Peter Chang x Yingtao

Monday, August 24th
5p until close

Yingtao
805 9th Ave, New York, NY 10019

Cold Appetizers 凉菜

蒜泥卤牛腱 Braised Beef Shank with Garlic & Chili Oil
甜菜头拌蜇丝 Jellyfish with Beetroot
虫草花拌鲜腐皮 Fresh Tofu Skin with Golden Cordyceps
桂花糯米藕 Lotus Root with Sticky Rice & Osmanthus

The cold appetizers are actually shared with the same underlying technique: they are first gently braised in a deeply seasoned liquid, then allowed to rest and cool in that same broth. As the temperature slowly drops, the ingredients continue absorbing the soy, spices and aromatics around them. Only afterward are they sliced, dressed and served cold.

There is also a practical history behind this style of cooking. Braised foods keep particularly well when chilled, so they could be prepared ahead and served over several meals. What began partly as practicality became an entire category of Chinese cooking—凉菜 liang cai, the cold dishes that traditionally open a meal.

In Chinese cooking, cold doesn't necessarily mean raw or simply chilled. Many cold dishes actually begin with a long, warm braise. We let the ingredients cool completely in their own cooking liquid, almost like steeping tea, so the flavor continues to penetrate as they rest.

Dry Fried Assorted Seasonal Vegetables 干扁时蔬
Eggplant & Shiitake mushroom
Spicy & numbing / Crunchy / Smoky

干煸 gan bian is traditionally about driving moisture out and concentrating flavor. Chef Peter's version takes that idea and develops it into a recognizable house technique.

Seasonal vegetables such as eggplant and shiitake are coated in a specially balanced, and light batter. The goal isn't to encase the vegetable in breading, but creating a delicate shell while preserving the character of what's inside.

After frying, the vegetables go back into the wok with dry spices, Chinese herbs and aromatics. That second trip through the wok is what gives the dish its fragrance and slightly smoky finish.

This is one of Chef Chang's signature techniques. The batter is intentionally very thin—we want you to taste the vegetable first, then the crunch. After frying, everything goes back into the wok with spices and aromatics, so the final layer isn't a sauce; it's fragrance.

Scallion Oil Mixed Noodles w. Caviar 鱼子酱葱油拌面
Braised soy / Scallion / Fresh Aromatics

葱油拌面 is fundamentally an extremely simple Chinese comfort food: noodles, scallion oil and soy. Its appeal comes from extracting as much fragrance as possible from fresh scallions (yes, we use a lot of scallion roots) by slowly cooking them in oil. By adding caviar, it naturally fits the Chinese flavor structure: saltiness, umami and richness against fragrant scallion oil and noodles.