Chinese food is often adjusted to our American taste buds. It seems the only way to get authentic Chinese food is to go to China, but that’s far, and really expensive. So here’s a fancy and delicious alternative.
Forget what you know about Chinese food. This is food they eat in China.
Allen Huang, Da Tang Unique: "The food, the recipes, the ambiance is so unique."
Da Tang Unique claims to be the only high-end, real Chinese restaurant in Brickell.
Allen Huang: "Some of the recipes are 2,000, 3,000 years old, and some of the utensils we use are also 2,000 to 3,000 years old, the design."
Everything is authentic, from the decor to the chef.
Allen Huang: "He traveled through the whole country, and he worked with the local chefs, adopting a lot of real authentic local recipes. When President Obama went to China, he’s one of the chefs who cooked behind the scenes."
The food is fancy, and for some of us, it’s totally new, like sautéed sea cucumber. (That’s a seafood, by the way.)
Allen Huang: "The tendons of the sea cucumber, very crunchy and also a little bit spicy."
There’s Wagyu beef served on lava stones, or a sea bass stew in a hot and sour broth. Chef uses the many spices used in China.
Allen Huang: "Soy sauce, of course, and then the brothing sauce from Sichuan. We have an oyster sauce. We have also the Thai chili sauce."
And what’s authentic Chinese without Peking duck? This one abides by a royal recipe.
Allen Huang: "This recipe is developed from the kitchen from the Forbidden City."
China’s Forbidden City is where China’s emperors used to live.
Allen Huang: "So the duck has to be aromatic; in the meantime, it has to be crispy. And then when the guest orders, we slice it."
Everything here has an ancient story, like a lychee cocktail called "The Lady and the Smile," which was inspired by an empress.
Allen Huang: "To make her happy, to smile, the emperor had to get lychees from 3,000 miles, overnight, nonstop to Beijing."
And, of course, there’s tea, ceremony included.
Allen Huang: "In Da Tang, we have a special Chinese tea service ceremony. That is the actual way that we drink teas in China since thousands of years ago."
FOR MORE INFO:
Da Tang Unique
801 Brickell Bay Drive
Miami, FL 33131
(786) 747-4686
www.datangunique.com