Yeung Shing: A Culinary Ying Yang

Overview: is an unassuming Chinese restaurant, which features Shezchuan and Cantonese-style food. Shezchuan cuisine tends to be hot and spicy and Cantonese cooking is salty, sour and pungent, prepared in a wok at high temperatures to achieve a quick sear. In general, you will find Chinese food is healthy because the ingredients are fresh and the preparations are made to offer dietary balance, which the body needs. The aromatics are key in these preparations, and Chef Sonny Wu, like an alchemist, provides just the right mix to create the ying-yang effect.

Décor: You are greeted at the door by Maneki Neko (the beckoning cat) a cousin to Hello Kitty. The restaurant dining room is relatively unadorned. One wall has a large mirror that reflects the restaurant's images. It creates a changing canvas with the color and vibrancy that the customers bring to the dining room. Another wall has a large decorative ancient townscape. The seating is comfortable and basic. The décor is sparsely embellished and allows the food to speak for itself.

Drinks: Tsing Tao ($3.50); Tsing Tao Draft ($3.50); Heineken ($3.50); Budweiser ($2.95); Bud Light ($2.95); Plum Wine ($4.50); Sake ($4.50 and $8.00); Wine by the Glass (3.95 to $6.95) Wine by the bottle ($20.00 to $32.00) and soft drinks.

Appetizers: Spring Rolls ($4.50) and Pot Stickers (6) ($6.95) are a must to begin a meal. Pot stickers are house made and so are the dumplings. Onion Pancakes ($4.50) are a street food. It's crispy unleavened fried flat bread that has flavorful green onion tucked inside. It is usually paired with a nice dipping sauce. Other good beginnings are Fried Chicken Wing (6) ($6.25); Honey BBQ Pork ($6.25); Fried Wonton ($4.50); Fried Shrimp (6) ($6.95); Fried Crab Puff (6) ($6.25); and Combination Platter ($10.75) which includes an assortment of starter items. Chicken Salad ($7.50) is one of those dishes that has grown so popular that it is now a part of pop culture and is often found on menus of non-Chinese restaurants.

Entrees: The menu is extensive, but there are some items that regular patrons really love. One of those items is Chicken with Basil Leaves ($8.75) made with diced chicken with water chestnut, zucchini, red bell pepper, and basil leaves in spicy sauce. Another is the Squid with Spicy Salt ($10.95) a Shezchuan dish prepared with spicy salt that blends seasonings to add intense flavor to the protein. Prawn with Lobster Sauce ($10.95) is a rich and tasty Cantonese dish that is a little deceptive as there is no lobster in the sauce. It is called lobster sauce because the sauce is most frequently used in lobster preparations. This dish is made with prawns, bell pepper, zucchini, and onion in lobster sauce. Other items include Iron Plate Black Pepper Lamb ($12.95) tender lamb with onion in black pepper sauce; Eggplant with Shredded Pork Clay Pot ($9.95) Shredded pork, eggplant, bamboo shoots, tree ear mushrooms, green onion in hot garlic sauce; Mu Shu Pork ($9.25) Shredded pork with cabbage, tree ear mushrooms, bamboo shoots green onion, egg and pancakes; and Singapore Chow Mi Fun ($7.75) Shrimp, chicken and BBQ pork with shredded snow peas carrots, bean sprouts in curry sauce. Noodles are one of those lovely comforting and sustaining items and the Taishan Pan Fried Noodle ($8.95) a Cantonese-style dish with Chicken, BBQ pork, shrimp, bok choy, and carrot in oyster sauce is a yummy option to Chow Mains. The Orange Beef ($10.25) is a personal favorite because of the balance of sweet, hot and savory and the interest of texture of the meat because the beef is deep fried with orange peel in sweet and spicy sauce.

Sides: Soups ($6.50 to $ 8.75) are a wonderful way to begin your meal. The Hot and Sour Soup is one that patrons favor. Most of its flavor comes from the mushrooms. Egg Flower soup is a Chinese staple and can be made by swirling beaten eggs into any type of hot broth. Most people are familiar with a chicken broth version. My go-to soup when I am feeling sick is the Wor Wonton. It is a soup that has everything but the kitchen-sink in it, but I think it is the use of sliced BBQ pork in the soup and the ground pork in the wontons that adds that something special to the taste. Wonton soups are a Chinese tradition, which patrons look forward to. Variations include Shrimp Wonton; Beef Wonton or noodle; Chicken Wonton or noodle; and BBQ Pork Wonton or noodle. Other soups available are Mixed Vegetables; Shredded Chicken Corn; Seafood Soup; West Lake Beef Soup; and Deluxe Sizzling Rice Soup. A staple to accompany a Chinese meal is rice; patrons have a choice of either Steamed White Rice ($1.50) or Brown Rice ($2.50).  

Desserts: Most Chinese restaurants have a limited selection of sweet offerings. Yeung Shing is no different; there are Lychees ($2.25), Ice Cream ($2.50) and the Banana Boat ($3.75). Oh yes, there is also the complimentary traditional fortune cookie that ends the meal with your bill.

Service: Excellent, quick and attentive. The male wait-staff wear golden vests, black slacks and white shirts. They reminded me of those early boy bands like the Temptations and the Everly Brothers. Any minute, I thought that they would break into song. They never did, but their deft and conscientious movement among the tables did resemble a well practiced dance.

Signature Dish: There are a number of items that Chef Wu is known for, however, a dish of note is the Fish Fillet with Black Bean Sauce ($10.95) flaky white fish fillet, pan seared and cooked with bell pepper and onion in black bean sauce.

• Yeung Shing Restaurant
• 14107 South Winchester Blvd., Suite S
• Chef: Sonny Wu
• Cost: $15  to $25