8 Sichuan, Cantonese dishes to try in Kuala Lumpur

KUALA LUMPUR, Malaysia— If you are visiting Malaysia and is not into Malay cuisine, one restaurant offers authentic Sichuan (Szechuan) and Cantonese food in its capital city.

Malaysian cuisine is known for dishes with rich and creamy coconut milk as well as use of various spices, while Si Chuan and Cantonese also use mixed spices, including peppercorn and fish sauce. Sichuan food is famous for being hot, sour, sweet, and salty, making it a good alternative for tourists.

At Si Chuan Dou Hua Restaurant, 58 varieties of Sichuan and Cantonese dishes are available for tourists checking in at Park Royal hotel or walk-in guests in their All-you-can Dim Sum Fest.

Marketing Communications Manager Warren Fernandez vouched for the dishes’ authenticity, saying all the 58 dishes are cooked by experienced native chefs.

Here are eight recommended Sichuan and Cantonese dishes at the restaurant.

Dim sum Trio

Dimsum Trio: choose from scallop, prawn or vegetable. Philstar.com/Rosette Adel

For the dim sum fest, one can try their steamed dim sum trio with variety of vegetable, prawn or scallop dumpling. Each dumpling has a taste of its own that is still loyal to the Cantonese style.

Eight-treasure soup

Spinach dominates the eight-treasure soup. Philstar.com/Rosette Adel

Among the healthy options you can find in Kuala Lumpur is the eight-treasure soup, which is a combination of eight nutritional vegetables. This contains cabbage, spinach, and other finely chopped veggies.

Chong Qing Diced Chicken with Dried Chilli

Beware: chong qing chicken is extraordinarily spicy but is one of the restaurant's bestsellers. Philstar.com/Rosette Adel

Garlic oil  Philstar.com/Rosette Adel

Fernandez said the chong qing chicken is among the main dishes boasted by Si Chuan Dou Hua Restaurant. Its spiciness is truly sensational, leaving your tongue almost numb after you try it. This is best eaten with garlic oil to balance the lasting hotness brought by its dried chili.

One can wash the spiciness away with homemade oolong tea.

Rinse off the spice with this oolong tea. Philstar.com/Rosette Adel

Buttered prawn

Tangy buttered prawn. Philstar.com/Rosette Adel

To make you forget about the extraordinary spiciness of chong qing chicken, one can try buttered prawn – sweet and caramelized, just perfect after munching on the crispy and fiery chicken.

Mapo doufu

Mapo Doufu. Philstar.com/Rosette Adel

Also one of the signature dishes in the roster of Sichuan dishes at the restaurant is mapo doufu. It is a tofu dish in spicy sauce, peppered with spring onions and black beans, among others. This is usually oily but flavorful and more tolerable than the chong qing chicken.

Stir-fried string beans

Si Chuan string beans Philstar.com/Rosette Adel

Stir-fried green bean is also another healthy dish to try. It is topped with onions and minced garlic

Fried Rice

Fried rice Philstar.com/Rosette Adel

Cantonese’s fried rice is flavorful just like the usual Chinese-style fried rice, yang chow.

Unlike the Filipinos, Chinese and Malays serve rice almost at the end of the course. A local Malay, Yeen Tong, explained that it is because rice is the most inexpensive one as compared to the main dishes and appetizers.

Tong told Philstar.com that they do not want their visitors to feel like they are being deprived and being served with cheap dishes. She said that in their culture, it is all right to not finish rice.

Homemade Fine Bean Curd with Wolfberry

Homemade Fine Bean Curd with Wolfberry  Philstar.com/Rosette Adel

Last but not the least is the restaurant’s pride, homemade fine bean curd with wolfberry, which is similar to Filipinos’ taho. This, however, is not as sweet as Filipinos' local syrup and it had wolfberry, adding a healthier twist to the Filipinos' version.

For the price of 58 Malaysian Ringgit or estimated P640, one can savor these dim sum and Si Chuan delights when in the restaurant located at Park Royal Hotel, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.