Sang Nuua Catering

Of all the blog posts I've ever done, this would be the most unique of them all.  So after I had visited Portland in November, I got a message from Sang Nuua Catering asking if I was interested in trying out their catering services.  Yep, I was definitely interested, but there were a few issues.  First, I don't live in Portland and second, wouldn't we need a kitchen?  The first problem was solved quickly as I was heading down to PDX with the fam.  Second problem was alleviated since I was staying somewhere with full kitchen facilities.  Since plates and utensils were provided, we had nothing else to worry about.  Hence, we made arrangements for the fam to try their Pan-Asian dinner.

We started things off with the Vietnamese-Style Glazed Wings.  Chef Aurora has worked at the famed Pok Pok and Nong's Khao Man Gai, so she knows a thing or 2 about Thai cuisine.  Hence, it was by no surprise that the wings were fried up crispy, but were super juicy and tender inside.  The fish sauce caramel was pungent being briny, sweet and garlicky.  I thought this was a great start.  My only wish is that the wings were darker in color (for aesthetics, as it made no difference in the eating enjoyment).  It is true that it is more difficult to get a darker color with rice flour though.

Next up was the Green Papaya Salad served with sticky rice on the side.  This was a fairly large portion, just like the chicken wings.  This meal could serve more than 4 people in my opinions (stay tuned for the rest of the dishes).  Fresh and crunchy, the salad featured julienned green papaya, green beans and tomatoes.  The dressing was sweet, briny and plenty tart that was an excellent appetizer.  It only whet our appetites for the rest of the meal.

We moved from that onto 2 salads including the Thai Steak Salad (can be had as Mushroom for those who are vegetarian).  This sported a considerable amount of tender strips of steak that were first seared, then stir-fried in herbs and seasoning.  It was then plated with Thai basil, onions and cilantro in a spicy dressing.  The result was essentially an all-meat dish that was sort of a "salad".

Chef Aurora then proceeded to fry up some eggs (Fried Egg with Vegetables) in oil until they were crispy on the outside, but still fluffy on the inside.  These were served on a bed of greens with fish sauce dressing.  Not a complex dish by any means but super tasty nonetheless.  I love eggs, so this was a textural delight to go with the fresh crispy greens.  Of course the dressing was at its briny and fishy best with sweetness and some acidity.

One of my favourite dishes was the Turmeric-Fried Catfish over rice noodles and herbs.  The fish was fried up beautifully where the color was appealing and the texture was buttey soft.  Lots of flavour from the marinate itself, but it didn't hurt that we had a spicy pineapple sauce to go with it.  Normally, catfish can taste quite muddy, but this was kept to a minimum.  Rather, it was more naturally sweet than anything else.

Lastly, we were served the Whole Roasted Bird (that was dressed and put into the oven at the start) served with GinGar sauce and sweet garlic sauce.  Slathered with hoisin and 5-spice, then roasted with herbs, the chicken was aromatic.  The skin was crispy while the meat was moist, even the breast.  Loved the gingar sauce as there was both ginger, garlic and scallions.  But really, the sweet garlic was pretty rad too with lots of fresh garlic.

For dessert, we were served something simple and refreshing in a sliced ripe Mango.  Overall, the food prepared by Chef Aurora is restaurant-quality, but served at your choice of venue.  Ingredients are fresh and prepared beautifully.  The amount of food is enough for more than 4 people.  So there we had a lot of leftovers, but Chef Aurora packed-up everything for us.   As mentioned by Chef Aurora, a kitchen isn't necessary for her catering services.  The menu would just be altered for the venue.  However, I wanted the full-meal deal and ensured that my hotel had a full kitchen.  I guess an Airbnb would work for this purpose as well.  Whatever the case, I am glad we got to experience this.  Totally spoiled with delicious food!

*All food for this blog post was complimentary*

The Good:

- Lots of food!

- Impactful flavors

- Beautifully cooked proteins

The Bad:

- To get the full-experience, a full-kitchen with enough counter space would be ideal

 

Sugar Mountain Catering at Arundel Mansion

Generally, the most obvious place for possible good eats is the standard full-service restaurant.  However, there is also a good chance that this can be found at a food court or food truck as well.  Heck, even some fast food outlets offer up some solid experiences.  On the other hand, we often overlook catering companies as we only ever think about them when there is a wedding or some corporate event.  So with that in mind, I was intrigued by the invite I received recently from Sugar Mountain Catering.  They were serving up an 8-course meal at the Arundel Mansion in New West.  I ended up joining Grace, Emily, Carolyn, Amy, Diana, Joyce and Kirsty

We began with an amuse bouche consisting of a Crostini graced with cured Roma tomato and basil encrusted chevre.  It was finished off table side by a drizzle of 25-year aceto balsamico.  If an amuse is supposed to whet one's appetite, then this was a success as it was loaded with bright acidic flavours.  The tomato was tart, sweet and impactful while the balsamic added another shot of sweet acidity with depth.  As for the chevre, there was enough of it to provide a creamy and smooth balance with the herbaceous hit of basil.  

Our first course was the Maple Hills Farms Free-Range Chicken Consumme with vermouth, spring morels, foie gras, mirepoix, vegetables and pate feuilletee.  Beyond the fairly thin crispy puff pastry, we found a broth that was steaming hot, yet very mild in flavour.  I did get some woodsiness from the morels and brightness from the crunchy veggies, however, a sprinkle of salt really helped bring the broth alive.  Next up was the Braised Fraser Valley Beef Cheek and Bone Marrow Custard with Italian parsley, fleur del sel, pink Himalayan salt, glace viande and grilled bruschetta.  This was hands-down a fan favourite.  Buttery and decadent, the custard hid little tender morsels of beef cheek that were like pockets of surprises.  Despite the full-bodied glace viande on top, the accompanying salt was necessary to amp the flavours.

Presented in a martini glass, we found Dungeness Crabmeat with grilled asparagus and Pemberton Valley fingerling potato dressed in a grain mustard vinaigrette.  There was no shortage of fresh fluffy crab that was nicely seasoned which gave way to a creamy mustardy finish.  The vibrant asparagus, tender potatoes and firm peas offered up different textures and sweetness to the dish.  A somewhat surprising dish was the Gulf Island Pink Shrimp Perogies.  It was garnished with wild Sockeye belly bacon, ikura caviar and sour cream along with truffle butter.  Despite being thick, the dumpling skin was tender and soft.  The buttery shrimp were nice, but did get lost amongst the dough.  There was a nice balance of seasoning where the sweetness of the shrimp was accented by the salmon bacon.

The only dish I wasn't particularly fond of was the Nori-Wrapped Tempura Ahi Tuna with shiso oil, uni cream and ponzu daikon sprouts.  The dish was beautiful to look at with the perfectly prepared tuna, but in terms of texture, it didn't work.  I found the tuna to be overly firm and underseasoned.  Despite the tempura batter on the outside, there wasn't the textural contrast I was expecting.  Furthermore, the uni cream was a no show, but the shiso oil was quite aromatic.  Onto another fish course, we had the Poached Filet of Smoked Wild BC Sablefish.  It was accompanied by half a Fanny Bay oyster, brandade gratin, fennel, bacon and rosemary infused veloute.  The buttery sablefish was smokey and salty.  This flavours were further reinforced by the aggressively seasoned and creamy veloute.  I really liked the buttery oyster as the brininess provided a departure from the salt.

With our last savoury course, we were served the Roast Rack of Salt Spring Island Lamb with Chianti syrup, sauteed fiddleheads and roasted spring vegetable couscous en cocotte. I really enjoyed this as the lamb was expertly prepared medium-rare.  Tender and juicy, the lamb was unfortunately a bit underseasoned.  Even with the syrup, it wasn't particularly flavourful. On the other hand, the rib portion of the lamb was more tasty due to the fat content and the proximaty of the herbs.  

For our sweet course, we were presented with a Dessert Troika consisting of Cashew and Cardamom-Spiced Love Cake with coconut ice cream, Jackfruit Tarte Tartin and Belgian Chocolate-Raspberry Pot de Creme. Interestingly, the pot de creme had a bit of a kick to go with the rich chocolate.  I liked how it wasn't overly sweet.  The same couldn't be said about the tarte tartin as it was sweet with a slight tang.  Not sure if the puff pastry base was that appealing.  As for the love cake, it was aromatic and moist with a bit of buttery nuttiness.  It went well with the creamy coconut ice cream.  At this point the meal had lasted over 3 hours, then again, there was 10 courses in all if we included the amuse and palate cleanser.  Overall, the food was pretty good, especially given the limited kitchen facilities of the venue.

*All food, drinks and gratuities were complimentary*

The Good:
- Well-executed proteins
- Fairly interesting menu

The Bad:
- Some dishes required more seasoning
- Due to the limited kitchen facilities, the meal was pretty long