SHANGRI-LA Hotel, Shenzhen is presenting the “Philosophy on the Plate,” a Confucian culture and cuisine promotion in its Chinese restaurant, Shang Palace, now through this Sunday. The Confucius family cuisine, also called the Kong family cuisine, is presented by guest chef Liu Haiyang, who is the Chinese executive chef of the Shangri-La Hotel in Qufu, the hometown of Confucius. It is based on the regional cuisine of Shandong Province, in which Qufu is a part, with an imperial influence and a touch of Huaiyang cuisine from southern China. The Kong family cuisine features interesting and creative presentations and ingredients skillfully combined through centuries of input from top chefs to fully express the four most important elements in the art of Chinese cooking — color, aroma, flavor and texture. With a long heritage, and many centuries of expertise in crafting exquisite cuisine, the Confucius family cuisine prospered along with the proliferation of Confucianism through the ages. Signature dishes of the Kong family banquet include the Confucian soup, the “Six Arts” cold appetizers, pan-fried pork rib with scallion, farm-style pancakes served with four condiments, braised tofu and minced pork, and boiled ginkgo and pear. Liu is originally from Qufu. He has 15 years of culinary experience, having trained under Peng Wenyu, a descendant of the Kong mansion chef. He provides the cooking directions and supervises all the procedures, from ingredient selection to the cutting techniques and cooking process, to let the guests have an authentic taste of the Confucian cuisine.(Tang Li) | 