On a September evening in Shanghai, two culinary worlds came together at the two-Michelin-starred 102 House for a one-night-only dinner.
Zor Tan, chef-patron of Singapore’s one-Michelin-starred Born, arrived for the second leg of a four-hands dinner, a banquet celebrating Yunnan’s wild mushrooms through the meeting of Cantonese banquet finesse and French-trained Nanyang flair.
Under the name East Meets East: A Nanyang Journey with Mushroom Delights, the special menu curated by Chef Tan and Chef Jingye Xu at 102 House showcased the splendor of the fleeting Yunnan mushroom season, telling its story by cultural crossover.
Singaporean Chef Zor Tan, whose roots trace back to the Fujian Province in southeastern China, has built a reputation for marrying French gastronomy with his Chinese roots.
“Few chefs trained in western cuisine truly specialize in Chinese cooking,” noted Chef Xu, reflecting on their first leg of the collaborative dinner at Born – a satisfying exchange of synergy born out of their mutual understanding.
“Many chefs I collaborate with prefer to create their own dishes,” said Chef Tan, “Chef Xu, however, wants us to co-create every dish and that’s a real challenge.” Chef Xu agreed that it was demanding but he insisted in it, believing that working this way would spark creativity and produce ideas and dishes with limitless potential.
A six small dishes kicked off the evening, from Yunnan cherry tomatoes marinated with lychee juice, luffa with fungi paste, to cold braised porcini mushroom, a good opening of the show.
Crispy fish maw with wild mushrooms got right to the heart. Tan’s western finesse turned the gelatinous texture into a delicate crunch and served with caramelized onion chicken jus, while Xu’s Cantonese touch brought out sweetness and umami from mushrooms. Crisp, soft, each element elevated by the other.
Geoduck with porcini ice cream, echoing the first leg of collaboration at Born in Singapore, delivered a delightful surprise – briny clam meeting earthy mushroom, sea mingling with forest.
“I’m French-trained,” explained Tan, “so I add French influence – the silky mashed potatoes play against the geoduck.” Meanwhile, Chef Xu’s precise handling of the clams ensured the dish carrying voices of both chefs.
The steamed pomfret with Sichuan pepper and mushrooms burst with tender and delicate touches, uplifted by Chef Tan’s chicken broth, harmoniously blended with a classic Cantonese stock. Infused with the aroma of Sichuan pepper and mushrooms, the dish settled the Cantonese subtlety with French richness, translating umami taste into a universal language that spoke to the Eastern and Western palates.
Cantonese tradition ran through in comforting classics, of which the crisp-skinned chicken stuffed with glutinous rice and mushrooms, as well as the claypot rice layered porcini beef patty, oxtail stew, and shaved matsutake, simple and soulful.
The re-invention of Cantonese classics extended into dessert. Bird’s nest mixed with peach and oolong tea infusion, black sesame rolls, hand-pleated phyllo parcels filled with jujube puree, and lye-treated rice dumplings adorned with coconut floss, each offered a refined, pleasant twist on tradition.
Yet, what made the dinner exceptional wasn’t the rarity of ingredients or the precision of its cooking. It was the revelation of East with West, which flavors didn’t merely blend but they flowered each ingredient, turning local heritage into a universal language. In that sense, tradition and imagination twirled as one.
With an eye on the future, 102 House will seek to inspire new culinary journeys, honoring the boundless spirit of Cantonese cuisine.