A new mountain treasure

A sashimi selection of local mushrooms and herbs is presented on a mountain of crushed ice, featuring the truffle and its cousin.

Next came the texture test and this is where the chef enlists the help of other Yunnan produce. A sashimi selection of the best local mushrooms and herbs is presented on a mountain of crushed ice, featuring the truffle and its cousin.

Xingbao mushrooms, poached in chicken stock actually tastes like finely sliced abalone. Sandwich a slice of truffle between two slices of this and you get a taste and texture sensation that can be addictive.

Raw, chilled slices of arrowroot occupy one corner of the ice mountain, and acts as a palate cleanser. On the other corner are translucent slices of fresh tianma, the gastrodia rhizome that is a tonic for headaches. The clean, crisp taste of the tianma is echoed in the petals of fresh sweet lily bulbs, while the whiteness of both is offset by bright red cherry tomatoes.

I thought the truffle slices were a bit overshadowed by the palette of textures from the other ingredients on the platter, but it was a truly attractive starter and I found it hard to complain.

The chef also pairs a braised beef belly with a heavily scented truffle sauce, but while others at the table obviously enjoyed this offering, I thought the chicken consomm still won hands down when it came to displaying the truffle's best quality.

Finally, Wang showed off a playful side of his creativity by offering us truffle-scented egg tarts, which immediately reminded me of how an Italian chef described how he would place his truffles in the egg basket so the eggs would be scented.

That was probably what inspired the chef with his egg tarts. They were buttery and decadent and were marked with Chinese characters that made them pieces on a chessboard. It was a fitting final move, because where Wang and truffles are concerned, it's checkmate.