Tsinoy Cuisine Goes Farm-to-Table at this Ortigas Hotel’s Dinner Series

(SPOT.ph) Responsibly sourced fresh produce in the hands of acclaimed chefs for a special degustation that highlights Tsinoy flavors. This is the one-of-a-kind dining experience Westin Manila has cooked up for January 31 and February 7. The Ortigas hotel has tapped Chef Sharwin Tee, alongside Executive Chef Rej Casanova and journalist Yvette Tan, for CuiSCENE no. 2:  Farm-to-Table Contemporary Chinese Degustation Menu. Now we know that's a really long title but it also sounds like an opportunity to indulge in a real good dinner, one that promises to explore what you can do with local vegetables and Chinese-Filipino cooking.

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Westin Manila brings Tsinoy flavors to their latest special degustation

The two-nights-only affair will be held at the hotel's Seasonal Tastes. There will be eight courses total, with both chefs Tee and Casanova in charge of four dishes each. But since Casanova has no Chinese heritage to speak of, he said during the media preview that he is letting Tee lead the way for the two dinners so the Tsinoy flavors can really shine through. 

The point of the dinner is rather personal for the chef. "There's an entire cuisine, which I like to call Tsinoy cuisine, that the early Chinese immigrants would use Filipino ingredients [for], therefore changing the flavors, and changing the dish itself. That's the cuisine that I've been trying to cook, propagate and promote," he says in a Westin press release. 

"For this particular collaboration, we thought it would be nice to celebrate our local vegetables," says Tee in a statement. "We highlight one vegetable per dish and apply different cooking techniques. That way, we can really show how versatile these vegetables are and how delicious they can be." As this is a farm-to-table dinner, local produce is, of course, the star—all courtesy of the Agribusiness and Countryside Development Foundation. 

This non-profit is what Yvette Tan, a member of the board, brings into the equation. The group works to link farmers with agribusiness owners and F&B venues, and Westin seemed the perfect fit. The hotel aims to promote overall wellness even with their food so its only logical it takes on the project. As explained during the press preview, most of the produce the hotel uses—yes, even those outside the special dinners— continue to be sourced straight from farmers.

"If a regular Filipino wants to help a regular Filipino farmer," says Tan, one can do so simply by buying local, "or if possible buy straight from farmers or patronize restaurants that you know support local farmers." 

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The dishes of Westin Manila's collab with Chef Sharwin Tee

For his four dishes, Tee is aiming to showcase the produce in a big way while using "easy to find veggies" but presented differently.

There are two light plates: Lettuce and Kiniing, a deceitfully straightforward dish of poached lettuce (three kinds: romaine, iceberg, and Lola Rosa) bathed in garlicky, savory XO sauce made with the cured pork of Benguet; and the earthy Tofu & Mushrooms, with twice-cooked tofu artfully filled with mushroom tofu mousse, and covered in shiitake mapo sauce. For his mains, Tee brings in a full force of flavors with the Beef and Broccoli. The chef takes the two ingredients on a wild ride: crisp florets roasted in olive oil (with a perfect, smoky char) and tender Angus rib-eye. And then there's the unexpectedly clever Carrot and Egg: noodles handmade with carrot peelings, tossed in a carrot-ginger sauce, with a rich, 63°C sous vide egg on the side and crunchy, grilled carrot sticks in a Xianjing-inspired cumin sauce. Yup, it's good. 

To match Tee's creations, Casanova brought out an unforgettable first course: Handcrafted Dimsum. This one had three stars, from land (a juicy Pork Siomai made rich with seared goose liver), sea (plump lobster with chives), and earth (mushroom and peas with extra depth from truffle essence). The Chicken and Corn was an refreshing yet meaty plate, with a cucumber and cabbage salad that had a little heat and a corn-shaped terrine, while the Fish and Kale let the sous vide Asian sea bass shine through with its soft and subtle taste, dressed with kale XO sauce and a bit of crisp from a rice cracker. The final plate, a Chinese banquet staple in the Philippines, was a Mango Sago—in eight textures, that is.

The CuiSCENE no. 2: Farm-to-Table Contemporary Chinese Degustation Menu happens at Seasonal Tastes, The Westin Manila, on January 31 and February 7. Dinner is at P4,800 per person. Each night, one diner wins an overnight stay via their Fortune Cookies. 

The Westin Manila as at San Miguel Avenue, Ortigas, Mandaluyong City. For more information, check out the Westin Manila's Facebook page.