US first lady's family samples Beijing's best bites (2)

Dong says that although not all the dishes the first lady's family ordered were "big dishes", the restaurant did its best to serve them as they should be－"pleasures for both the taste buds and the eyes".

Although Obama didn't ask for it, Dong wished he could serve her another signature dish－braised sea cucumber with shallots.

He says all gourmet countries have their top ingredients.

Japan has Wagyu and toro. France has black caviar, foie gras and oysters. The Netherlands has veal. Norway has salmon.

Dong believes sea cucumbers can be globally established as a Chinese culinary icon.

"The sea cucumber is something that can be farmed. It's healthy, cholesterol-free and contains lots of protein. Such a high-quality ingredient should be established as a national food."

Braised sea cucumber is a specialty of Shandong cuisine－one of China's four most important food families. China's first lady Peng Liyuan is from Shandong.

Obama will visit China's ancient city of Xi'an, capital of Shaanxi province, and Sichuan province's capital Chengdu. Both are internationally acclaimed for their food.

A month ago, Chinese President Xi Jinping treated visiting Kuomintang honorary chairman Lien Chan to Shaanxi noodles, flatbread in lamb soup and sliced cake with mashed pork filling, known as "Chinese hamburgers".

Xi and Lien both hail from Shaanxi. So, the US first lady will have a chance to eat the hometown fare of the Chinese president.

Dong says the dishes for Obama's family were prepared "without particular elaboration".

He says the occasion has made him feel he's "not working for his own sake but out of a responsibility to present the best of Chinese food".

Da Dong's Tuanjie Lake branch, where the family dined last evening, is the restaurant's oldest locale.

It has long been a standard business meal choice of the British embassy, Dong says.

He says the restaurant tries to combine tradition with international culinary fashion to cater to a broad base.

It borrows aesthetics from Chinese painting and miniature landscapes. Dishes come with poems and prose. He calls this "art-concept cuisine".

These elements have helped Da Dong enjoy good business despite the past year's general nationwide decline of high-end dining－so much so that getting seats often requires standing in line.

Dong says about a third of diners are foreigners. And they're not only there for the duck, he says.

One thing that sets Da Dong apart from other duck joints is that it offers an array of other dishes.

Some favorites of foreigners are kungpao chicken, Alaskan crab, candied apples, passion fruit pudding and "squirrel fish"－a mandarin fish sliced so that its shape resembles the tail of the mammal after which the dish is named.

One reason foreigners enjoy Da Dong's dishes is that the flavors are mild and the presentation is similar to Western cuisine, Dong says.

He has engaged in international exchanges with chefs from Italy, the United Kingdom, the United States and Spain－from where he has just returned after judging a cooking competition.

He says that, in the past, Chinese people's impression of foreign diners was that they don't eat meat with bones, and they like sweet-and-sour.

"But there are more exceptions now," he says.

"Foreign customers are more easy-going with the foods they eat than we used to imagine."

That's just one of the things that has changed about the outlook toward foreign diners－be they leaders or ordinary folks.