Tucked away in Chinatown is the little hole-in-the-wall Jai Yun; don't let the fact that it's reservation-only fool you - it's nothing fancy, just honest, great Chinese food for whatever you choose to pay. There is no menu; when you are seated, you are presented with a little handwritten memo describing the chef's background, philosophy, and language barrier. The chef purchases ingredients for the evening's reservations each morning, and you can choose a menu between $35 and $95, and you eat whatever is created. There is another note that states the chef hopes if you have any suggestions or comments, you will write them down so they might be translated for him by his son.
I wish I would have asked for a copy of the message, because the chef lists the regions of China from whence his cooking originates, and of course I can't remember. We chose the $35 menu, which was the perfect amount of food for us. We were only jealous when the table next to us was presented with an entire grouper, vertically placed on a plate with pieces of skin sliced out to give it the appearance of a dragon.
Each table is given jasmine tea, and 6 little plates of food to start: pickled lotus root, jelly fish (my first jellyfish experience), sliced cucumber, cilantro chopped with tofu, beef on soy beans, and layered tofu skin:
Next up was gluten (seiten), very savory and stir fried with yellow scallions, red and green bell peppers and eggplant:
Then shrimp with four colored peppers and ginko nuts (my first ginko nuts), which were very starchy if a little bitter. The dish was very light, fresh and sweet:
Next we had loofah. As a child, we grew loofah in our garden and I never realized that it was an edible squash. I seem to only remember that the outer shell hardened, and you would crack it off to reveal the loofah "sponge" underneath, looking exactly as you might purchase it in a bath shop. The loofah had a slightly slimy - though not unpleasant - texture with a flavor somewhere between cucumber and zucchini, and was topped with slivered Chinese sausage:
Next up, we had Spiced dry fried beef, sliced very thin and fried to an almost french fry-like crispness, tossed with lots of ginger, orange peel and chiles:
We had a light and savory celery salad with tofu:
We had wide, fat gelatinous noodles (maybe a tapioca-based noodle?) tossed with shaved BBQ pork - I love Chinese BBQ pork, and this was great:
We had stir-fried soy beans:
And lastly, and I love how the server brought it out, saying "this is the last dish," we had something she referred to as "tomato." It wasn't a tomato, and we were never able to figure out what exactly it was; if anyone knows, please enlighten me. The texture was firm but a little watery, almost like the white rind of a really ripe melon (but softer), which made me think maybe it was really some sort of melon. The taste was very mild but not sweet, and it was topped with something akin to dan dan noodles - minced chicken with a dark brown sauce and some ginger and seaweed:
I loved the Jai Yun experience; it was great to eat a few things I had never had before, and to have "real" Chinese food (no, I have never been to China, but I'm guessing I won't be having General Tso's chicken everywhere I go when I do get to visit). It's a must-visit for the adventurous diner, just as all of Chinatown is great for seeing foods you've never seen before.
Info: Jai Yun 923 Pacific Avenue San Francisco 415.981.7438 Reservations are required and the restaurant is CASH ONLY.
