Fisherman Seafood and Claypot Porridge,
60, Jalan Metro Pudu, Fraser Business Park,
Off Jalan Yew, Kuala Lumpur.
Tel: 03-9226 0601
Business Hours: 11.00am to 11.00pm,
closed on alternative Mondays.
Pork free.
FOR friends Frankie Cheah, 42, and Jason Ng, 34, food has been a connecting factor to their friendship.
The two met about 10 years ago when Ng, a restaurant owner, started getting his seafood supply from Cheah.
Ever since, the two have been spending a lot of time including partying the night away which usually ends up with more eating after that.
Succulent: Fisherman Claypot Porridge also serves fresh oysters.“Usually after drinks, we would want something light to eat so as not to upset our stomach.
“Porridge is light and easy to digest, and from there stemmed this idea to open a restaurant selling seafood porridge. The combination of experience works in a symbiotic way for us,” said Cheah, who is co-partner at the new Fisherman Seafood Claypot Porridge restaurant in Kuala Lumpur’s Fraser Business Park.
The two are targeting to open three more branches in the Klang Valley by year end.
They hope to set up new branches in Puchong and Klang.
New twist: The crab with salted egg.During a recent review, the StarMetro team tried out some of the restaurant’s signature dishes, including the Seafood Porridge.
I must say that the restaurant’s advantage is that one of its owners is an experienced seafood supplier, resulting in fresh seafood, which really has a positive effect on what’s laid on the table for customers.
Ng said the restaurant was also able to offer customers competitive prices.
“That aside, the customers can also pre-order a specific seafood like lobster or certain crabs so we can get them from our supplier,” he said as the piping hot Seafood Porridge made it to the table.
Chaser: This fried fish is a popular snack among beer drinkers.The Teochew style porridge came laden with local crabs and prawns.
It’s easy to ignore the dish for how it looks but the ginger-peppered aroma is a great giveaway to what this dish is all about.
Light and soupy without being too starchy in texture, the soup is really tasty and soothing.
The secret, according to Cheah was in the special garoupa fish-bone stock that was cooked for more than five hours in the central kitchen.
“We use garoupa bones for the stock because it has a good flavour without being oily,” he explained.
Popular: The fish curry seems to be aquite a hit with the customers.Another best-selling signature dish is the Curry Fish Head, which also uses the garoupa fish.
This rich, coconut milk-based curry is spicy with an almost creamy consistency to its gravy.
It goes well with some hot white rice, so it was no surprise when the bowl of curry was quickly wiped out as soon as it hit the table.
The man behind the recipe — chef Chua Kia Liang, 35, said he used about 600g of dried chillies to prepare 30kg of curry base, which can be used for five days.
“When there is an order, we take out a portion to prepare. We also put in ladies fingers, brinjals and long beans,” said the cook, who has 20 years experience.
I love the curry-soaked vegetables and the fish head bits in the dish, although a tad bit of tamarind would have added more zing to the curry’s overall flavour.
The restaurant also serves a variety of stir-fried seafood.
Chua also brought the Salted Egg Yolk Crab. This dish is naturally addictive if you are into the aromatic butter and egg yolk dry sauce.
Imported Indonesian crabs are used for the dish.
“Local crabs are a bit small in size and they are also not commercially grown so there is no consistent supply. That’s why we need to get them from Indonesia or Australia,” explained Cheah.
A special dish at the restaurant is the Steamed Shark Fish Head.
Ng explained that it was not a common dish and the chef’s recipe made it special too.
Basically it is steamed shark fish head with a special sauce made from shark flesh poured over it.
The sauce looks and has the consistency of shark’s fin soup.
It’s a lovely dish that probably only taste great when served hot.
This is the writer’s personal observation and is not an endorsement by StarMetro.
