Zuan Yuan Restaurant,
Level 1, One World Hotel,
First Avenue, Bandar Utama City Centre,
Petaling Jaya.
Tel: 03-7681 1159
Business hours: noon-2.30pm (lunch)
and 6.00pm-10.30pm (dinner).
FOR those seeking to satisfy his or her craving for crabs, check out the “Go Crabby” promotion at One World Hotel’s Zuan Yuan restaurant, held this month.
Instead of the usual mitten crabs, Zuan Yuan’s chef Woon Ting Keat has decided to run with flower, mud and roe crabs for the promotion.
Moreover, patrons will get to choose from seven cooking styles, both familiar and new, to prepare the crustaceans in.
Woon, 36, has been on the kitchen line for 20 years and travelled between Indonesia, Macau and Shenzhen in his culinary career before returning to Malaysia.
“One reason we decided to go with flower and mud crabs this month is because of supply. The best stock usually go to Singapore and Hong Kong.
“It is easier to obtain flower, mud or roe crabs, which in turn makes them cheaper too,” said Woon.
Firm favourite: Woon with one of his dishes of Sauteed Crab with Salted Egg Yolk,Cili Padi and Spring Onion.
Both the mud and roe crabs are currently priced at RM12 per 100g, while flower crabs are priced at RM10 per 100g.
For the review, we got to sample four cooking styles.
Those looking for a Cantonese style of cooking crabs might want to try out the Steamed Crab with Superior Stock and Egg Whites.
The rich chicken flavour of the stock, garnished with generous amounts of spring onions, coriander and julienned young ginger, gives off a flavourful yet balanced aroma typical of Cantonese cuisine.
Moreover, the crab used for this dish was flower crab, which tends to have a sweeter taste than the other two crabs, thus allowing the well-balanced cooking style to bring out the natural flavours of the crab meat even further.
Second was the Wok Fried Crabs Cooked with Cheese and Butter in Superior Stock. One thing to note is that this style does not contain your usual thick, cheesy aroma.
The sauce is thick with a good amount of garlic and butter in the mix.
The superior stock plays off well against the mix of cheddar and butter. Overall, it has a pleasing light cheese taste and you could request for more rice to finish the sauce.
However, the more unusual style was the Sautéed Crab with Salted Egg Yolk, Cili Padi and Spring Onions.
It was a favourite around at the table. It is not difficult to see that the crab deep-fried with salted egg yolk is a tantalising treat. The cili padi added a spicy kick to the taste.
The last and most intensely-flavoured style was the Sautéed Crab cooked with Dried Shrimp, Lemongrass and Curry Leaf in Spicy Brown sauce.
The sauce itself was generally not too spicy, and the sweetness of fresh crab meat serves as a tasty backdrop.
According to Woon, there are still other famous crab-preparation styles such as XO sauce with glass noodles and stir fried with black pepper dressing.
“The last one is the kam heong style. It is a little spicy cooked with belacan, garlic, curry leaves and chilli.
“We get a lot of families coming in to dine, so the spicier sauces are not too strong so that kids can get to enjoy too,” said Woon.
This is the writer’s personal observation and not an endorsement by StarMetro.
