Restaurant serves up traditional dishes with a delicious twist.
SI CHUAN DOU HUA RESTAURANT,
Parkroyal Kuala Lumpur,
Jalan Sultan Ismail,
Kula Lumpur.
(Tel: 03-2147 0088
Business hours: noon to 2.30pm (lunch),
6.30pm to 10.30pm (dinner)
BEIJING duck, or more commonly referred to as Peking duck, is a dish in a class of its own.
Those who intend to savour this special dish must certainly have some time to spare, as it comes in three parts.
The first is a starter dish utilising the skin of the duck, followed by a soup made with its bones and lastly a vegetable or noodle dish with duck meat. Nothing of the succulent duck is wasted.
Growing up, I only remembered the first dish, where the waiter would slice out the skin of the duck thinly and wrap it with some cucumber and scallions before serving it with a special sauce.
I used to wolf down each wrap quickly so I could have more. The crispy duck skin was a favourite.
During a recent review at the Si Chuan Dou Hua, I anticipated the same experience but chef Foong Koon Sang had other ideas in mind.
Chef Foong with his signature dishes.
Instead of the usual pancake-like wrap, he served us his own creation of wraps using seaweed, which looked like a loosely filled California Roll with duck skin and julienne vegetables.
“We want to give our diners something different instead of the normal wrap every restaurant serves, so I thought why not seaweed?
“It is also thin and complements the taste well,” said Foong.
The 50-year-old added that the ducks served at the restaurant weighed between 3kg to 5kg and were usually dry and salty; making it is easy to pair with many ingredients.
He proceeded to serve us a warm bowl of Duck Bone with Salted Vegetables and Beancurd soup.
For the month-long promotion, Foong has prepared seven different dishes with duck meat, three of which are noodles.
We started off with the deep fried Crispy Duck Noodles, which came soaked in a homemade sauce and served with thin slices of duck. Those who do not fancy the crispy option can choose Longevity Duck Noodles, which bears a similar taste, minus the crunchiness.
A slightly sweeter and more flavourful alternative would be the Duck Dan Dan Noodles, which was thicker in structure and prepared with Szechuan sauce and minced duck meat.
Crispy Noodles topped with sliced Duck Meat, mushrooms, beansprouts and carrots.
Foong, who has been a chef at various Chinese restaurants in the city before joining the hotel, recently came up with four other interesting choices, including Stir-Fried Duck with Fragrant Black Pepper Sauce, Sliced Duck Meat with Mango and Spicy Sauce and Stir-fried Duck with Young Ginger and Spring Onions.
However, his “killer” dish was the Wok-fried Duck with Sichuan Spicy Chilli. Most of us could only eat a slice of the duck before surrendering to the dried chillies.
“Szechuan dishes are usually spicy so I cannot eliminate the chilli as it will change the classic taste,” he said, adding those who had the spicy dishes could have a bowl of steamed rice to neutralise the heat.
While waiting for dishes to be prepared, diners at the restaurant can marvel at how a tea server effortlessly pours the restaurant’s signature Eight Treasures Tea from a bronze kettle.
The Beijing Roasted Duck promotion is priced at RM99 nett per duck. It is available during lunch and dinner from May 13 to June 15.
This is the writer’s personal observation and not an endorsement by StarMetro
