Estonian Restaurants


		The internet-guidebook Restaurants of Estonia

We asked Madam Yong Xue Hu, an owner of the Tallinn restaurant of Chinese cuisine "HANLONG", to tell to us about the mysterious Chinese cuisine.

The mistress of the restaurant and cook, Pan Ming Hui boasts of the expert chef coming directly from China, holding an appropriate diploma and having years of experience. This chef works in the restaurant in Estonia.

Chinese cuisine has an ancient history and rich traditions. Also it has the connection with the Chinese philosophy, as well as all spheres of a life in China.

The reason for occurrence of numerous local cuisines is the variety of geographical and climatic conditions of China. These cuisines have names of provinces. For example, the Southern cuisine is known for its very hot dishes. But there is also such cuisine as in Russia: black bread, salmon caviar or even balyk from a red fish.

Chinese cuisine is distinguished by a huge variety of dishes. The preparation of dishes requires practically everything that nature provides. For example, fins of a shark, sea turtles, trepans, snakes, frogs, seeds of a lotus and many other things.

There are three varieties of Chinese cuisine, the daily one, the celebratory one and a front door. The daily cuisine consists of very accessible dishes. Chinese eat three times a day. Breakfast is very early and easy, dinner dishes are cooked from rice, flours, vegetables, greens and various seasonings. The menu of the majority of restaurants includes the celebratory dishes. These dishes are not habitual for Europeans.

According to the Chinese tradition the food should be not only tasty and useful, but also to look charming and to warm a soul. But you cannot take pleasure with taste and aroma of food if you eat in front of the TV.

Chinese cuisine and medicine are closely connected. The aspiration of the person "to eat" is natural, therefore it cannot be considered as a sin, and food should be natural and healthy. All products should be natural and minimally processed, but even cucumbers are fried. Products keep their taste, form, nutrients and vitamins.

Meat is only an addition to a dish, but not its basis. There should be only 20 % of animal proteins in a diet. The main ingredients of a meal are vegetables and fruits. Flavouring sensations have special value in Chinese cuisine, but various spices of which are practically without fat.

Now I tell how to prepare potato salad, a soup with tomatoes and egg flakes, a trout on a pair and apple slices in caramel (using the most usual products and utensils).

Wash the tomatoes, then cut fine slices, put in a saucepan and fill with ordinary water (it is possible to use a ready chicken broth), finish with boiling, then remove the foam, pour thin jet, stirring slowly, preliminary whipped egg add salt to taste and some drops "sezamovoje" oils. Soup is ready. You can decorate it with the cut green onions.

Clean 3 potatoes, cut lengthways on plates to thickness of 2-3 mm, and then cut as straws the same thickness. Add them the bottom of boiling water for 1-2 minutes, then sieve the water through a sieve. Then add salt, and for giving specific taste to add 2-3 drops "sezamovogo" oils. In a separate frying pan, heat up a small amount of usual vegetable oil, add 2g pepper, quickly stir and fill the prepared potato. Mix all the ingredients at regular intervals. The dish is ready to be served at the table.

You need 500 g apples, 1 glass of granulated sugar, 3 glasses of vegetable oil for apples, 3 spoons of vegetable oil for preparation of caramel, 150 g of starch. Cleared from a peel and apples, cut them into slices, roll them in starch, and then dunk into a mix of starch with water. Warm up in a deep frying pan vegetable oil, fry in it apple slices and lay out in a bowl. In other frying pan pour 3 spoons of vegetable oil and pour, stirring, sugar. Sugar should be kindled on weak fire. When caramel gets a golden shade, lay out in it slices of apple, quickly mix and take out on a plate greased with vegetable oil. The dish is ready to be served. Cautiously! Caramel is very hot and it is possible to be burnt by it. To this dish usually move small plates with cold water in which apple slices in caramel it is possible to cool. In such a way it is possible to prepare not only apples, but also other fruit, bananas and even an ordinary potato.

500 g a fillet of trout, salt, Soya sauce, vegetable oil. Clean the trout, slightly add salt, cut across slices of 2-3 cm thickness, lie out on a plate and put on a steam bath. For creation of a steam bath it is possible to use improvised means or special double boilers. Time of preparation is 7-8 minutes. Soya sauce must dissolve to taste with boiled water and fill it with the prepared fish. Then warm up on a frying pan in a little vegetable oil and fill it with the fish. It is possible to decorate the dish with green onions.