#blahvsfood goes to Wing and sees the future of Chinese food

Wing is the inverse of Chef Vicky Cheung’s French inspired Vea, its reflection through a mirror that traverses cultures and continents, past and present, homage and inspiration.

5 years after creating a synthesis of French and Chinese cuisine and living in Hong Kong, Chef Vicky decided to take the plunge into cooking Chinese food. But in a city where everyone has a traditional favourite, the only way forward was to break the traditions of Chinese food. Instead of the rigid hierarchies of Cantonese or Sichuan or Hunanese food, Vicky developed “borderless” Chinese cuisine that cannot be easily defined but where your palate tells you that this is undeniably Chinese food. 

Chilli Japanese oyster / golden crystal egg

If you go to Wing expecting canonical Chinese dishes, you will be disappointed. But if you go with an open mind, thinking of the potential and possibilities of Chinese food you will be blown away. 

Smoked eggplant / house made sour sauce 

Wing uses many of the same ingredients as Vea. Abalone. Fish maw. Sea cucumber. Pigeon. Hairy crab. But it uses them with traditional Chinese accompaniments, techniques and approaches, while creating a new pan-Chinese roadmap to get to its destination. So you may be surprised if a dish doesn’t have the “Mala” you traditionally expect, but if you try and argue that this isn’t Chinese food you would be wrong. Because this is irrefutably, unarguably Chinese food of the highest quality. It may not be authentic to a region, but it is authentic to a new national Chinese cuisine.

Drunken hairy crab/winter melon 

Some noodles to soak in the crab sauce 

This is what I found fascinating about Chef Vicky. He spent years learning how to cook French food and even more learning how to cook Chinese food. But he has taken all that learning and chosen a path that looks forward, not back. So yes he pays homage to his Chinese roots, not by recreating dishes, but by being inspired by them.

Chilli Alaskan crab / crispy cheung fun

We have less than five really good Chinese restaurants in India. Some (like China Kitchen) are genuinely very good. But conceptually, creatively and in terms of execution, Wing is light years ahead of what we know as Chinese food in India. Along with The Chairman (which has the complete opposite approach), this is one of the two best Chinese meals I’ve ever had in my life. 

Baby pigeon / sugarcane 

The amount of flavour and imagination that went into the dishes was astonishing. From the smoked eggplant with sour sauce to the drunken hairy crab with winter melon, or the depth of flavour in the rice with abalone sauce, I can still taste the flavour of the dishes a week later. But it wasn’t just flavour. It was the imagination that really blew me away. He took sea cucumber, a notoriously slimy and difficult ingredient, cooked it so that texturally it tasted like the gelatinous pork fat that so many people love, and served it as a spring roll so the crunchy, crispy, perfectly fried skin contrasted with the smoothness of the fat. Or the dessert, just a fresh ginko nut, double boiled like a sweet refreshing tea, with a giant slice of fresh white truffle dunked into the tea, giving it an earthiness and complexity that elevated it into an unforgettable dessert. 

Abalone sauce / rice

This is food that can be polarising to start with. I remember that when Den started, everyone claimed that Zaiyu Hasegawa wasn’t really cooking Japanese food. Over time Den proved that Japanese food isn’t a meant to ossify in a static point in time. Wing is doing the same thing for Chinese food. If you want to have the classic roast goose done the way it has been done for decades and more go to Kams (or ideally, The Chairman). But if you want to see the future of Chinese cooking, Wing is the only game in town. 

An extra surprise course of noodles 

Ps: Wing has zero Michelin stars. It’s one of the best restaurants in Asia and the world. But it has zero Michelin stars. More proof that unless you’re an old white man from a former colonial power, the Michelin guide is completely irrelevant. It chronicles the past while being left behind by the present.

Double booked ginko nut / thick cut white truffle 

We ate:

Starters:

• Geoduck / yunan chilli / bull kelp 
• Smoked eggplant/ house made sour sauce 
• Chilli Japanese oyster / golden crystal egg
• Drunken hairy crab / winter melon 

Mains:

• steamed wild Macao sole
• Fragrant chilli Alaskan crab / crispy cheung fun 
• Sea cucumber spring roll / spring onion 
• Baby pigeon / sugarcane 
• Fish maw / yellow fungus 
• Abalone sauce / rice 
• Noodles 

Dessert:

• Double boiled fresh ginko nut / thick cut white truffle
• Mignardises