Cover At Jiang Nan, guests can explore the potential of Chinese cuisine, as chef Jereme Leung creatively reinvents the classics (Photo: courtesy of Jiang Nan)
At Jiang Nan, guests can explore the potential of Chinese cuisine, as chef Jereme Leung creatively reinvents the classics (Photo: courtesy of Jiang Nan)
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The Hong Kong-born chef breaks boundaries, making Jiangnan cuisine with traditions and artistry in mind
Jiangnan cuisine refers to the food of a geographical region that covers Shanghai, Hangzhou, Zhejiang, Suzhou, Wenzhou and the neighbouring provinces. Each of these locations have their own cooking methods and characteristics, and renowned celebrity chef Jereme Leung is showcasing a vast repertoire of them at Jiang Nan, inside the Venetian Macao.
Leung began his culinary journey in 1983, starting out in Cantonese cuisine and slowly working his way up the ladder—from dish washing duties to gathering mise en place—until he secured his first executive Chinese chef role at a five-star hotel in 1995. Here, he began exploring other regional dishes, documenting new ideas and innovative ways to reinvent flavours in bestselling cookbooks. With his eponymous restaurants all around the world, Leung is now a household name in a new form of Chinese cuisine.
“Jiangnan cuisine covers many regions surrounding Shanghai,” he says. “It includes Shanghainese cuisine, [with its] richer profile and viscous sauces, but also highlights the other regions’ lighter-flavoured dishes that require meticulous knife work and artistry in presentation.” Leung takes inspiration from classic dishes, tweaking the execution with finer ingredients to recreate a more artistic interpretation that nonetheless preserves the soul of the original. “Jiang Nan is not a fusion restaurant; we add elements to enrich the original Chinese dishes, to refine enjoyment,” says Leung.
Jiang Nan-style drunken prawns (Photo: courtesy of Jiang Nan)
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One example is his Jiangnan-style marinated kuruma prawn, inspired by the traditional “drunken prawns”. Leung replaces the traditional liquor base with white wine in a thickened sauce, only just warm enough to gently cook the prawns. The Jiangnan-style oven-baked fortune chicken takes the traditional “beggar’s chicken” and instead marinates the bird in Chinese wine, wrapping it in lotus leaf and steaming it within a salt crust.
Leung also flies in day-old fresh eel from Lake Taihu, which he steams with a simple slice of Chinese ham, allowing the oily fish to shine through, with little need for salt. His yellow croaker potsticker dumplings fuse two traditional dishes into one.
At Jiang Nan, guests can explore the potential of Chinese cuisine, as chef Leung creatively reinvents the classics, allowing Jiangnan cuisine to shine through new forms and flavours—all of which are as stimulating and engaging as the picturesque landscapes of the region.
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