From asam laksa to dim sum

Where can you get Penang specialties and Hong Kong dim sum at one sitting? Penang Village of course.

FOR 10 years, Penang Village has become synonymous with asam laksa, char kway teow and prawn mee. But dim sum? “Yes, we’re offering dim sum now but only at our outlet in Great Eastern Mall,” says restaurateur Connie Su, who started Penang Village with husband Tony Leow in Desa Sri Hartamas. There are now Penang Village restaurants not only in the Klang Valley but also in Sabah and Indonesia. Not a couple to let grass grow under their feet, the Leows are always thinking of new dishes to titillate the appetites of their customers. “So many customers requested for halal dim sum as this is not easily available,” says Su. “So we researched and experimented and we came up with an initial 28 dim sum items last September.” That has grown to an impressive 40 items, says dim sum chef Chin Woo Loong, 33. “But it was still a challenge as now, I use only chicken to make the dumplings.” Xiu mai, for instance, is normally made with minced meat but Chin’s chicken xiu mai has cubed chicken instead. “When chicken meat is minced, it tends to turn hard and loses its flavour,” he says.

He also notices that customers in the Ampang like their dim sum in more dainty sizes. “All dim sum are freshly made on the premises which is why we’re not offering it in our other outlets as Chin is here only,” says Su. Customers tick off their dim sum selections (RM6.90 to RM8.90) on a coloured menu. Naturally, we must have perennial faves like xiu mai and har gow, char xiu bao and egg tarts. But there’s much more to the offerings. Golden prawn dumplings have an unusual filling of pumpkin mash with prawns, carrots, parsley and water chestnuts to give it a crunch. It’s topped with black tobiko (fish roe).

Despite its name, crab roe prawn dumpling does not have crab roe. Instead, it’s like xiu mai, topped with a big prawn and red tobiko. Happily, the prawns are extremely fresh. Indeed, the ingredients are so fresh you won’t need the chili dip. Fried and baked dim sum are popular with the customers, like fried yam custard shrimp where mashed yam is stuffed with prawns and deepfried while the yummy fried avocado cake looks pretty with its jacket of golden vermicelli to protect a filling of avocado, eggs and custard. Children love the roll crabstick with cheese. Here, Chin wraps an unlikely combination of crabstick and ham with a slice of cheese and then a slice of bread for deepfrying. It’s tasty, with the creaminess of the melted cheddar enhancing the flavours of the ham and crabstick. We’ve ordered fried carrot cake. The cubes of carrot (radish actually) are fried with beansprouts and chives for added fragrance. Slightly pedas, it’s so good I’m tempted to finish the plateful by myself.

But there are other personal favourites to taste, like chicken and century egg congee. The congee is done just the way I like it, not too smooth. You can actually feel the soft grains of rice still. Likewise pumpkin congee where Chin adds cubes of pumpkin to the rice to give it added texture. Then he cleverly adds deepfried ikan bilis to perk it up with a sweet taste and crunchy texture. If you have a sweet tooth, you’ll love the blueberry pudding, mango pudding, durian roll and durian pancake. And if you still have room for more, there are Penang Village’s signature items as well as dishes to eat with rice. For Two-style Kailan (RM19.90), the leaves are shredded and deepfried with ikan bilis while the stems are stirfried with crunchy prawns. You’re actually getting two dishes in one.

I love the Salted Egg Prawn. The prawns are coated with batter combined with salted egg yolk and deepfried. Then, chopped chili padi is added for a fiery touch and more salted egg yolk is crumbled over the dish. And Petai Fried Rice (RM14.90) is perfect for fans of stinky beans. Fried kampung style with big prawns and eggs, the rice is fragrant and delicious, especially when served with keropok (crackers), mango salad and deepfried shrimp paste chicken. The restaurant is open from 11am to 10pm but dim sum is only available up to 5pm. From 3pm to 5pm, dim sum is offered at special prices of RM29.90 for eight items and RM49.90 for 14 items.

PENANG VILLAGE Level 3, Great Eastern Mall 303 Jalan Ampang, KL Tel: 03-
4257 1698

TAN BEE HONG
phoenixbee@nst.com.my