Pure, Simple and Authentic Teochew

We were glad to have attended a weekend lunch invited by FoodStreet at Lai Po Heen Restaurant, located at the Mandarin Oriental Hotel, Kuala Lumpur. Lai Po Heen is famous for their classic Cantonese cuisine with seafood and dim sum. The entrance to the restaurant was simple but the inside, the interior decor was beautiful and elegant. We were told that the décor is based on the grand ancestral homes of Chinese-Malaysian tycoons from the turn of the century and there are Asian artifacts and ornate chandeliers.

This restaurant had an open concept kitchen where diners can to enjoy watching the culinary skills of the master chefs over the flaming woks. The setting of the dining tables was very noticeable due to the beautiful, elegant and slick black and white tablewares, a classic way to dine.

We were ushered to one of the exquisite private rooms where the lunch was served

The lunch served was a Teochew cuisine, as it was part of the Teochew cooking class package that we had attended the same day. Firstly we were served with Teochew appetizer which consist of a variety of combination such as diced braised beef with five spices which was tasty and fragrant, lovely sweetened lotus seeds with red dates, crunchy sweet marinated cucumbers with carrots and diced galangga Teochew salted vegetable.

‘A simple thick soup yet so deliciously done’ was how the Tai Chi Soup was done. The soup consisted of two different broths, the spinach leaves and chicken to form the Tai Chi design. The soup was beautifully done, tasty and I would definitely recommend.

Having cold cut meat was something very common but having cold cut seasonal sea fish Teochew style was something new to me. We were served a whole garupa fish and the fish was beautifully deboned by the well trained waitress. The fish was served with marinated the Teochew beans which were full of flavoring and absolutely beautiful to indulge with.

Next came the sautéed beef with kalian and BBQ sauce, the kalian was cooked in such a perfection that it tasted sweet and crunchy and what more to ask when it was topped with beautiful sautéed sliced beef.

The sautéed chicken fillet with herbs and pearl vegetable leaf was done very tasty to my liking. The sauce used synchronizes so well with the fillet and tasted so fragrant, must be herbs used.

Next we had three different steamed types of steamed dim sum, green chives dumplings which were tasty, sweet green pea dumplings and rat shaped dumplings.

Oh boy! Oh boy. Ain’t there a story to tell, falling in love with Teochew porridge always tickled me and so does this braised fragrant rice with cod fish and preserved vegetables in broth. The Teochew always prepared porridge with whole grain rice and this dish was done that way. It was absolutely good as the broth was tasty and topped with cod fish and well balance preserved vegetables plus little “bak choy”.

The Teochew fried oyster was good, it was beautifully done and was very freshness, some how the Teochew does it better.

Chinese desserts had never fail to tempt me so was the warm yam pudding with gingko nuts and red dates. The yam pudding was creamy and was at the right sweetness that I preferred.

Lastly we were tempted to have this durian cream wrapped in pancake. This type of pancake is highly sorted for in Kuala Lumpur because of it’s taste and texture. Lai Po Heen’s durian pancakes were so delicious, the pancake skin was light and thin and the durian cream was creamy and filled with real durian, it is awesome as I had more than two yet not enough, a pure luxury!

It was a great Teochew experience that we had on that day, something to remember and a place to be back for more pure pampering and delicious cuisine.

Yours Sidney