San Diego Spotlight : Authentic Chinese Offerings Make a Gem of a Restaurant

Astate of self-induced amnesia can come in handy at times.

Anyone whose knowledge of Chinese cooking owes solely to restaurant meals downed in this country should find it useful to erase the memory banks before slipping into Kearny Mesa’s new Emerald Chinese Seafood Restaurant, a Hong Kong-style establishment that offers a cuisine markedly different from styles familiar here.

This is not to say that a fondness for the moo goo-moo shu-kung pao conventions of local Chinese cookery will be subverted by the offerings at Emerald; familiarity breeds contentment, after all. Emerald’s dishes typically are so subtle and restrained that they may in fact seem bland to tongues enamored of the explosive flavors common at San Diego’s many Szechuan-style eateries. To appreciate some of them it really is necessary to call a time-out in the conversation, sit back and taste the food. And even then, not everyone is going to find this food worth the higher-than-usual price tag.

“Hong Kong-style,” used in reference to restaurants, is a specific term that implies a particularly elegant and formal cuisine served in a deluxe establishment. These two ingredients--fancy chow in a fancy setting--are fairly inseparable in the genre; it is not surprising that this kind of restaurant should have developed in wealthy, capitalist Hong Kong.

Located at the outhern terminus of Convoy Street, an area increasingly devoted to Asian enterprises, Emerald unquestionably aims itself at an ethnic Chinese clientele. Only a few dishes could be described as truly foreign to Western tastes, such as the combination of sea cucumber with duck webs, the sauteed dried squid with yellow leeks and the intriguingly named “goose treasure,” which turns out to be goose intestines stir-fried with preserved cabbage. But presentations follow Chinese tradition, which means that the braised prawns in tomato sauce are served in the shell and that un-boned ducks and chickens are cleavered into chunks (and then elegantly rearranged in bird shapes). Occidentals inexperienced in dealing with foods presented in these states may feel challenged, but should not be cowed; it would be difficult to find a more savory bird than Emerald’s roast chicken with subtly aromatic nan yee sauce, and the act of biting tastes from between the bones somehow intensifies the flavor.

Savory flavors seem very much the ultimate goal of Hong Kong-style cooking. The sole offering in the hot-and-spicy mode is called “shrimp with Szechuan style,” and is in fact quite tame and refined compared with Szechuan preparations elsewhere. The plump juiciness of the shrimp makes the difference, an attribute that the sprinkling of red pepper flakes is meant to emphasize rather than disguise. But for all that, if you like heavy-duty Szechuan effects, you’ll find this dish disappointing.

Like the shrimp, virtually all the seafood from the lavish lists is treated simply, so that, as the French say, “it tastes like itself.” Mild, slightly gingery black bean sauce is the most common accompaniment to lobster, rock cod filet, squid and steamed oysters; ginger and scallion sauce also reappears. The restaurant’s tanks hold live sculpin, black cod, sheepshead, eels, prawns, Dungeness crabs and lobsters, all priced by weight; the lobsters, oddly enough, cost the least at $12 a pound. Other selections include long-neck clams, conch, abalone (very expensive, and sometimes available fresh) flounder and scallops, as well as other choices on an occasional basis. The pan-fried scallops with “house special sauce” arrive just six per $12 order, but these are fat beauties, remarkably intense in flavor; the light soy-based sauce remains in the background, as a moistener and demure accent.

An ultra-deluxe soup list offers various shark fin brews, priced as high as $20 per person, and a table-sized bowl of bamboo fungus with crab meat soup at $38. Both of these sound like Chinese cuisine’s answer to caviar. The regular list mentions soups of mixed seafood; sliced pork with vegetables and preserved egg; beef with cilantro (which sounds well worth trying) and a shredded duck with orange peel soup that, once again, is a study in savory effects. There is almost a gravy-like taste at the back of the slightly thickened broth, which means that roast duck juices have been added. The flavor, rich but mild, requires mental concentration to be appreciated; you have to think about this soup to enjoy it. For the record, the orange flavor is so subtle as to be unidentifiable.

Despite Emerald’s emphasis on seafood, don’t miss the chicken. The appetizer of soy-braised bird could as easily be an entree; aromatic flavors, especially that of star anise, infuse this fabulously tender bird. Other fowl choices include chicken baked with five spices or braised with ginger and scallions, and ducks braised in taro paste sauce or with crab and vegetables.

The menu runs to length as well as novelty. Among other dishes sampled were the Hong Kong-style prime rib, ordered just because it is a novelty, but a dull one, in truth. For beef, a far better choice is the stir-fry of shredded meat with ginger and pineapple, a sprightly dish with a fine, sweet-tart edge. The appetizer of cured boneless pork shank--actually a sort of Chinese head cheese, or cold cut, and interesting--with jellyfish is a must-try. The jellyfish, flavored with soy and spiced vinegar, has the appearance, texture and flavor of noodles, and is wildly good. Fried rice dishes here also go well beyond the norm, and the version mixed with minced broccoli and fruity Chinese sausage is excellent. The most unusual and certainly the wildest of the vegetable entrees is called “Vegetarian Deluxe;” the bizarre appearance made one guest blurt out, “It looks like a breakfast in (the film) ‘Alien!’ ” This mix of stir-fried veggies and mushrooms, mounded on a platter and paved with strips of bean curd skin, is finished with globs and rivulets of black seaweed that frankly look slimy but add an interesting flavor.

Emerald also serves a full-scale dim sum luncheon daily, and carts laden with several dozen types of stuffed buns, pastries and dumplings, as well as such savory dishes as steamed ribs, poached tripe and stewed chicken feet arrive at table immediately. Those few items sampled seemed of uniformly high quality. Assorted noodle dishes and a lavish roast suckling pig platter are available as supplements, but, in truth, a few orders of dim sum suffice.

EMERALD CHINESE SEAFOOD RESTAURANT

3709 Convoy St., San Diego

565-6888

Open 10 a.m. to midnight daily

Appetizers and entrees cost $4 to $30;

dinner for two, including a glass of wine

each, tax and tip, about $40 to $80

Credit cards accepted