TAIPEI (Taiwan News) – Chuan Ya offers a unique fine dining Sichuan experience at altitude.
Perched on the 46th floor of Taipei's Breeze Nanshan department store, offering stunning views of Taipei 101, Chuan Ya has reached a significant milestone: Head Chef Wang Kuo-cheng (王國政) is the first Taiwanese to formally inherit the authentic government-style Sichuan cuisine of the Songyun School.
His apprenticeship under Master Zhang Yuan-fu (張元富), the successor of Michelin-starred Songyunze in Chengdu, China, not only signifies a profound culinary legacy but also forms the bedrock for Chuan Ya's innovative approach to modern Sichuan cuisine. This is showcased in its newly launched menu.
Wang meticulously infuses the elegance, rhythm, and refinement of traditional government-style Sichuan cuisine into Chuan Ya's new offerings. He explained the bold flavors of modern Sichuan cuisine are not meant to overwhelm, but to “allow guests to experience its layers, aesthetics, and culture."
The dining journey at Chuan Ya is a carefully orchestrated progression of tastes, from the initial small bites known as chao bai, to the classic cold appetizer, and culminating in the four signature pillar dishes. Each creation is designed to present distinct flavor profiles, inviting guests to savor the intricate 24 flavor types of Sichuan cuisine.
The chao bai, an ancient Sichuanese term for banquet appetizers, starts the meal with three crispy delights, awakening the palate with sweet, aromatic, and numbing notes. These include house-made dried fruits, crunchy amber walnuts, and Chef Wang's secret crispy peanuts, which skillfully combine crunchiness, aroma, and numbing sensation.
Pickles, often considered the "bones of Sichuan cuisine," are presented in five styles at Chuan Ya. They range from sweet and sour chayote and cucumber, to a sweet pepper blend reminiscent of panda pickles, naturally spicy white wood ear mushrooms, and refreshing winter melon infused with yellow gongjiao chili and passion fruit.
The cold appetizer platter is a miniature map of Sichuanese flavors, with nine cold dishes spanning from light to intense. Highlights include jasmine-infused cod with roasted sauce combining seafood and floral notes, red oil garlic pork ear showcasing layered garlic flavors, and chopped chili preserved egg incorporating familiar Taiwanese ingredients with house-made fermented chili.
Other notable dishes include sesame sauce water bamboo shoots for its pure taste, fish slices for its exquisite thinness and visual appeal, and red oil abalone, with a unique chili oil that offers a pleasant numbing heat without being overwhelming.
Osmanthus yam provides a fragrant and crisp bite. The crispy red black rice pork neck is a complex flavor that balances sour, sweet, numbing, spicy, and savory notes.
The four pillar dishes reinterpret traditional Sichuan banquet elements. The maqaw roasted squab uses Pingtung squab with Taiwan's indigenous maqaw (mountain pepper) for a unique lemon-like aroma, blending regional flavors. The chili bean sauce braised fish fillet with aged wine highlights the foundational chili bean paste from Pixian county, China.
The fish-fragrant lobster is a sophisticated features Penghu lobster and has a rich, balanced sauce. The green Sichuan peppercorn abalone offers a fragrant seafood broth.
Additionally, the meal's interlude, a handmade scallion pancake served with a rich Wagyu beef sauce infused with Sichuan flavors, subtly bridges the cold and hot courses.
Notably, the sour soup fish maw with crispy rice truly embodies the spirit of culinary inheritance. This dish is inspired by Master Zhang's shark fin soup, taught to Wang during his apprenticeship.
Upon returning to Taiwan, Wang refined the recipe, creating a vibrant golden Sichuan sour soup from house-made pickled radish, tomatoes, yellow gongjiao chili, and douban paste, simmered in a rich pork bone broth.
Served with fish maw, scallops, crab, shrimp, and crispy fried rice, this dish offers a delightful interplay of textures and a profound connection to the art passed down from master to disciple.
Chuan Ya. (Taiwan News, Lyla Liu video)
