Teo Soon Loong Chan, Malacca, Malaysia

Malacca has quite a significant Teochew population and Teo Soon Loong Chan was recommended to be one of the oldest and best Teochew restaurants in town. I knew I had hit culinary gold when I first saw the place. I mean, just take a look at this hardcore external decor! You know only kickass food can be found here.

The man himself, the 80 year old owner and chef showed us the spread of ingredients they had and we chose some for our dinner.

Whilst waiting for dinner to commence, I started snacking on the anchovies in this local chili sauce. They were getting quite addictive.

The first dish served was noodles and oysters in a thick black sauce.

Cooked with ample lard, each strand of noodle was fragrant and silky-smooth which paired up really nicely with the juicy and succulent oysters. The sauce was rich and thick without being gooey from overcompensated starch-thickening.

The braised duck was next. A pity they didn't have braised goose here but the duck was done pretty good as well. The meat still maintained a nice bite and the sauce had flavor without being too salty.

The obligatory vegetable dish was stewed cabbage with broccoli, mushrooms and Japanese abalone. The cabbage was stewed to a point where it just melts in your mouth. The use of dried scallops in the gravy complemented the abalone very well.

We decided to veer away from the typical Teochew steamed pomfret with tomatoes and preserved plums, and decided to try another highly recommended style. Although the fish was steamed just right, the unique part about this dish was the extremely delicious sauce which contained a mix of minced chicken breast and re-fried dried solefish.

Almost every table has one of these little porkers. The suckling pig was roasted very well indeed (perhaps even better than the one in Bangkok?) with most of the fat being melted off and leaving just a crisp layer of cracking and a thin layer of meat. I prefered the seasoning in this over the one at Nam Sing because it wasn't as sweet.

Which Teochew feast is complete without a serve of yam paste dessert? This place serves the dessert steamed together with the gingko nuts and pumpkin on the side.

Smooth, extremely aromatic but not too sweet, the yam paste and the perfectly steamed pumpkin and gingko nuts were indeed just the thing to end off this sweet meal!

Of course, the hot and thick Chinese tea right at the end dissolves all oil, fat and grease ingested hence making this meal a rather balanced one haha.

Although this meal was our priciest yet in Malacca, it was definitely worth every cent (or should I say sen?). Please make your reservations in advanced because this place does get packed. The earliest reservation they could give us was the 9pm slot.

D