Dried soy-sauce duck by Dan Cha Fan restaurant.[Photo by Gao Erqiang/China Daily]

Dan Cha Fan's red-braised beef main course takes inspiration from the Western brisket that's traditionally slow cooked in red wine, but it instead uses locally produced brown-rice liquor.

The meat is fork tender and savory, with a subtle aftertaste of the alcohol. The fat content is perfect to prevent the meat from drying out during six hours of stewing.

Wu takes pride in the eatery's pig offal. We devoured the dish of the leftovers from the liquor-making process and a pig's worth of entrails soaked in yellow broth.

The first spoonful was like the key to Pandora's box. The pot was empty before dessert arrived.

We were a group of five from Singapore and places throughout China - not quite a "United Nations".

But we all enjoyed the meal tremendously, irrespective of our gastronomic backgrounds.

Contact the writer at xujunqian@chinadaily.com.cn