Quanjude introduces "molecule dish"

[nakji]

According to this sina.com/Xinhua report:

Cooks of Quanjude Restaurant show a molecule dish in Beijing, capital of China, Jan. 6, 2011. Quanjude, a famous roast duck restaurant released molecule dishes on Thursday. Molecular gastronomy can preserve more nutrition of the food.

Ever helpful, they provide no more details. Has anyone read more about this in the Chinese language press? Anyone tried the dish yet?

Interesting that they're touting the health benefits; I imagine that will really appeal to people. You can't tell from the photo what the actual dish is, though.

[nickrey]

More info from the Beijing Review.

"Molecular Cuisine

Chefs show off "molecular cuisine" at the Qianmen branch of Quanjude in Beijing on January 6. The century-old Quanjude, famous for its Beijing roast duck, added two molecular dishes (beef short ribs and creamy duck breast with black pepper) for its Lunar New Year's Eve dinner menu. Molecular cuisine is prepared by chefs with a knowledge of the physical and chemical changes that occur during the cooking process. This allows for the creation of more nutritious dishes (XINHUA)"

My bet is that they cooked the meat sous vide.

[hzrt8w]

My bet is that they cooked the meat sous vide.

I think you are right on. I did some searches for the "molecular cuisine" (and wonder why it was translated as such) in Chinese. Came across this page:

http://big5.ifeng.com/gate/big5/news.ifeng.com/gundong/detail_2011_01/07/4075960_0.shtml

“‘分子菜’是啥意思啊？”面對顧客的詢問，全聚德前門店廚師解釋說，所謂“分子菜”是用西方正在流行的低溫烹飪方式，利用相對較低的某個恒溫點，將食材通過真空、慢烹等方式進行烹制。廚師還說“這個牛仔骨比傳統方式做的更細嫩，營養成分不被分解，更易於人體吸收”。

In summary, it translates to "cooking in vacuum at constant, low temperature, whereas the nutrition remains in the food".

Edited January 8, 2011 by hzrt8w (log)

[nakji]

Is this a new cooking style in China? Are any other restaurants taking up the modernist cuisine trend and adapting it to Chinese cuisine, I wonder?