Weekend Eat What - A Singapore Food Blog: Kuala Lumpur

Hi! So I went to Kuala Lumpur (KL) for a short two-day work trip recently. Unlike Joanne Peh who has Qi Yuwu visiting her during her recent KL work trip, I hanged out with fellow colleagues to search for my love: good food!

As it was pretty late when we flew into KL, we decided to settle dinner at Mid Valley Mall where our hotel was located.

Located at the basement of Mid Valley, Purple Cane Tea Restaurant has quite an interesting concept that promotes healthy eating. Its dishes are mainly infused with tea. All kinds of tea that one could imagine. The menu even recommends the tea pairing that goes with the tea-infused food.

This meal would not be possible without our sponsor Prada... No la just joking. That's my friend's bag.

Starting off with some hot Pu-er tea. Twin pots are used. Tea leaves are added to the first tea pot for immersion for about 20 seconds. The tea is then poured into second tea pot which is served. This is to ensure that the tea leaves are not over-brewed and the tea is not too strong or bitter when served.

We had Long Jing green tea rice (RM1.80/~S$0.70) which is just white rice infused with green tea leaves.

Stir fried abalone mushroom with dry chili and tea | Tea used: lychee black tea (RM18/~S$7)

If you read too fast, you might have thought this is an abalone and mushroom dish. But no, this is abalone mushroom, a mushroom that is abalone-wannabe. Which I learnt from Wikipedia that it is a type of mushroom which the caps are laterally attached. For those who are as sua ku as me, this is abalone mushroom.

via Wikipedia

The amazing thing about it is that it's crunchy! Instead of the usually chewy rubbery texture of mushrooms. The thin sliced mushrooms were coated with flour and stir-fried with sweet fragrant sticky sauce, giving a crispy sweet flavour and texture. The only thing was the law of diminishing returns. The portion was too big and we were a bit overwhelmed towards the end.

Stir fried chicken boxing in tea | Tea used: lychee black tea (RM 16/~S$6)

Chicken was sweet and tasted like home-cooked sweet and soya sauce chicken. Think the sweetness came from lychee tea. It would be better if the dish was served piping hot.

The accompanying fried dough (you tiao) was the scene stealer. It was crispy on the outside but fluffy on the inside, not oily and there was a yam stick in the middle. Very lovely. Fried dough has won the boxing match.

Homemade braised beancurd in tea sauce | Tea used: Dong Ding Oolong (RM18/~S$7)

This is supposedly the signature of Purple Cane. The beancurd was smooth like baby skin, and the outside skin was crisp. Loved the flavorful, spicy and saltish hae bi (dried shrimps) that were generously topped on the beancurd. Drizzling the fragrant tea sauce on the beancurd made it even more appetizing.

Stir fried Chee Cheong Fun with green tea curry | Tea used: Long Jing green tea (RM12.90/~S$5)

The name was so interesting. Green tea + curry.. We were looking forward to this dish. It was not really green tea. The stir fried chee cheong fun was coated with curry spice that was subtle and not very spicy. As for the green tea, I didn't really taste it.

Burdock chicken tea soup in tea pot | Tea used: Dong Ding Oolong (RM7.90/~S$3)

We got a soup in tea pot. The soup is supposed to have extracted and absorbed the essence and nutrients from the chicken. This burdock chicken soup was very intense, and had a bitter and medicinal taste to it. Must be very nutritious.

Ginseng chicken tea soup in tea pot | Tea used: Dong Ding Oolong (RM6.90/~S$3)

It's amazing how the soup in this small tea pot is able to absorb the flavours and nutrients of the chicken and ginseng herbs. The taste was very intense and bitter. But it suits me very well as I love my ginseng soup to be as intense as possible.

Purple Cane is a classic example of how home-cooked style food can still be tasty and healthy at the same time. The tea blends well with the food and one can't really taste the tea in most dishes. I can foresee this is going to be a permanent fixture in my KL itinerary in the future.