A Gastronomic Wonderland, or An Encounter with a Star

We’re visiting the head chef at the Chinese restaurant CHi

This is my first time in CHi’s kitchen. The contrast with the dining room is striking! It feels just like stepping into the back office of a hotel: you go from a realm of comfort, tranquillity and cosiness into the austere atmosphere of intense work. Here, everything is in its place; the chefs move confidently along well-rehearsed paths: culinary masterpieces are created in the kitchen without any fuss or nervousness. Here is their creator. ‘Yip,’ the chef introduces himself. He has an Asian face from which it is difficult to gauge his age, an open gaze, and a smile. I would never have taken this man for a Master with over 20 years’ experience. Yip (Yip Wai Leong) will be preparing the dishes for today’s meal right here, of his own choosing. We are publishing the recipe for one of them, complete with step-by-step photos.

Yip is a valuable new addition to the team led by Tony, the owner of UPTOWN SQUARE (remember, the project comprises four restaurants: CHi, ZEN, Chesters and eStilo). Chef Leong has brought the authentic flavours of Eastern cuisine to Cyprus. Yip has worked in restaurants at well-known hotel chains in the United Arab Emirates, India, Malaysia, Brunei and Indonesia. Chef Leong’s rich background, as a winner of numerous international competitions, has infused his culinary creations with elements of the gastronomic traditions of the countries where he has worked.

The chef is a man of few words. He feels far more confident with a wok in his hands. This is the Master’s workplace: a powerful gas burner capable of bringing a litre of water to the boil in three seconds. Quickly stir-frying ingredients at maximum temperature is the fundamental principle of Chinese cooking.

Classic dim sum are steamed: the Coriander Dim Sum (€6.20 for 4 pieces) – an interesting combination of prawns, pork, carrots, black wood ear mushrooms and coriander. The delicately tender crab dim sum (Mint Alaskan Crab, €11.80), familiar from previous reviews; the savoury ‘SI XI’ (€14.50), made with lobster tail, king crab, vegetables and black wood ear mushrooms. This is a great way to start your meal; try ordering the dim sum before your starters – they’ll set the tone for the rest of the meal, awakening and preparing your taste buds.

Jellyfish salad (€13.50) is the most exotic starter at CHi. The dish is made from jellyfish with added wakame seaweed, fresh red and white seaweed, and is seasoned with a sauce of lemon sorghum and chilli oil.

And Yip begins preparing the first course. An assistant brings in a pre-prepared semi-finished product: a duck leg marinated in a special blend of spices. Pure vegetable oil is quickly heated in a thin-walled wok, and the chef begins to literally bathe the duck in a shower of flames. The succulent duck with a crispy skin (Crispy Succulent Duck, ¼ – €17; ½ – €29, whole duck – €56) is ready, as if by magic. An assistant quickly carves the tender meat, adding delicate pancakes, leeks, cucumber and homemade sauce.

Chef Leong works non-stop. The next masterpiece is the ‘Golden Sand King Prawns’ (€16.80). The pre-prepared prawns are quickly fried in a light batter, and then… Yip prepares a creamy sauce of a bright yellow, truly golden colour. The sauce is made using eggs that have been marinated in a special brine for two months. It is these eggs that give the dish its distinctive flavour.

Steamed Chilean Sea Bass (€29.80) is a light dish, but no less interesting for it! Chilean sea bass is much larger than the familiar Cypriot lavraki (Λαβράκι – Greek for sea bass); its flesh is firmer, yet tender, and flakes easily. The fish rests on a ‘bed’ of spinach, seasoned with garlic, chives and the restaurant’s signature black bean sauce.

The next dish is a new addition to the CHi menu: Beef with ‘Moromi Miso’ sauce (Moromi Miso Black Angus, €28.80). The beef, lightly seared in a wok, is tender and melts in the mouth, whilst the slightly sweet Moromi Miso sauce – thick, with a velvety texture and a subtle spicy aroma – brings the meat together with beech mushrooms, shiitake mushrooms, lotus root and asparagus. Yip prepared the dish in no more than four minutes – it’s fantastic!

Our meal was ready; for the CHi team of chefs, this was just a warm-up – dinner at the restaurant was only just beginning. The waiters carried the dishes into the dining room, and Tony, having put aside his constantly buzzing iPhone, joined us.

This dinner is just as good without wine. We were dining with an old friend who shared his struggles during a difficult period, when many restaurants are unable to weather the crisis and are closing down. ‘No, that won’t happen to the UPTOWN restaurants,’ I thought, looking at Tony, who is genuinely passionate about his business, and the close-knit restaurant team, quietly and almost unobtrusively serving customers day after day as they come here to spend some of the best evenings of their lives.

Recipe by Head Chef Yip Wai Leong Wok-fried chicken with broccoli and garlic sauce
Ingredients (serves 2): Chicken fillet (diced) – 160 g Broccoli – 200 g Half a medium carrot One-third each of a small green, yellow and red sweet pepper Garlic (finely chopped) – 2 cloves Chicken stock – 1 stock cube Oyster sauce – 2 tbsp Vegetable oil – 2 tablespoons Potato starch – 2 tablespoons Chinese cooking wine – 2 tablespoons Sesame oil – 2 tablespoons Sugar – 1 teaspoon
Method
Dissolve the stock cube in a small amount of boiled water, add the oyster sauce, potato starch, Chinese cooking wine, sesame oil and sugar, and stir well.
Place the broccoli florets in boiling, lightly salted water and blanch for 4 minutes
Add the sweet pepper, diced (approx. 2 x 2 cm), and the carrots, and boil for a further minute, then drain.
Heat some vegetable oil in a well-heated wok and stir-fry the chicken (for about 5 minutes), then add the boiled vegetables, garlic, and a mixture of stock, cornflour and oil, and stir-fry everything together over a high heat for 2–3 minutes.