I have made no secret on my admiration of the food at Putien. True to the spirit of the city of Putian in China, true to the magnificent ingredients found locally there. And true to excellent tasting food.
The chef has always been faithful in recreating the cusine and with the wonderful stories that accompany.
I was once again invited by Putien to taste the Autumn Menu. Thanks to Kai for your hospitality and for hosting this excellent meal.
We start with poached mutton.
Fresh mutton, lightly roasted, stewed in a superior stock for hours, and then sliced, and served with vinegar, soy sauce, garlic and ginger. The mutton was resilient to the bite, providing a nice crunch, and the blend of the sauce provided nice support to the light tasting mutton.
An interesting dish of shrimp tossed in vinegar was next up
Tiny shrimps, fully grown are used and tossed with vinegar. The concoction looks a bit like chinchalok, but in this case the prawns remain crispy and fresh tasting as it is not allowed to ferment like chinchalok. I found this dish very refreshing, very nice flavours of savoury and sour. Great dish!
We next had the braised yam and duck.
The yam is carved to look like eggs, and braised with the duck. The flavours are instantly aromatic and very savoury. The duck remained rich tasting, but was void of the unwelcome aroma that duck can sometimes have. But this dish was nicely aromatic. And very mild in flavour. I found the flavour lifted a notch with Putien's La Ma chilli sauce.
One of my favourites for the afternoon is next...a stir fried chestnut and mushrooms
Chestnuts, stir fried with mushrooms and thinly sliced lean pork makes this a wonderful dish. I have always loved chestnuts roasting on an open fire (does it sound like Christmas...haha), but stir fried, the fragrance of the chestnuts with the mushrooms were wonderful. Very homely feel.
We then had a tofu dish
A claypot of bean curd, with hairy crab roe sauce. Silky tofu, made inhouse in Putien is used and cooked in a creamy broth of the hairy crab roe. I found the crab roe provided a punch, but also had a fishy aroma which I found to be beautifully balanced with the Putien La Ma chilli sauce. Very nice. Again, a light, and nourishing dish.
For dessert, a kind of tea with quite interesting ingredients
Not quite a sweet treat like many desserts, but still a great treat. The starfruit provide a light sour pungence that lifted the sweetish syrup, and provided a wonderful backdrop for the other ingredients to shine...the dates, unstoned were plump and sweet. Very nice.
As the Mooncake season was imminent, we had the first mooncake ever to be made by Putien.
Light crispy skin, stuffing of purple potato and very light on sugar. Nice way to end a nice meal.
I cannot help but to recommend this Autumn menu. Very nice, beautiful flavours. Reasonable pricing.
Putien Restaurant
127 Kitchener Road
67496338
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