizer Platter. Steamed dishes were the Sio Mai, Ha Kau and Vegetables Dumpling; while the Taro Puff, Bean Curd Roll and Almond Flakes Prawn were deep fried. That is a total of six dishes and, as usual, the dim sum delights prepared by Chef Kenny were delicious!

After a light soup was served, the Minced Fish and Bean Curd in Sweet Corn, the pride of Northern Chinese cuisine was displayed: the Roast Beijing Duck. My beloved readers know that this dish may be served two or three ways; skin and meat, while the remaining carcass may be made into soup. Very nice! At this point, your favorite food columnist began wondering how many dishes would be served so I could allocate whatever gastric space was left after 9 dishes. This was lunch and without any alcoholic beverages (my loyal followers know why I cannot drink that Tsin Tao Beer) to aid the digestion, life of a food guru would be indeed difficult.

I took a look at the kitchen through the glass panel and saw my friend Chief Kenny working, feverishly preparing the next five dishes: Braised King Prawn with Chili Sauce, Baked Cod Fish with Mayonnaise, Wok fried Soft Shell Crab with Egg Yolk, Noodles in Black Bean Sauce and finally the desserts, Chilled Sweet Coconut Pudding with Pumpkin & Deep Fried Milk Cake.

My favorites were the Taro Puff, Almond Flakes Prawn, Beijing Duck and Soft Shell Crab. Except for the baked fish whose only fault was that it had too much fat to be garnished with mayonnaise, all other dishes were fit for the Imperial Table of the Chinese Emperors. After viewing the video I copied from Arirang TV, I look forward to re-visit Imperial Palace Waterpark Resort for a taste of the cuisine of the Korean Emperors.