Upper Palace Teochew’s Lychee Wood Roasted Peking Duck is prepared using Irish Silver Hill Duck. — Photos: CHAN TAK KONG/The Star
Minimal seasoning allows fresh taste from sea to shine through
KEEPING it simple and natural are perhaps the most distinct characteristics of Teochew cuisine.
Traceable to the eastern part of China’s Guangdong province, the cuisine’s light and delicate flavours with minimal use of seasoning brings freshness to the fore.
This is especially important when cooking seafood, which is popular in Teochew cuisine.
While Teochew food is no stranger to the Malaysian dining scene, finding a place dedicated to this classic cuisine is by no means an easy feat.
That is until Upper Palace Teochew opened its doors at The Exchange TRX Kuala Lumpur.
Upper Palace Dining Group founder Datuk Henry Yip said his restaurant was the first in Malaysia to serve modern Teochew cuisine.
Yip (right) pictured with Lee, has mastered the art of Chinese tea.
“Here, Hong Kong Teochew-type cuisine is the highlight where the cooking method is modernised, simply because our Hong Kong chefs are exposed to Western cooking techniques,” he said.
To mimic a Hong Kong dining experience, Yip partnered with Hung Delicacies Hong Kong to feature some of its top-notch braised dishes.
Renowned for its braising technique, Hung Delicacies has held on to the one-Michelin star for five consecutive years.
“Braising is important in Teochew cuisine,” said Yip, highlighting that Hung Delicacies relied on its own aged braising stock for its duck, chicken, tofu and pig’s feet dishes.
“So, we worked with Hung Delicacies to develop the goose dish for the Upper Palace Teochew menu.
Braised Sliced Goose is best savoured with garlic vinegar sauce.
“The braising stock for our goose dish was brought in from Hung Delicacies,” he added.
Yip said that to develop the stock further, 10 birds were added to the stock daily to deepen the taste of the braising sauce.
The Braised Sliced Goose (RM98) bathed in chef Lai Wai Hung’s (of Hung Delicacies) braising sauce is wonderfully tender, with hints of aromatics and spices pampering the taste buds.
Upper Palace Teochew group executive chef Lee Wing Yip also prepared an appetising Braised South America Yellow Fish Maw (RM388).
The South American fish maw, I learned, is soaked in water, steamed and washed before braising in thick brown sauce.
Yip said it took up to three days before the fish maw was edible.
“Most Teochew folk in Guangdong, China, are fishermen and rely on the sea for their livelihood,” said Yip.
Congee with Minced Pork and Sliced Pomfret Fish.
He said Teochew folk enjoyed their seafood, hence the inclusion of crab, fish, mantis prawns, prawns and scallops on the menu.
“In fact, catches from the sea make up their meat and protein intake,” he added.
Teochew “Da Lang”, which refers to street stalls serving cold dishes, has a dedicated page on the menu too.
There’s a choice of Teochew-style Chilled Flower Crab (market price) and Chilled Australia Lobster (market price) or fish rice.
“One of our specialities is the steamed red flower crab (800g to 1.2kg), a true Teochew delicacy,” said Yip.
A savoury sweet dessert treat of Deep-fried Taro with Sugar.
Fish rice is the perfect example of a Teochew delicacy.
Yip said the fishing community was known for cooking fresh seafood in seawater with rice, and they eat this hot or cold with Puning bean paste.
Another Teochew favourite is sheng yan, referring to the marination of raw seafood.
“Fresh seafood is marinated in Shaoxing wine and soy sauce with garlic, Sichuan peppercorns, coriander and other spices, and is frozen for up to 24 hours.
“It is also known as ‘Teochew poison’ for its unique flavour,” Yip explained.
We enjoyed every morsel of the cold sheng yan dishes of Soy Sauce marinated Raw Tiger Prawn (RM88) and Signature Soy Sauce Marinated Raw Mantis Shrimp (market price).
Then there’s the succulent Peking duck.
Here, premium Irish Silver Hill Duck is smoked with lychee wood resulting in its sweet aromas permeating into the meat.
Yip said he visited the farm in Ireland, known for its premium birds, to secure the ducks for his restaurant.
Teochew ‘Sheng Yan’ is a dish featuring seafood in Teochew-style marination.
The mouth-watering Lychee Wood Roasted Peking Duck (RM280) comes with freshly steamed pancakes, sliced cucumber, spring onions and house-made hoisin sauce.
In fact, there are three choices of dips to go with your Peking duck roll – Beijing sweet bean sauce, Beijing sweet bean sauce with peanut as well as molasses and sugar.
Another must-have is rice porridge.
Preferring calrose rice for this traditional Teochew favourite, Lee prepared Congee with Minced Pork and Sliced Pomfret Fish (RM48 per person).
Seaweed and preserved vegetables from Chaozhou, Chinese celery, dried prawns and superior broth were among ingredients in this warm, savoury porridge, said Yip.
The deputy president of Teochew Cuisine Research Institute (located in Guangdong) said Teochew folk were known for making their own fish sauce.
The fish sauce from Guangdong perks up the Wok-fried Hor Fun with Prawn and Diced Kailan (RM48) and Pan-fried Baby Oyster Omelette on Iron Plate (RM68).
We also tried Teochew dim sum such as Steamed Yam Bean Dumpling (RM12), Glutinous Dumpling (RM15), Steamed Teochew Vegetable Dumpling (RM18) and Steamed Pork Dumpling, Crab Roe and Mushroom (RM22).
Deep-fried Taro with Sugar (RM38), “Lek Tau Suan” Soup Green Bean and Water Chestnut (RM28) and Mashed Taro with Ginkgo and Pumpkin (RM28) are among the not-overly-sweet dessert finds.
Since there’s only so much one can eat in a day, a return visit is on the cards.
UPPER PALACE TEOCHEW, Lot L1.50.0, The Exchange TRX, Persiaran TRX, Kuala Lumpur. (Tel: 018-221 9760, 017-815 0138) Business hours: 11am to 2.30pm, 6pm to 10pm (weekday); 10am to 2.30pm, 6pm to 10pm (weekend). Non-halal.
This is the writer’s observation and is not an endorsement by StarMetro.
