PREPARING octopus for cooking is no easy task and Teow Chew Meng restaurant owner Steven Seow knows exactly why.
“When I was younger, that was my assigned task. My uncle would come back with kilogrammes of octopus and I had to clean it. I would always cringe because it took a long time,” said Seow.
According to him, the process of cleaning the octopus to rid it of the fishy smell takes at least two hours.
The Boiled Octopus, served with a homemade sauce mixed with fried garlic and roasted peanuts. “That’s what we do before we boil the octopus and the flesh ends up having a very nice crunch to it, without the smell,” he said, explaining one of the signature dishes at the restaurant.
His father-in-law started the restaurant in Penang 15 years ago and Seow expanded the business, bringing it to the Klang Valley six years ago.
The boiled octopus is served with a homemade spicy dip mixed with fried garlic and roasted peanuts.
Oyster delights: Teow Chew Meng restaurant prides itself on some of its unique dishes like the Three Taste Oyster (front) and Oyster Mee He said the dish was common among the Teowchew people in Penang and many of his customers came back for it.
The signature dish at the outlet is the Mee Sua Tow, which consists of mee sua noodles in a thick broth, much like shark’s fin soup, and laden with seafood like prawns and crabstick.
“This is actually a Hokkien dish which my father-in-law rediscovered during a trip to China. He said it was similar to what he had had as a child and he modified the dish to include more seafood,” Seow said.
Single servings of the noodles come in a bowl at RM11 or customers can order a pot to share.
Another popular dish is the Oyster Mee (RM15), which is stir-fried with oysters and prawns in a thick dark gravy.
“We also have noodles in clear soup and tom yam and customers can also have normal noodles instead of mee sua,” said Seow.
A Teochew menu would not be complete without the traditional Teochew porridge, and the Seafood Porridge features the Teochew-style porridge (in which the rice grains are not broken down) served with seafood.
Those who want to indulge further can choose to add items like abalone, large prawns, fish maw, sea asparagus and fish fillet to the noodles or porridge, all at an additional charge.
The restaurant also offers a variety of side dishes to complement the main dishes.
Signature dish: The Mee Sua Tow is served in a thick broth similar to shark’s fin soup and is laden with seafood and topped with shark’s fin “We don’t have an extensive menu, so it’s almost like fast food. Many of the dishes are unique to our restaurant. Customers usually order a pot of noodles with one or two side dishes to munch on. They can also have the dishes with white rice if they prefer,” said Seow.
One of the restaurant’s unique dishes is the Three Taste Oyster, which has a sweet, sour and spicy gravy.
“The typical Penang style is the oh jian, or oyster omelette, so ours is cooked in a different style,” Seow said.
He also recommended the Fried Prawn, which was made with a prawn paste and looked more like a pancake.
“We also have the Seafood Roll, which is like the Penang lobak but made with seafood. This and the Fried Prawn are served with a sauce that we made ourselves,” he said.
To keep it healthy, Seow said they did not add any MSG to the food made in the restaurant, and minimised the usage of oil.
“We serve blanched lettuce instead of stir-frying it. We blanch it with a bit of oil and serve it with a light sauce topped with glass prawns, a type of dried shrimps,” said Seow.
For something lighter, there is the Kerabu Mango, made with a special Thai sauce.
“The Apple Beancurd is almost similar but we use fresh apple and it is served with fried bean curd. The bean curd eaten by the Teochew people has a harder texture,” he said.
You would have no problems deciding on dessert at Teow Chew Meng because there is only one — the traditional Teow Chew Yam Paste, also known as or ni.
“This is a must-have at Teochew family gatherings and weddings. The traditional one is a lot sweeter and has more oil, so we have cut down on the sugar and oil to cater for our customers, who are more health-conscious,” said Seow.
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