The zesty and fruity waxberry sorbet paired with green bean cake. [Photo provided to Shanghai Star]

Osmanthus jelly with wolfberries and bird's nest

Shangxi Chinese Restaurant, Four Seasons Hotel Pudong

Chef Simon Choi and his kitchen team at the Four Seasons' upscale Chinese restaurant Shangxi thought long and hard about what's the best offering for the long, hot summer. As Chinese philosophy believes that food is medicine and medicine is food, Chef Choi considered every facet before he created the very special summer cooler - osmanthus jelly served with a yogurt sauce topped with a soupcon of bird’s nest and garnished with restorative wolfberries.

"Osmanthus is uniquely Asian, and its fragrance is indicative of summer. Its aroma is refreshing and leaves a lingering finish on the palate," Choi explains. Wolfberries are the perennial all-season tonic, valued any time of the year.

What makes the osmanthus dessert special, says Choi, with a rather tongue-in-cheek attitude, is that it can be dressed up or dressed down.

"If we want it to look better, we add a spoonful of bird's nest on top. For a simpler offering, we skip the bird’s nest." The gelatin-like bird's nest, of course, is known for its beautifying effect on the complexion, as every Shanghai lass and her mother know.

This is our choice for a summer dessert, Asian-style. What's not to like when it is so delicious, and so good for you?

Address: Shangxi, 2/F, Four Seasons Hotel Pudong, 210 Century Avenue near Pucheng Lu, Pudong.

021-2036-1310