Master chef liang of the old Bali-Hi of ITC relived the past at The Pavilion with stir-fried greens and steamed sea bass. Eram Agha sampled some dishes
It was time to go high on nostalgia and dig out some legendary dishes that were served at the old, and now defunct Chinese cuisine restaurant of ITC — Bali-Hi. The Pavilion presented a festival to relive the memories of the old outlet when chicken manchurian and fried rice were a big hit in Delhi. That surprised the master chef liang then because it wasn’t the authentic Chinese cuisine, “I joined Bali-Hi in 2000 and worked for three and a half years. My visit happened when people in Delhi raved about manchurian delicacies, chilli chicken and every dish was full of ginger, garlic and lots of tomato sauce, actually Chinese food was saucy,” he laughed and added, “People would deep fry without keeping any ethics of timing in mind, chicken or rolls were fried in the pans and were very oily. That was the taste of Indianised-Chinese.”
He excused himself for some time and after joining us back, said with a grin, “One of the guests was a regular customer at Bali-Hi, he has come to taste the chilli chicken I made way back then with some chilli bean paste, fresh green chillies and some Kashmiri mirch for colour.” Was the chicken hot or mildIJ Was the dish an ode to Indianised-Chinese food or an authentic chinese delicacyIJ Chef liang said, “I don’t make Indianised-Chinese food, but I make Chinese food for the Indian palate.”
With this we went around the buffet comprising the Bali-Hi menu and he looked visibly thrilled to serve stir-fry vegetables to the new generation of Chinese food lovers who are open to many things that were dismissed a decade back. “There was a time when Indians didn’t enjoy stir-fried greens. They were not even open to steamed fish but today steamed sea bass is a delicacy. Now food connoisseurs appreciate thin batter, non-oily prawns,” he said.
At the festival, the chef had prepared a lamb stew with Chinese cabbage. It was not an easy thing to make, a lot of time and care went in preparing it. The meat was boiled, strained of all the dirt and then put back on the burner for a stew preparation. When served, we found the meat tender and the cabbage crispy. The chef’s favourite ingredient was the yangjiang black bean sauce that is made from fermented black beans, soaked in soya. It acquires saltiness that is best suited for Indian palate. He used the paste in stir fried chicken with chilli bean sauce and baby potato black bean sauce.
Pineapple is readily available in China and adds to the taste of any delicacy. He used it in preparing sweet and sour fish in pineapple and hoisin sauce made of seafood. Our plate was full of meats and veggies and a small serving of barbecue fried rice on the plate reminded chef of the culture in China, “The leftover steamed rice is used for making chicken or egg fried rice at homes in China. When people eat out they prefer meats and greens. Rice is eaten only at homes,” he said.
Pan fried bean curd bamboo shoots in black pepper sauce and mixed vegetables with white garlic sauce were mild in taste and light on the system too. “People like the Chinese fare, I am glad to relive the old days,” said the chef.