Eating Out

The Ding dynasty delights

May 18 - 24, 2016
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Gulf Weekly The Ding dynasty delights

Gulf Weekly Stan Szecowka
By Stan Szecowka

THERE was a classic joke that went round the school playgrounds in my youth following the arrival of microwave ovens into kitchens back home in the UK.

It went something like this. A chap goes into his local restaurant and asks about the chicken ‘special of the day’ and wants to know how long it will take?

The owner replies in broken English with a Chinese accent: “Put chicken in microwave oven, when it goes ‘ding’, it ready.”

There’s no Chicken Ding on the China Garden menu but there is a culinary master called Chef de Cuisine Ding who makes a superb Cantonese-style Roast Chicken dish, a succulent breast served with honey sauce.

The Gulf Hotel Bahrain’s award-winning Chinese restaurant is celebrating snapping up the popular chef from a rival establishment by presenting a menu of his special selections, throughout this month.

It’s a clever ploy as devotees of his cooking are flocking to the venue and at the same time he’s deservedly attracting a whole wave of new fans along the way.

Born in Shanghai, on China’s central coast, the country’s biggest city and a global financial hub, Chef Ding started showing his culinary credentials at the tender age of eight, when he started cooking breakfast for his parents.

By the age of 15 his passion for fine food led him to a culinary school where he further enhanced his skills.

He started his career at a prestigious hotel in China before heading to Bahrain in 2004 to join one of the oldest Chinese restaurants on the island. He took up his first Chef de Cuisine position in 1995 when he joined a renowned restaurant in Adliya.

Three months ago Chef Ding brought his 25 years of culinary experience to China Garden.

When I heard he was a master of Cantonese-style cuisine it was a case of ring a Ding, Ding, count me in!

There’s not much he can’t do with chicken and there are two divine dishes with this meat on his special appetisers selection.

The pan-fried egg pancake stuffed with minced chicken (BD2.200++) is magnificent and the Tri-Colour Dimsum (BD4.200++) would best be described as a wok of art (apologies for the pun but I’m in a jokey mood) and featured vegetables, chicken and shrimp.

Other starters sampled included the Shanghai Dragon Calamari (BD4++) a crunchy crispy fried squid and Ding’s Spicy Shrimp Popcorn (BD3.900) which unfortunately was too plentiful for my party to finish but the delightful Joann Q. Tugonon, China Garden’s outlet manager, kindly wrapped up the left-overs so I could reheat them (ting - stop it!) back home the following day.

I had to make room on the night for the main courses. I have my father-in-law Brian staying, a retired fish ’n’ chip shop and restaurant entrepreneur, who was tempted to tackle the Chinese Crispy Fish and Szechuan Chips (BD7++) and was well impressed.

The Spicy Lamb Skewers (BD5.600++) are a firm favourite with the locals, I’m told, wok-seared with peppers, onion and cumin seeds.

We all tucked into a bowl full of Chef Ding’s amazing homemade Szechuan Noodles with seafood (BD3.900++) which alone is worth the visit into Manama on a busy night. Truly sensational and I’m wondering, as my surname starts with Szec, perhaps it’s a sign and that one of my ancient ancestors visited China and the locals got the spelling wrong. It does happen.

One ancient Chinese account declared that the ‘people of Sichuan uphold good flavour, and they are fond of hot and spicy taste’ – just like the Szecowkas!

One other ‘stand out dish’ was the Classic Hunan Pepper Steak (BD6++) pan-seared beef with broccoli neatly presented as a wrap.

You can’t leave Chinese Garden without one of its legendary desserts and, in my opinion, the house specialty is a stunning Toffee Banana with vanilla ice-cream.

It’s like biting into a toffee apple, tough on the teeth, so best used with the cutlery to break up the hard crust before savouring the soft, warm interior. However, do not try and tackle it with a spoon as I found once again to my cost as I dug in only to see it catapult in the direction of the good lady wife Kathryn’s right eye. Ding, Ding, Round Two and a fatal blow to a happy marriage.

The way to break into this delightful dessert is to use a fork to delicately pierce the outer-skin … more culinary tips in next week’s issue!







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