To celebrate the Chinese Mid-Autumn Festival, available from now until 26th November, contemporary Northern Chinese restaurant Hutong is showcasing a menu of chilli, highlighting the ingredient integral to Sichuan cooking that it is known for.
This year, Fei Wang – Hutong’s new head chef and Sichuan expert – has created a chilli-based set menu using ingredients traditionally served during the Mid-Autumn Festival. Equally, Hutong’s dishes will reflect those often enjoyed across China at the time, and the chilli menu will include:
- Red lantern crispy soft-shell crab with Sichuan dried chilli
- Whole crispy sea bass with pickled chilli sauce
- Cuttlefish and enoki mushroom, white sesame and chilli oil
- Beef-tenderloin with dried chilli in spicy chilli broth
- Hutong’s spicy fried rice with prawns, fennel seeds and chilli oil
- Chilled string beans with Sichuan ginger sauce
The Chinese mooncake, an intricately designed pastry infused with egg yolks and lotus seed paste, is traditionally shared among friends during the festival. Available in sweet and savoury forms, the mooncake contains various fillings depending on the region of China where it is made.
Hutong is offering a twist on the traditional moon cakes, with chocolate flavours offered complimentary throughout the week of the festival, and available in three flavours: mandarin, star anise and, of course, chilli.
The set menu is available from now until Sunday 26th November, for £70 per guest.