Surf's up in Shanghai

Alan Wong, celebrity chef from Hawaii.[Photo provided to China Daily]

His accolades include being named chef of the year by Sante Magazine in 2001, the same year Gourmet Magazine ranked one of his restaurants No 6 in a listing of America's Best 50 Restaurants.

Eager to bring some of that magic touch to Shanghai, one thing Wong has embraced is the city's famous xiaolongbao, which he is re-creating at his Hawaiian "lab" with a little tweak - duck meat wrapped in rice paper, with a touch of foie gras for the broth. He has named it Duck Duck.

Duck Duck is still being perfected and will be introduced to its "hometown Shanghai" once finished. But what he calls its "cousin" - seared Hudson Valley foie gras topped with li hing mui chutney - appears on the chef's tasting menu both in Shanghai and Hawaii. The velvety foie gras, is perfectly balanced by the sweet-sour li hing mui (literally dried plum for traveling) on top.

The snack popular in China's southeast was believed to have been brought by Cantonese laborers to Hawaii early in the 20th century, and became widely used in cocktails and as flavoring powder.

"I can be inspired by anything," says Wong, from a staff colleague's lunchbox to a photo in a magazine.

The You Have Been Shanghaied cocktail, for example, which fuses VSOP Cognac and ginger ale with li hing mui, takes its inspiration and is created in memory of those unwilling to set sail from Shanghai to the US in the 19th century as laborers.

And the Wong Way Martini is a personal variation of the original, containing only vodka and pineapple. The fruit, which is also the logo of Wong's culinary chain, is the nickname he got as a teen while working at a pineapple plantation. It's also an international symbol of hospitality.

The cocktail is an example of how Wong uses what he calls "palate memory" and how he prefers not to know the recipe for something he tastes and likes. "When I re-create it," he says, "I can do it in my own way and nobody can sue me for stealing his recipe."