On Thursday, 10th of October we experienced dining on Nyonya cuisine in Precious Old China in Central Market, Pudu. Our joint hosts, KY Lee and Edna Ong, made it a resounding success with 40 Enakers and guests signing up. The lunch was priced at RM50.
We started at 11:30 with a short talk by the owner of the Old China Group, Mr Leonard Tee. He spoke on Nyonya cuisine and pottery. Lunch was then served at 12 and we had vegetarian and non-vegetarian meals. A free flow of Chinese tea and bottles of water were served at every table. The vegetarian and non-vegetarian tables had similar dishes on the menu except for the chicken with keluak and the squid in coconut milk.
Jagdev who sat at the vegetarian table wrote this about the food that was served. The Starters were Fried Spring Rolls (Fried Popia), and the rolls were filled with vegetables, and these were very delicious and very crisp on the bite. There was a sauce for dipping, and it was mild, not too spicy with a slight tangy taste. Next, we had the Pomelo Salad. The salad was served on a bed of glass noodles and thinly sliced cucumber with chopped peanuts to give a crunch. This dish was very refreshing on the palate.
Once we had finished, the main course items were served, and we had Okra/Lady Finger with Sambal. The okra was steamed and tossed in a mild sambal. There wasn’t much taste, so this dish did not carry too well with most of us.
There was the Pucuk Paku Masak Lemak (Fiddlehead Fern Shoots in coconut milk), this dish was creamy, mildly spicy, and cooked with some turmeric, chilly and lemongrass.
The gravy went well with the rice. The other item was the Telur Belanda (Bullseye in Tamarind Sauce). The fried bullseyes were served in a sweet-sour tamarind sauce with a very slight chilly flavor. It was an average dish as there was not much of any special flavour. We also had the Chui Pei Tofu (Baked Tofu in Sauce). This was one of the best dishes on the menu. Very nicely flavored and has a smooth and silky texture. The sauce was basically from soy with fried onions and other condiments like preserved reddish and spring onions.
The other dish on the menu was the Brinjal /Aubergine Special. This was a dish of marinated oblong pieces of aubergine fried crisply. They were done so well that they tasted almost like fried spiced potato wedges. A good dish to have as bites with drinks. The main course items were served with Coconut Blue Rice. The rice is cooked with coconut milk and colored blue with butterfly pea flowers. This rice goes well with the dishes that were served.
And finally for dessert. Two desserts were served. One was the Sago Gula Melaka and the other was Bubur Cha Cha with durian pulp served on the side as an option. The sago dessert was very pleasant and mildly sweet and did go well with us. The bubur cha cha did taste very delicious with and without the durian. Non-durian lovers went more for the sago dessert while the durian lovers cleared the bubur cha cha and durian bowls!
Rodamin Nino has this to say about the restaurant and the food. She sat at the non-vegetarian table.
The restaurant has a pleasant environment, and we were greeted with smiles as we entered. The food was alright, we had the Pie Tee as a starter. It is a signature dish of the Malaysian states of Penang & Melaka. The tart shells are filled with a shredded sweet mixture of thinly sliced vegetables and is a very popular Peranakan dish. The other item I enjoyed was the Telur Belanda- It’s a Malaysian sweet and sour egg dish drenched in tamarind sauce and a good combination with the coconut and blue rice.
The Ayam Buah Keluak (black with soy sauce) was another dish that I particularly liked. It’s a traditional Peranakan dish consisting of chicken, tamarind gravy, and buah keluak nuts, it goes along with the steamed blue rice. I enjoyed the Telor Belanda and Ayam Buah Keluak Chicken, it was the first time I saw truffles being cooked in a different technique. The coconut blue rice was also good. I ordered their Melakka coffee and it was the best part of the lunch. I am not a fan of coconut in my food and so I did not try the desserts especially the durian mousse ice cream.
We had a wonderful lunch and enjoyed meeting some of the new members and guests. Sujatta Lulla was kind enough to help with the collection and Kathy, Sumitra, and Terrance helped with the photos. Kudos to the hosts KY Lee and Edna Ong for organizing such a fabulous Enak! Lunch.
