Wynn Magazine - Las Vegas
Issue link: http://digital.greengale.com/i/49393
FOOD FOR THOUGHT Duck wonton soup In keeping with the seasonality of any Chinese menu worth its salt, chef Ming has added a brace of new dishes for his winter menu. He's a trained dim sum expert as well, so during the periods from December 25 to January 2, and Chinese New Year (the Year of the Dragon in 2012), from January 23 to 28, Wing Lei will feature dozens of dim sum, and will open for lunch, when the specialties are traditionally eaten. A group of us were privileged to taste our way through a dinner com- posed of Ming's winter specialties, and they are not to be missed. He started the dinner with a tasting of three items that are each offered as individual specials: a snowy chunk of fresh crab topped with avocado, two slices of abalone with a tangle of purple seaweed dressed lightly with sesame oil, and glorious shredded beef tendon, redolent of star anise. The first course showed off more than Ming's cooking skill; it was a visual feast as well. Winter rolls, basically thinly sliced daikon radish made into a spring roll, came filled with vegetables topped with diced mango, while Thai fish cakes, three springy golden cubes, and Sichuan wontons, thumbnail-sized meat dumplings in a spicy red broth, added a piquant dimension to the course. The first wave of main dishes included red cod that had been removed from the bones, a live fish that had been steamed with fermented bean and garlic, fall-apart-tender and delicious when spooned on white rice. There was also ginger lamb, impossibly tender, the ginger subtly flavor- ing a slice here and there, as well as a third course, the Chinese sausage called lap cheong, cut into fine shreds, atop braised Napa cabbage. To top it off, the kitchen here, 17 chefs in all, came up with a terrific fin- ish: The meal concluded with Ming's highly regarded Three Cup Chicken, where the chicken is allowed to simmer in a sweet ginger-garlic-soy reduction, the meat magically moist underneath a crisp skin. Chef Ming and his team are waiting for you. Don't miss the new winter menu at the Wynn's spectacularly welcoming Wing Lei. n 128 WYNN CLOCKWISE FROM TOP RIGHT: Thai fish cakes; the private dining room; Alaskan king crab salad; Sichuan green beans