Teochew braised duck

I have a liking for duck meat. I much prefer it to chicken. I find duck more gamy and has a better flavour and texture. In Malaysia, the most popular duck preparation is roast. It is not that I do not like roast duck. There is another preparation that I like more.


In PJ SS2, there is a duck rice stall that served Teochew braised duck. The stall is in Okay coffee shop located at the junction of Jalan SS2/10 and SS2/21. It is on the same road as the SS2 Kayu Original Nasi Kandar Restaurant - but at the other end of the road.

The stall is named Teo Chew Stewed Duck (潮州卤鸭). But the name is really a misnomer. The duck they served is not stewed. It is braised.

 
They used to be at another coffee shop directly at the back of Okay on Jalan SS2/6. However that coffee shop has since closed and converted into a Chinese restaurant; and the stall moved to its present location.

I have known the stall for many years. It is still operated by the same guy. He used to chop and and dispense the meat. But he doesn't do it any more. His place is taken over by a young man, presumably, his son.

Beside braised duck meat, the stall offers braised duck innards (gizzards and intestine), duck feet, braised eggs (chicken eggs), braised tofu, kiam chai (咸菜) or salted vegetable and braised peanuts. All these are Teochew offerings.

The duck meat is truly very nice. The Teochews really know how to braise their ducks. It is served with an aromatic sauce which goes very well with the rice.

The gizzard and eggs is also a must if you ever get to eat at this stall. The gizzard has the nice "crunchy" texture. The egg is delicious. I wonder if it would be better if they serve duck eggs instead.

The kiam chai (咸菜) is so simply cooked and yet so delicious. It complements the meal very well.

The braised tofu is another simple and delicious dish.

I like the rice in this stall. It is not plain white rice. It is flavoured - something like the rice we get at chicken rice stalls, only the flavouring is not the same. It is lightly oiled and has the aroma of the duck sauce.

The chilli sauce they provide is also very good. Most suited to the duck meat they serve.

I love braised duck. Unfortunately there are not many makan places in the Klang Valley offering this Teochew fare. But... at least there is one. And not a bad one at all. This stall used to do roaring business at its previous location at the back. Since moving here, I see that the stall is a lot more quiet. I hope they stay open for a long time. I hope they won't deprive me of Teochew braised duck that I occasionally enjoy.

Teow Chew Meng

Teoh Chew Meng is a chain of restaurants serving Teochew food in Penang and the Klang Valley. I am no expert on Teochew cuisines and I am not sure if the dishes they offer are all Teochew in origin.

My wife and I have so far eaten in 2 of their outlets. Our latest visit was about a few weeks ago in their SS2 outlet, located on Jalan SS2/30 in PJ.

We were there for dinner. This particular outlet is situated in a quiet part of SS2. The inner road of SS2/30 was rather dark. The restaurant stood out hustle and bustle amongst its quiet neighbours with an almost full capacity. I think the restaurants appeal to the more mature diners. The menu offers rather sober traditional fare like porridge and mee sau. It may be co-incidental, but just take a look at the crowd...

Their signature dish (or pot) must be their mee sua tow. If you ever go to TCM, you have to try their mee sua tow. We ordered a pot for 2 persons. It came out looking very good. There were some shark fin on the surface. Inside were various seafood - fish, shrimps, sotong, crab sticks, etc.  The mee sua was in a thick broth, not unlike shark fin soup. They even provide black vinegar to go with it.

You could opt for abalone in your mee sua tow. But be prepared to pay. Mee sau tow with shark fin is RM11 per person. If you want the abalone, it would be another whopping RM180. That evening, we were not in the mood to indulge. The shark fin mee sua tow had sufficed. And it was good. My wife and I enjoyed it thoroughly.

We also had the seafood roll. It looked like any other spring roll, with a chilli sauce and pieces of cucumber. It was not particularly tasty. I did not find the seafood roll exceptional. 

So was the vegetable. We had the steamed lettuce. It was like any lettuce you would get from any makan shop. Rather boring. Like I mentioned - sober. It's saving grace? - the deep fried dried shrimps garnish.

The apple beancurd was not so ordinary. It was good. The tofu were apparently "home made". They were deep fried with some apple salad and the same delightful fried dried shrimps over them. The tofu were crispy and delicious.

We ended the meal with a typical Teochew dessert. It was a yam paste called "oo-ni". The dessert came in a tiny bowl, with 3 pieces gingko on the surface. It was a very small bowl. Not enough. Hardly a few spoons full - teaspoons. I don't know why they are so stingy in their serving. But the oo-ni was good. It was smooth and sweet. Absolutely delicious.

All in all, it was a very pleasant dining experience. The restaurant offers a variety of other food - most of them somewhat uninteresting. They serve different types of porridge and noodles. They also have octopus, oyster and prawn side dishes. Below is a snapshot of their menu. Click on it to enlarge.

I saw a a poster on the wall announcing the opening of a new outlet in Prai, and wondered how many they have in total. I asked a cute little girl (assumedly the boss' daughter) who brought us our bill. She said there are 4 in Pulau Pinang and 3 in PJ/Subang Jaya. As we walked out, we managed to talk to the boss himself. He confirmed that they indeed have 7 outlets. He also said that the outlets are not franchised and that they are all family businesses. Must be one heck of a big family.