L28 A Taste of Chinatown Comes to Gresham Street

36 members gathered around the tables to enjoy a taste of Chinatown, put on by our very talented Bernard Leung with the assistance of James Hill.

Wine report by Stephen O'Halloran

A quite reasonable crowd turned up today to sample Bernie Leung’s Chinese banquet, which was delicious from the canapés through to the main course of stir-fried pork. See the food report for full details.

Canapés — Collector Chardonnay 2021

Wine 1 — Pikes Merle Riesling 2022

Wine 2 — Clonakilla Hilltops Shiraz 2023

Wine 4 — Orlando St Hugo Cabernet 2009

With the canapés, we enjoyed a really nice little Chardonnay from Collector Wines, near Canberra, although the grapes were grown in Tumbarumba, southern NSW.

This region has, in recent years, developed a worthy reputation for excellent Chardonnay. Some of Penfolds’ top Chardonnays are sourced from the region, as are some of our best sparkling wines.

The wine today was the 2021 vintage at 12.9%. A few years of bottle age have produced a rounded, well-balanced wine. It showed a gleaming green-gold colour, clear and crisp, with an abundance of quality fruit. Apple, melon and peach were prominent.

This is an extremely good commercial Chardy, drinking at its peak, with a powerful finish.

Wine 1 on the lunch menu was the highly rated Merle Riesling from Pikes in Clare. This is their flagship white wine, made only in the best years.

A beautiful Riesling at 11.5%, this wine came from the acclaimed 2022 vintage. It was an elegant, restrained Riesling showing real class.

I have no doubt that it will be drinking superbly in another 10 to 15 years. Today, the wine was showing hints of lime and lemon, with perfect acid/fruit balance on the palate, leading to a crisp, lingering finish.

I would really love to drink this wine again in 2036, by which time it will have become a classic.

Wine 2 was the Clonakilla Hilltops Shiraz 2023 at 13.5%, a wine grown in and around the Young district of NSW.

A mid-weight Shiraz, red-brick in colour and showing typical quality Shiraz flavours of pepper and spice. Oak and tannins were nicely in place. This is a cool-climate wine with great potential to develop into a refined Northern Rhône style.

I am sure that, given another five years of bottle age, this wine will become a delightful, elegant mid-weight Shiraz.

Just give it more time.

Wine 4 was a beauty — a 2009 Orlando St Hugo Cabernet at 14.2%.

A lovely 17-year-old Cabernet with all the trimmings. Huge berry-fruit aromas, an intense deep-red to near-black colour, and sweet, chewy flavours of plum, blackcurrant and chocolate.

The oak and tannins worked perfectly together on the finish to deliver great satisfaction. A rich, muscular wine and a real treat to drink.

A very typical example of a high-quality aged Australian Cabernet.

Our wine master also served some “table drop” reds. Our table scored a Deep Woods Estate Cabernet Malbec from Margaret River, which was delicious.

My wine of the day was the St Hugo.

Food report by James Hill

A welcome return to the kitchen today for former Chef of the Year winner, Bernard Leung, presenting a Chinese themed lunch for us today.

Canapés

First up Bernie presented some double fried pork bites:

• Pork shoulder cut into small cubes, and marinated in Chinese Rice Wine and Soy Sauce overnight.

• Batter of Corn Flour and Potato Starch + Xantham Gum (to repel water and keep crispy) made.

• First fry to cook, and then packed away. 2nd fry for 2-3 minutes to heat up and crisp before tossing with a mixture of honey and Chun Kong vinegar to serve.

Yours truly presented a variation on prawn spring roll — shelled and deveined prawns marinated in garlic and ginger overnight. Then smashed on rice paper and deep fried and served with hoisin and soy dipping sauce.

Main

Braised Shanghainese Pork with Rice

• Slow cooked for 2 hours in sugar, soy, garlic, cinnamon and star anise water mixture till skin is soft and silky.

• Pork was vacuum packed and stored away until reheated in the REX oven.

• Braising liquid was then passed through a sieve and then reduced by almost 1:10 until a thick glossy sauce was created.

• The liquid was then tossed through the warmed pork before serving.

Jelly Fish Salad

• Jellyfish soaked overnight, and then thinly sliced.

• Carrots julienned and slightly pickled for 30 minutes.

• Roast duck shredded and duck sauce kept to flavour the jellyfish.

• Tossed together with rice vinegar and sesame oil, and sprinkled with roasted sesame seeds for serving.

Our main was served with Bok choy and rice.

An authentic meal executed with great success highlighting texture, flavours and innovation.

Much appreciated by all attending.

Thanks Bernie.

Cheese

Mark Bradford selected our cheese today, a hard, unpasteurised cow’s milk cheese from France, ‘Comté Symphonie’. A society favourite, it came to the table in perfect condition.

Comté is a type of Gruyere, a large mountain cheese made in the Jura region on the borders of France and Switzerland. This hard cooked raw milk cheese is made at small dairies or fruitieres using the milk from several herds of Montbeliard cows.

Affineur Marcel Petite selects and matures the young wheels under a cold maturation system at 1,100 metres in the old underground Fort of Saint Antoine, carefully grading cheese before, during and after maturation.

Only a few wheels are selected for extra maturation and branded under the special label ‘Symphonie’. These are selected because of the development of intense flavour and supple texture which is in perfect balance.

Simply served with cabbage and crispy noodle salad dressed with white vinegar, sugar, soy sauce, sesame oil.

Love this salad, simple yet very tasty.