Back-to-the-Roots Cantonese Cooking
Started by the former head chef of Hang Seng Bank (of the Hang Seng Financial Index fame), this out-of-the-way smallish restaurant is nonetheless very well attended; reservations are a must. The food is classical Cantonese, a style that is, strangely, very hard to find even in Hong Kong, which is the biggest city in Canton Province. The Cantonese, you see, are flexible people, bending to the whims and demands of the many international visitors coming through Hong Kong. Since most visitors demand the spiciness of Szechuan, and the famed Peking Duck; Hong Kong has become the pinnacle of these out-of-province cuisines, and has gradually neglected its own roots. My test for any restaurant claiming to be Cantonese is to ask whether they make Stewed Pomelo Skins, a native citrus that tastes between a tangerine and grapefruit. It’s the white pulp beneath the outer yellowish-greenish skin that is eaten, and takes many days of preparation to do it right. No wonder most restaurants, wary of the revenue calculus, have discontinued making this dish years ago. It is a shame that traditional Cantonese cooking, which focusd on the freshness of its ingredients, and just barely cooked enough to preserve the natural tastes, has given way to blackened this and chili that.

Enough of my tirade because Tim’s Kitchen brings me back to the cuisine of my youth, and for a brief moment, makes me believe that all is well with Cantonese cuisine. Tim’s Kitchen has a focus on seafood, with wonderfully unadorned “Glassy Shrimp” that is succulent and infused with flavors from the wok. More exotic dishes include dried abalone, sea cucumber, conch, crabs, and a variety of fishes. Its Fried Chicken with Crispy Skin is a favorite, and, as with most dishes, should be reserved several days in advance. This is because Tim’s Kitchen is run like your own home should be. To guarantee freshness, the chef shops each morning according to what has been ordered for that day. It is a culinary experience well worth the extra price. And yes, they do make a passable Stewed Pomelo Skin, but, alas, as compared to the ones I had in my youth, the texture is a little too limp from overcooking, and the sauce is a bit too dark which overly masks the taste of the pulp. You can’t go home again…    []

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Recommended Dishes: Fried Chicken with Crispy Skin, any Seafood dish

     ­IronStomach, Brookline, MA