Imperial cuisine at the Hong Teh, Ambassador City

A selection of Chinese cuisine, exquisitely prepared and presented.

In Imperial China the Emperor was called Hong Teh. He ruled the “Middle Kingdom” or Chung Kuo. Why the Middle Kingdom? This was because in the Chinese view, China was the centre of the earth and all other countries were tributaries of the great Chinese culture. Many societies have given themselves this honour throughout history, but few with such good reason.
China’s close neighbours, as well as nations thousands of miles away, were admirers of the inventive and artistic Chinese culture and its impact on world civilisation. Even people’s fascination with Egypt should not blind them to the fact that ancient Egypt’s only contributions to the world were large monuments and some advances in the field’s of medicine. Compare this with Chinese culture which gave the world uncountable artistic and useful things which the world could not function without today. Paper, ink, the magnetic compass, silk, gunpowder; the page could be filled with major contributions and another 6 with minor ones. What do people usually eat off of? China. Guess where it came from?
In the days of the “Son of Heaven” or Hong Teh, the cooks at the Imperial Court of China invented dishes of utmost variety for the delectation of the nobles.
My companion and I had the opportunity to try some of these at Ambassador City’s Hong Teh restaurant. I gave up my beloved ham and cheese sandwich for one day and my companion her cottage cheese and Som Tam, as we fancied dining like Chinese nobles for one lunch.
The Hong Teh lived up to Imperial Court Standards, for it was a huge and plush restaurant. Instead of the eye-burning red and gold of most Chinese restaurants this size, the Hong Teh was decorated in shiny black woods and imperial blue.
We began our trip through the Chinese menu with the usual starter, Dim Sum. This was brought to our table in such profusion that we had to control the staff’s enthusiasm and make a quick selection. I chose minced pork dumplings with herbs in mushrooms, salapao (dumplings of Chinese sweet white bread stuffed with red pork) and Kuay Tiow Lort or ‘Tube Noodles’ which are like large square Cannelloni (and are probably their ancestor) and stuffed with bean-sprouts, pork, crab, shrimp and seasonings.

A friendly staff awaits, ready to serve you “Chinese style”.

My companion chose Khonom Jiib (seasoned meat-balls of minced pork), pork wrapped in seaweed and Ha Kao, transparent noodle filled with shrimp, pork and spices.
All these foods have probably been tried by readers at one time or another. But the delicacy of flavour with which the cook imbued them was a hallmark of the subtlety of Chinese cuisine. Nothing was heavy or overdone, gooey or too sweet. The dumplings were firm yet tender.
We thought we would be able to eat more of the delectable Dim Sum, but a dish of hot, steaming noodles appeared at our table. Made with delicately seasoned pork and fragrant with the perfume of bean sprouts, they made the perfect dish for filling up those ‘empty’ places. No Moo-Goo Gai Pan this!
For dessert we chose the Chinese style crepes filled with delicate Phutsa or Voison plum jam.
All this was accompanied by aromatic and soul-renewing Chinese tea.
The dinner menu was a classic expel of Imperial Hong Teh cuisine. The menu had the usual and the unusual. Selections varied from fried rice to sea cucumber and the world renowned delicacy, shark’s fin soup. This was the most expensive item on the menu and it ranged from 3,000 baht for 2 people to five thousand baht for 3. Not everything was that expensive with the average dish priced at 300 baht. which is considered average for this calibre of food.

Recipe: SUGO AI ZUCCHINI (Spaghetti sauce with courgettes or vegetable marrow)

Karolina, who is an accomplished cook, brought me some of her favourite recipes and one follows here:

Zucchini is a relatively expensive vegetable in Thailand. Why? I don’t know as it is easily grown. I used to have some plants and the only problem was that they suffered of some disease which made them all slimy, but I am sure this has something to do with the soil and could be rectified by the wizards from the agricultural university.
Ingredients:
1 1/2 tablespoon of olive oil;
two or three small courgettes;
one large onion;
about seven to ten small button mushrooms;
one clove of garlic;
one large red chilli sliced thinly in strips (optional, my sister prefers to use a dash of Tabasco sauce);
two tablespoons of whipping cream;
grated Parmesan cheese or another hard cheese like Romano or aged Gouda;
salt and pepper to taste.
The courgette, onion, mushrooms and garlic are separately chopped. The onion and garlic are sautéed in the olive oil until they are transparent after which the chopped vegetables are added as well as the chilli. Let this mixture simmer for about fifteen minutes and add a little beef stock or a soup cube dissolved in half a cup of water.
Just before serving, extinguish the fire and add the cream as well as the cheese. Stir vigorously to keep the cream from curdling. Add salt to taste. Serve with or over the “al dente” spaghetti.