Shanghainese food is getting very popular these days in Malaysia, one of which is Din Tai Fung. Best Restaurant To Eat was invited to try out some of these Dim Sum dishes at Din Tai Fung Empire Shopping Gallery Subang outlet located at Lot G15, Ground Floor, Subang Jaya Selangor.
As with most of Din Tai Fung outlets, the décor is brightly lit with simple modern Chinese design which exudes the fast moving food that are served here.
Din Tai Fung was transformed to a restaurant in Taiwan where they started serving their specialities Xiao Long Bao (Steamed Dumpling) in 1972. Headquartered in Taiwan, Din Tai Fung now has branches all over the world serving their special Shanghainese Dim Sum Cuisine.
Din Tai Fung has won many accolades, which includes New York Times Top Ten Restaurant in 1993 and their Pavilion Branch in Kuala Lumpur was voted the top Chinese Restaurant In Kuala Lumpur by Trip Advisor. It was also ranked as No 1 in the 101 Best Restaurant in Asia By The Daily Meal and finally world’s second best chain by CNN besides being awarded Michelin Star for a number of years.
During the ancient times, Chinese scholars have determined that with a bite of something cold, something sweet, something sour and something spicy, our palates are awakened to savour the next dish. With that in mind, Din Tai Fung serves an array of appetizers to whet your appetite.
Our night started with the special appetizer and starters which includes Spicy Sichuan Chicken. This is poached chicken which is topped with a spicy Sichuan sauce with a generous amount of ground nuts and sesame seed that gives you a crunch to match the tender chicken meat. The spicy level was just right for me.
Next, we had the Din Tai Fung House Special
after which, is The Stewed Wheat Gluten which is basically a vegetarian dish in which the wheat gluten was used instead of bean curd that are normally used to be stewed with mushroom.
This is then followed by the Fragrant Pork With Crushed Garlic – the crunchy cucumber was wrap in a sliced of fragrant pork and topped with garlic sauce.
The last appetizer which was served chilled that we had,was the Spicy Pickled Cucumber – The zucchini has that soft crunch and cool feel when bitten into it.
The art of making Xiao Long Bao is a very delicate process especially on the flour wrap which has to attain a certain consistency i.e. the wrap has to be of the right thickness, if it is too thick, the dumpling is doughy and too thin it will break easily. All the flour wrap at Din Tai Fung are made in each of the restaurant ala dante when required.
Even the soup within the Xiao Long Bao cannot be too much or too little, while the meat have to be cooked at the right temperature.
Eating this Xiao Long Bao, the fresh thinly sliced ginger are mixed with the right portion of Vinegar (3 part) to Soya Sauce (1 part) to get the right taste of sourness balance with the sweet salty taste of the soya sauce.
We had the Pork Xiao Long Bao to start off with, which happen to be the top selling signature dish in Din Tai Fung.
Next, we had the Crab Roe and Pork Xiao Long Bao. One of the tip of eating Xiao Long Bao is to have it eaten as quickly as possible so that you can experience the taste of the meat, soup, flour wrap and the condiment of ginger and sourish taste while it is still piping hot.
Next, we move to sample the Dumplings, the first of which is Steamed Vegetable and Pork Dumpling, It has a strong vegetable taste which was mix with the minced pork and wrap in the dumpling wrap.
This is then followed by the Steamed Shrimp With Pork Shaomai. The pork are wrapped in the dumpling and then topped with a fresh bouncy prawn on each of the dumpling to create a dumpling that pleases the eye especially for the shrimp fan and the taste-bud.
To end the dumpling course, we had the Spicy Vegetable & Pork Wanton.
Next, we move to some main dishes which we started off with, the first of which is the Hot and Sour Soup which has a similar taste to the Sichuan Hot Pepper soup.
and followed by the Pork Chop. This pork chop has a slight flavour and aroma of 5 spice powder.
and the Din Tai Fung Fried Rice.
After which, we had the Noodles With Minced Pork In Bean Sauce, I personally find the bean sauce a tad salty for me.
and end the noodles offering with Shrimp Noodle Soup. The Noodles have a generous serving of bouncy prawn while the pork broth is of a light flavoured.
The other side dishes that we had was the Sauteed Baby String Beans With Minced Pork, I like this String Beans as it is very crunchy and the way it was cooked was just the right taste and complemented well with the minced pork.
Next, we had the Golden Pumpkins With Salted Eggs. The pumpkin are fried to a crisp and coated with a layer of salted eggs. I personally preferred to have a more salted egg taste which is a little lacking here.
The final dish is the Stir Fried Pea Sprouts; a light and simple dish to end the night after all the different taste of food and flavours that we had for the night.
What is a dinner without desserts? At Din Tai Fung, they served a special Steamed Chinese-Style Layer Cake, it is quite flat in taste and were recommended to be eaten with
a special concocted black sesame dipping or condensed milk.
As Din Tai Fund is famous for the flour wrap, the next 2 desserts are also based on the wrap which is the Steamed Taro Dumplings
and the Steamed Red Bean Dumplings.
The last dessert we had is the Chilled Grass Jelly Topped with Purple Glutinous Rice.
So, if you are one of those that loves Shanghainese Cuisine and in particular Xiao Long Bao, Din Tai Fung is a good option for you and your family, where you can sample many different varieties of these Dim Sum and small eat dishes all in one restaurant.
Our other review of Ding Tai Fung
