Eating like an empress is a family affair

Sweet and sour ribs [Photo provided to China Daily]

In spite of the name, the "weed" used in the soup is actually a freshwater kind found in a pristine lake on the border of Hubei and Hunan provinces. It is said to get its name, gexianmi, from a hermit surnamed Ge who discovered the obscure little grass and found it can promote longevity.

Fairy-tale aside, the soup serves as a perfect transition, offering a light and palate-cleansing finish to the main courses that whet your appetite for dessert.

Dessert comes as an assortment of "petite three", baked fresh milk, fried egg custard and sweet bird's nest with green beans and water chestnut, all in bite-size portions. The last one is said to be a summertime after-nap favorite of Cixi, who had four of her servants sit around a square table and rub the green beans one by one to peel off the hard skin. The contemporary rendition is refreshing, not very sweet, and cooling, but not so different from other green-bean soups despite the addition of bird's nest.

My personal favorite is the fried egg custard, which in Chinese is named "three non-stickiness" (not sticky to the chopsticks - or plate or teeth). A traditional and complicated dish, the golden-colored rice ball uses the most basic ingredients like flour, egg and sugar, but the mixture must be beaten more than 600 times so that the stickiness is lost while the pliability is preserved.

To add another sensation to the meal, gladden your heart with a stroll along the Bund. As darkness falls after dinner, the early summer's cool breeze blows against your face, as if flirting with you, and leaves behind a pleasant scent of cape jasmine.

Fried egg custard [Photo provided to China Daily]