A Lunch With: Tony Truong

新年快 Xīn nián kuài lè, readers! The coming of the Lunar New Year heralds the transition from the harshness of winter to the possibility of regeneration with spring. Anticipation buzzes in the air at Mei Ume, an exciting Chinese and Japanese restaurant in London’s Tower Hill. Red hanging lanterns made by paper florist Karen Hsu from Pom Pom Factory trace a path through the room.

Among all the traditions of Chinese New Year, food takes centre stage. “It brings the people we love together,” says Tony Truong, Mei Ume’s head chef. “At its heart is the Reunion Dinner, when families come back together. It’s about sitting face to face in front of our favourite dishes; it’s the one day we need to be together.”

Tony speaks through food. It’s a language of care, he says, smiling. “In my 35 years of working, every time I’ve had a day off I’ve cooked for my kids, so they can taste the flavours of China and of my home.” Cooking, then, is for Tony an act of both love and preservation. He summons a sense of home through his Cantonese flavours, in the lightness of his braised-chicken soup, in the sweet bursts of his Dong Po Pork.

He began cooking at 17, working in a hotel in Guangxi for three years before moving to the UK. Once here, he manned a kitchen in Chinatown before running the show at the prestigious Four Seasons restaurant. Combining flavours from his hometown with influences from his new surroundings, Tony traces a diasporic history, seamlessly fusing the traditional with his own distinctive flair. “Shanghai honey-glazed BBQ pork ribs are a classic, but because it’s colder here, I’ve given the sauce a depth that fills you with warmth right here,” he says, gesturing emphatically to his stomach.

Featuring traditional rice cakes with an XO-sauce fish, its spine arched as though leaping into the New Year, Tony’s festive menu is delicately embedded within the cultural history of the Reunion Dinner, transposing centuries of gastronomic culture on to the tip of your tongue. “We’re having Dover sole. To invite in the new, we must eat fish. There’s an expression: 年年有余, translating to “May you always have plenty more than you need.” Here, the word for fish, 鱼 (Yú /yoo/) sounds like ‘plenty’ or ‘extra’; by eating fish, you’re wishing for a surplus for the New Year.

“New Year is all about inviting good things into your life, leaving the mishaps and bad parts of last year in the past,” Tony continues. “With the difficulties of the last two years behind us, I hope the Year of the Tiger allows families and friends to be together. That’s why I’ve chosen a sweet red-bean soup with sesame dumplings for pudding,” he explains. Red is for good luck, he explains, and the dumplings are called tangyuan, 湯圓, which literally means ‘soup balls’ but sounds like tuanyuan, 团圆, ‘reunion’.

As Tony laid on a glorious New Year’s feast, he talked to us about the best ways to mark the occasion – and revealed the secrets behind his delectable wok-fried seabass in sweet-and-sour sauce…

“It’s really important that everyone has something they want to eat. In Chinese culture, we tend to share all the central plates, so it’s important to think about people’s dietary requirements; my daughter is vegetarian, for instance. Give your guests the feeling of being cared for by paying attention to what flavours they like, knowing whether they can drink or if they’re allergic to anything.

“I would cook plenty on the first night so that you have that ‘surplus’ as you enter the new year. I like to serve a selection of dishes with rice and a soup, the lightness of which contrasts nicely.”

“It’s traditional to decorate the house with red and wear a few red garments for good luck, creating a festive atmosphere. I also like to present the food in a way that elevates its significance. Think about the colours of your dishes. If I’m making braised pork, which is brown, I’ll add some contrast – a few hints of red, for instance, with a garnish of goji berries, or blaze of green by laying a vegetable underneath.

“Another tip is to serve things on rimmed dishes. Not only do they prevent sauce spillages, they look great too.” 

 “New Year’s celebrations in China usually last for about two weeks – it allows for all kinds of moments, from those of reflection and calm to ones of raucousness and release.

“Spend the first night with your family over food. It’s a great opportunity to reflect on the past year, open up to each other and think about the things we’re grateful for and those we found difficult. It’s a time without judgement, an opportunity for a fresh start ahead of the next year,

“On the second night, I often have friends over for a bigger celebration. It’s nice having a multi-generational party, with my friends and their kids and my children’s friends. Eat together, enjoy the presence of other people.”

“Frying the fish twice before you add it to the sauce makes it beautifully crispy. If you don’t have a wok, a frying pan will be fine. Note that the vinegar and fish are proportionate to each other.”

Ingredients
200ml white wine vinegar
215g brown sugar
170g tomato ketchup (Heinz, if possible)
2tsp Worcester sauce
43g water
Juice of 1 lime
1 green chilli (or half, for a milder dish), chopped
200g potato starch
200g plain flour
20g salt
20g pepper
20g chicken stock powder
700ml cooking oil
1 medium egg
2 shallots, finely chopped
2 peppers (1 red, 1 green), cubed (optional)
½ tin of pineapple, diced
1 whole seabass (can be replaced with 200g prawns, chicken or pork)

Method
Start by making the sweet-and-sour sauce. Put the white wine vinegar, sugar, ketchup, Worcester sauce, water, lime juice and green chilli into a small saucepan. Mix well and bring to a boil.

Slice fish into fillets and double check for bones. Marinate the fillets with salt, pepper and chicken powder. You can do this the night before, bringing extra depth of flavour.

Crack the egg into a bowl and whisk well. In a separate bowl, mix the flour and potato starch. Dip the fish into the egg, then the flour mixture. Dust off the extra flour.

If you’re using a wok to deep fry the fish, bring the cooking oil to a high heat. Place the fish into the hot oil and fry until lightly brown; if using a frying pan, use less oil. Remove the fish from the pan and wait for 10 seconds, allowing excess oil to drip away. Place the fish back into the pan again, re-frying until the fish is golden brown. This will result in crispier and less oily fish.

Now it’s time for the final stir fry. In a new wok or pan, heat some oil and fry the shallots. Add the cubed pepper, if using, and cook until soft. Add the diced pineapple and stir-fry for a few seconds. Pour in the sweet-and-sour sauce and bring the whole lot to a boil.

Place the deep-fried fish into the mixture and toss a few times, making sure it’s hot all the way through. Enjoy it as soon as you can whilst the fish is still crispy.

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