Undercover Gourmet

by Jason Fong

“Excuse me how would you like your chicken prepared?”

“Boiled please.”

“Alright, one boiled chicken coming right up.”

Not the most appetizing way you would want chicken served. Then again if it was not for this style of cooking, we would not have this miraculous dish.

Typically, this style of chicken is known as Haianese chicken or Hoi Nam style chicken. Where this culinary adventure takes you to find the best of the best Hainanese chicken is at Café D’Lite in Vancouver. As I was visiting my friend for the first time in Vancouver, it was lunch time when I stepped off the plane into his car. The first word that came out of my mouth was “FOOD!” followed by “NOW!” Luckily everyone was in the same frame of mind, so our host takes us to a small little restaurant that barely fits 20 people, with a lineup that goes out the door. Once inside, we even had to share a table with a stranger. We are about to open the menu when our host tells us to put it down and just have the chicken he ordered. We agree as we are too hungry to argue, and are willing to wait for this chicken that he speaks of. We expect the norm of how this dish is usually served, whole chicken chopped up, served cold on one plate, chicken-flavored rice in a separate bowl, with green onion and ginger sauce on the side for dipping. But to our delight, we were presented with a mound of rice in the middle, surrounded by warm de-boned chicken arranged in an outer circle, fresh cucumbers drizzled with a sweet soy sauce, plus a dish of half green onion and ginger sauce with the other half being a sweet chili sauce.

The first bite was simply a foodgasm of flavor. The chicken is tender and silky, while being infused with aromas of garlic and spice from simmering in a stock. Sauce for the chicken is a homemade mix of pureed green onion, ginger, oil and salt. Sounds simple, but an improper ratio will sauce to become too bitter or too spicy. The sweet chili sauce, although I cannot confirm what is in it, is most likely chili, sugar and shavings from a unicorn horn for that magical taste. The swirling of the 2 sauces together for dipping of the chicken makes it amazing. Realizing when you are stuffed, that you and your friends each ate ¾ of a chicken makes the experience worthwhile.

Now it may seem like a case where I was hungry and that anything would taste great, but I have proof through my journey home. I was stopped at customs on my return flight at the Vancouver airport, and was asked to open my luggage for inspection, as during the luggage scan they could not make out one of the images. Upon inspection, they could not believe that somebody was trying to bring home 4 chickens with sauces, ziplocked and tupperwared carefully onto the plane. Yes, it was good enough to bring home to share with my people deprived of good chicken.

The Café has moved and expanded from its humble beginnings to a larger restaurant, plus a Café Express in Aberdeen mall. Make the chicken run and don’t feel embarrassed if you decide to bring it home on a plane. You are not alone.

This post in written by Jason Fong, and edited by Evonne Li

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by Jason Fong

KFC. Do you just picture Colonel Sanders telling you your chicken is finger licking good? It may be true for most, but to me KFC is Korean Fried Chicken. This version of KFC is not available at just any Korean eatery. This KFC is only available at Lee House Restaurant, just south of Whyte Avenue on Calgary trail.  This chicken, appropriately named Lee House Fried Chicken on the menu, is most interesting to me as it comes in 3 distinct sections:

Sauce, Crunch, and Wow.

The sauce is a deep savory BBQesque type sauce with an Asian note. If you can imagine a Korean cowboy, do so now. I believe the sauce to be derived from tomatoes, bean paste and honey which gives it that sweet sticky feeling as it rolls off your tongue. The Crunch can only be brought to your attention by comparing it to potato chips. For example, you have a relatively good crunch from a regular potato chip, but compared to a kettle fried chip, the crunch is just that much more spectacular.  Something about kettle frying, which is how this chicken is cooked, gives it a supernatural texture. I will have to simply call it Crunch².  The Wow part is when you combine tasty chicken with the Korean cowboy BBQ sauce and Crunch². Your taste buds will be at your mercy, as they anxiously wait for teeth to sink into that fine piece o’ chicken. Another Wow is that even though the chicken is tossed in sauce, the chicken stays crunchy even to the next day after being warmed up in the microwave… that is if you had any leftovers to take home.

The next KFC item is the chicken balls. Do not mistake these chicken balls for what is normally produced in Western style Chinese restaurants. This is not a piece of chicken the size of a pea, encased in deep fried batter the size of an orange.  No sir (and madam). These kam poong gi chicken balls at Lee House are big chunks of whole chicken meat with skin on, floured and fried. The chicken balls are then tossed in a sweet spicy sauce, ready to destroy any diet you may be on. You will never have chicken balls quite like this any where else unless you are eating at the owner’s house.

If you are to have some KFC at Lee House it is best enjoyed on a cold day with friends. Add a few orders of the soon tofu stew (spicy seafood and soft tofu soup) and their version of pork belly and you will be having a delicious time.

This post is written by Jason Fong, and edited by Evonne Li

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by Jason Fong

We have all had a good steak. Face it, the “I love Alberta Beef” rings true in all of us, but what sets apart a good steak from a great steak? Ladies and gentlemen I give you the Bronzed Rib Eye Steak at Rigoletto’s Café. Rigoletto’s steps outside the norm by thinking outside the box, and stepping into a bigger box filled with flavor. There is no teriyaki sauce, sage butter, or garlic butter here my friends. Most places give you the same generic tastes governed slightly different from where the cow was born, raised, or fed. This is all cancelled out when the steak is rubbed down with Montreal steak spice and grilled to your liking. But wait, it gets even better! The marinated rib eye steak that is seared on the grill to your liking is coated with an amazing honey jalapeño butter sauce. The sauce is not overly spicy as the jalapeños are balanced by the honey to mellow the heat. While grilling, the sugars in the marinade caramelize into a sweet glaze enveloping the rib eye as the fat renders all around and crisps around the edges nicely. Add pan-fried potato gnocchi and tender crisp veggies and you have yourself a real steak dinner. The gnocchi, I would recommend an extra side order of to dip the sauce your steak leaves behind. As you cut into your first bite of steak it is tender to the touch. As this bite makes contact with your tongue the fat and sugars sizzle and melt into a delicious blend of happiness that evolves with every chew. As the tender bits of morsel pass, you are left with a bit of heat from the sauce which sets off the brain to repeat this process. When you awake from this temporary food stupor you realize the steak is gone, the vegetables are gone, and all that remain of your gnocchi are bits of parmesan cheese and chives.

If you must make a steak your last, make it this one. Pair it with the Italian Chianti and enjoy thoroughly.

This post is written by Jason Fong, and edited by Evonne Li

Jason Fong is a former co-worker and long time friend. He is a real pork aficionado, particularly devoted to bacon and pork belly. A day hardly goes by without him suggesting new ways and methods to add bacon into every meal.

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