“Is it the 6th or 7th floor today?” This question may not sound like much to others, but it might whet the appetite of the Chamber’s members – the two floors are where the Chamber holds banquets for guests or have their meals. Reopened after renovation, CGCC Club has inherited the legacy passed down from the old club.
Tao Tao Ju, a renowned restaurant in Guangzhou with a history of over 140 years, reopened last year after renovation and immediately became a hotspot for photo-taking on Shangxiajiu Pedestrian Street. It is evident that “legacy and innovation” is an issue that traditional restaurants must face.
CGCC Club has a brand-new look
Coincidentally, after many months of renovation, CGCC Club has adopted the Chinese name “中華軒” to serve members with a brand-new look.
Many restaurants have used the time of diminished business to regroup despite the universal challenge of COVID-19. CGCC Club is one of them. After renovation, it heralds the elegant simplicity of a fashionable Chinese restaurant. Following an unveiling ceremony held last May, it has once again become a place in the city where political and business celebrities gather to interact and network.
Each dish has their own winning recipe
From the fresh vegetarian dishes to the Braised Goose Feet with Pomelo Peel and Crispy Fried Chicken that fill the air with the aroma of oil, many of the old club’s signature dishes are still the shining stars at CGCC Club. Particularly noteworthy is the Pork Knuckles and Ginger Stew with Salted Egg, a tradition that is still being upheld. Salted eggs are used since fresh eggs have the problem of getting hardened easily when soaked in ginger vinegar for a long time. The rich sweet aroma is unaffected, with the flavor remaining just as it was in the past. It is no wonder that the Chamber’s representatives in the Legislative Council, from Philip Wong to Martin Liao, like to bring this famous dish of the Chamber to the Legislative Council. Even Lee Shau-kee, a local business tycoon, specifically ordered this dish at CGCC Club for a feast with relatives and friends in celebration of the birth of his grandsons.
Another example is the Grilled Eel with Chinese Rose Wine, which is also a signature dish that has been passed down from the old club. However, CGCC Club has replaced the freshwater eels of the past with saltwater eels for their chewier meat texture. As always, the eels are delivered fresh and live every day, and the chef immediately marinates them with rose wine, Maggi seasoning and secret fish sauce for several hours. The dish is then fried fresh when an order is placed. The result is a plate of grilled golden eel slices with crispy skin and plump meat. And don’t forget the saucer of secret sauce to complement the flavor.
The ingredients in a bowl of Buddha Jumps Over the Wall
Besides inheriting the essence of Cantonese cuisine from the old club, CGCC Club has introduced new dishes to offer guests a wider range of Chinese cuisine. The best example is the famed Buddha Jumps over the Wall, a typical Fujian dish. The chef who oversees Buddha Jumps over the Wall at CGCC Club mastered his skills at Ju Chun Yuan in Fujian. The restaurant’s cooking technique for preparing Buddha Jumps over the Wall was approved by the State Council in 2008 as a national-level intangible cultural heritage, which is a proof of the authenticity of its dish.
CGCC Club’s Buddha Jumps over the Wall is mainly prepared with abalone, sea cucumber, fish maw, shark’s fin, pigeon eggs, mushrooms, and tendons. Especially worth mentioning is the pigeon eggs – many restaurants use quail eggs, but CGCC Club uses pigeon eggs for their smoother texture that makes it easy to swallow. It is also inevitably more costly. What's more, pigeon eggs have thin shells and they cannot be used if they are dented or scratched when their shells are being peeled off. Nevertheless, CGCC Club spares no expense in order to concoct an excellent dish, even if on average only six or seven out of ten pigeon eggs can eventually be used. To make the soup base, pork trotters, pork keel, chicken feet and duck meat are boiled together for a day. The next day, the soup is stirred and added with five-year-old Huadiao wine before putting in the ingredients to make Buddha Jumps over the Wall. Charles Cheung, the Chamber’s Vice-chairman, is often seen at CGCC Club enjoying Buddha Jumps over the Wall as he has a deep appreciation for this well-known Fujian delicacy.
There is always appetite for the finest dishes
Why not use western ingredients flexibly? Roasted Iberico Barbecued Pork is another new item on CGCC Club’s menu that should not be missed. It is made of tender pork collar from Spanish acorn-fed pigs, which is barbecued in an all-purpose sauce made with a private recipe. When savoring this dish, one might find some inconspicuous sugared beans by the side. They are actually prepared by boiling soy beans with maltose for six to seven hours. It is no exaggeration to say that this dish alone is enough to entice people to finish an entire bowl of steamed rice! This is precisely the “shortcoming” of Roasted Iberico Barbecued Pork - it often causes guests to inadvertently eat more steamed rice than they intend to, and then they can’t help but lament to have limited space in their stomach for more when they see other delicious dishes on the menu, such as Baked Chicken with Sesame, Hangzhou-style Braised Abalone with Potato, and Fried Crab with Pepper in Singapore Style.
To simplify the description of its mix of old and new dishes in just a few words does not do justice to CGCC Club’s diverse offering of cuisines. In its brand-new look, CGCC Club has also launched afternoon dim sum treats and added classy tableware to offer guests a higher level of dining experience and put the cherry on top of the cake for meetings of various sizes. It is because of each and every one of the skillfully concocted dishes that the Chamber has added a memorable sweet and refreshing note to its image as a bridge in industrial, commercial, economic and trade affairs.
