Chinese: Hunan by the Falls
“Seasonally, we try to keep the menu interesting by incorporating a variety of food flavors from different cultures in addition to Chinese,” says David Cameron, partner in Hunan by the Falls with Kenny Chau and Aileen Chan.
The Balado Shrimp dish was created about 20 years ago when Cameron summoned the flavors he tasted at Bali’s, an Indonesian restaurant in the seaport town of Scheveningen, Netherlands. “The spices were bursting with flavor, the aromatic notes loud and yet the sweetness of the tomato sauce reined in what would otherwise have been an overwhelming, intense heat from red chilis,” he explains.
So this favorite summer special was born. And it culminates flavors that are sweet, hot, sour and salty. “It’s not overly challenging for the many customers of ours who love big flavors but are not seeking daringly ’hot’ bragging rights,” Cameron says.
Here’s why you will enjoy the Balado Shrimp dish:
• Savor the tomato-based Balado sauce with garlic, tamarind, chilis, shallots and fish sauce
• Order with shrimp, chicken, beef, pork, tofu
or mixed vegetables
• Toss this on wheat pasta
“The tangy-spicy sauce is absorbed by the pasta,
which continues the great taste with a textural experience,” Cameron relates.
With customers as the ultimate judges of success, the dish’s popular-by-demand status sustained it beyond the summer special season. It’s now part of the permanent menu and a crowd favorite.
508 E. Washington St., Chagrin Falls, 440-247-0808, hunanbythefalls.com