by Astrid Bouwman
Perhaps a Tuesday isn’t the most obvious day of the week to go out for dinner, but for fans of Cantonese cuisine, every day is a suitable day. This was certainly the case on Tuesday, June 16, at restaurant Ming Dynasty in The Hague, where our table was fully occupied. By now, VNC China Dining Club has become a well-known concept; several diners had joined before, and the newcomers were drawn by the enthusiastic stories and the ever-popular Cantonese cuisine.
As an aperitif, we once again focused on Chinese culture in the form of pottery. Host Oey Toen Ping had chosen a variety of objects in various clay colors this time. For instance, a tea set in the shape of a peach, decorated with graceful leaves of yellow and green clay. Despite the distinct, vivid colors, not a drop of paint had been used. The ‘pot’ hides teacups standing on a rack, so that spilled tea is neatly caught. There were also an elegant teapot and cup made of brown clay, beautifully painted with birds, and a gourd of yellow clay from which the pointed snout of a little mouse poked out – it had probably just eaten its fill.
And that is what we proceeded to do. We started with two starters featuring shrimp: one incorporated into a bean cur sheet roll, the other diep-fried in a flour coating. According to my dining companion, this dish wasn’t strictly Cantonese, but rather an adaptation to Dutch palate – a classic case of culinary evolution. In the subsequent courses, two more dishes featuring shrimp in the supporting role appeared: first in softl-fried eggplant, later in a beautifully baked fish cake.
Next followed a whole sea bass, richly garnished with scallions and wonderfully tender. The fish could have been steamed one minute longer to allow the bone to be removed completely clean, but steaming it longer would have made the meat too soft – a delicate balancing act. The following vegetable dish is known by various names: Kangkong (Indonesian), Ong Choy (Cantonese/Hong Kong) or Kongxincai (Mandarin). In any language: water spinach with garlic, with its crunchy bite, is, in its simplicity and bright green color, a welcome addition to our plates.
Beef, of course, could not be missing. We were served a platter where fried beef was served between noodles and bean sprouts; The noodles were wide-cut and made from rice flour. In the other dish, brown slices of fried beef competed with green, briefly-boiled broccoli florets, while the honey-sweeet fried walnuts invited us to snack on them. The chicken dish was steamed and sliced; mild in flavor by itself, but very tasty with the accompanying ginger oil. The pork lay in orange-red roasted slices on a bed of wheat noodles that had been boiled and then crispy-fried. A platter of juicy orange slices formed a fresh conclusion to this imperially abundant meal.
Every course sparked a lively discussion on questions such as whether a dish was authentic Cantonese or a culinary adaptation, or whether it was prepared in the traditional way or via a shortcut in the kitchen. That is what happens when you sit at a table with a group of VNC members with Chinese roots (ranging from Northern to Southern China and Hong Kong) and Dutch people with China experience.
Cultural differences between ‘mainland Chinese’ and ‘Hong Kong Chinese’ also came up: where and how do you sit, how do you hold a bowl (with one or two hands), how do you use chopsticks – with or without the help of a spoon? Even street customs, such as spitting or clearing one’s throat, were discussed. And of course, there was the difference between the current residents of those regions and the diaspora. At times, we almost needed subtitles because besides Mandarin, Cantonese and Hong Kong Cantonese, it turned out that we even found ourselves speaking Russian.
The menu of Ming Dynasty can be viewed on paper in the restaurant. There is a Chinese version, but also one for Dutch or international customers, with clear descriptions and familiar terms like nasi (rice), bami goreng (fried noodles), kroepoek (prawn crackers) and loempia (spring rolls) – accessible to a wide audience. From the very extensive menu, the following was chosen this time:
- Prawns Soybean Roll
- Fried Shrimp Dumplings
- Eggplant with Prawns
- Noodles with Beef
- Steamed Sea Bass
- Water Spinach with Garlic
- Sliced Beef Tenderloin with Broccoli in Honey Sauce
- Wide Noodles with Beef and Bean Sprouts
- Sliced Chicken with Garlic and Leek
- Bami Goreng with Pork and Bok Choy
- Fried Fish with Prawns
The staff was quietly clearing tables when the VNC China Eetclub had finished eating and talking. We said goodbye to each other like good friends, with a new date and location on the agenda: on Friday, July 10, we hope to meet again in Rotterdam for the Szechuan cuisine of restaurant SanSan.
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