TRULY CHINESE!

Ni Hao and xeixei are all the Chinese I know! But that hasn't stopped me from having a lifelong love affair with Chinese cuisine. Long before the 'food wave' or rather deluge that has permeated most nooks and corners of urban India, the fare most people ate out was Chinese, or rather what went for Chinese- the usual chowmein, chili chicken, sweet and sour chicken, the momos of course and such. Where I grew up, for some strange unfathomable reason, most Chinese eateries served the dishes along with a small plate of sliced onions and whole green chilies. In fact, most places still do. Then one got acquainted with China Town in Kolkata and above all, the eateries in Tangra. There were several Sundays of getting up early and heading to China Town for breakfast. I had a simple rule, I ate what I could recognise. The five star hotels were of course always there but in one's youth the pocket is not always that way inclined!

When you move places - literally that is - and get to know another city, learning about, being told and discovering eating joints is always a big part of life. Then you walk into one and you know  that's its for keeps. Walking into Taipan, the Chinese rooftop restaurant at The Oberoi, New Delhi, is like meeting up with an old friend. Everything is familiar and warm with a feeling of happiness and a sense of continuance. Taipan in Chinese denotes Supreme Leader and the restaurant lives up to its name every which way. This is one place where the Chinese food is as it should be -authentic to the core. In a world that seems to be hurtling by at beyond the speed of light rate and where traditional cuisines seem to acquire indefinable avatars and so called cutting edges, it feels good deep within to know that some eateries remain constant. Incidentally, The Oberoi, New Delhi celebrates its golden jubilee this year! Taipan, that opened in 1982 is course much younger but what I really love is the decor and ambiance which has remained as it was then - classy and subtle, like a regal beauty ageing gracefully.

To be at Taipan during the Chinese New Year (February 19-26) is to celebrate the Year of the Sheep with a festive menu drawn up by Chef Qian Jian. The special menu is compact but perfect, going from chicken and Chinese cabbage Jiao Zi dumplings to chrysanthemum red snapper with sweet and sour sauce to tofu with black fungus, snow peas and baby corn in a spicy soy sauce to stir fried rice noodles with Chinese cabbage and much more. The convenient part is one can have any of the dishes from the new year menu individually or as part of a  set menu, which to me couldn't have been better because if you are in Taipan and you don't binge on its wide varieties of dumplings, it seems an incomplete meal. And that is exactly what we did - making our picks from both the menus (new year and a la carte) with, naturally, help from Chef Jian.  

I have no qualms in admitting it was binging with a bang! We began with the chicken and Chinese cabbage Jiao Zi dumplings and went on to devour shrimp hargow; the signature four seasons dumplings; char sew bao and shrimp and asparagus dumplings. Every bite was a melt in the mouth affair with paper thin casings, except for the bao which  traditionally has a thick-ish casing while the generous stuffing were all delicious. For the main course we had braised pork dumpling (yes again!) in soy sauce, from the new year menu, with its tantalising sweet and savoury taste; the chrysanthemum red snapper with the delicate sweet and sour sauce; the wok fried string bans with green onion and fresh red chili - the crispness of the bean certainly requires a very deft hand - accompanied by stir fried rice noodles with Chinese cabbage from the new year menu. It was a meal that makes you feel that everything is all right with the world and the one above there is looking down on you with benign blessings.

Braised pork dumplings in soy sauce

Chrysanthemum red snapper in sweet and sour sauce

Wok fried string beans

When it comes to sweet dish, I have no hesitation in saying that  if you have a Chinese meal forget the desert and instead go with green tea. Chef Jian however had a pleasant surprise in store, the sweet date dumpling (yes, yes again!) in syrup, also from the new year menu. When it came it looked like a hardened small rasogolla in a watery syrup, but when you bite in, the date filling inside wins over your palate with subtleness. For a dish that gave nun-like vibes and look, just white and almost childlike simple, the taste was just that, restrained yet so winning.

 

Sweet date dumplings in sugar syrup

As we walk out of the rooftop restaurant, overlooking a stunning verdant spread below especially the golf club greens, you realise that for all the world experimenting with food in every which way from molecular gastronomy to what-have-you, nothing can ever score over authenticity, especially in a classy ambiance. It makes you fall in love with Taipan all over again!