KUALA LUMPUR, July 6 — Small in size but big in flavour, dumplings stuffed with all kinds of fillings are what you get at Yuen Kee Dumpling in the forever busy Sri Petaling area.
Like food theatre, the dumplings are made right in front of your eyes, making them super fresh.
In China where it started out, the restaurant is favored by diners for offering a convenient way to satisfy their dumpling cravings, as it is found all over the cities.
A meal with springy egg noodles and dumplings can be ordered with broth or tossed in your choice of sauces.
The noodles can be ordered with their Cantonese seafood broth or tossed with their popular peanut sauce and chilli oil.
The milky broth is a game changer for the dumplings as the skin becomes smooth and slippery.
Pan frying the dumplings, however, results in a chewier bite.
Even the broth is very drinkable, featuring a hint of dried flounder fish that enhances its savoriness without being overpowering.
The dry noodles embraced with chilli oil and given a touch of creaminess from peanut sauce, are exceptional.
On its own, the chilli oil is aromatic from the spices used rather than a one dimensional sauce that only engulfs you with burning heat.
My personal experience with chilli oil is complicated; I seek the aromatic flavours but the spiciness makes me think twice before ordering it
Balancing the chilli oil, a small trace of creamy peanut sauce adds another layer of toasted peanuts to the sauce.
No wonder their sauce is viral; it’s a flavour you keep wanting more of.
This variation of the noodles tends to be rather dry with strands that clump together, requiring more force to pull apart.
What I do is add a bit more chili oil from the condiments counter, coating the thin strands with a little more oil.
Customise your experience with the sauces and even crunchy pickles from the counter.
My favourite is combining the chilli oil with chopped spring onions and vinegar in the shallow bowls to create a dipping sauce for my dumplings and even the noodles.
Try it. Perhaps you will get hooked on it just like me.
The dumplings feature a minced pork base combined with add-ons like tiny crunchy prawns, vegetables, onion, dragon chives, chives, shepherd’s purse and even corn.
They are made in small batches and you can also buy them uncooked by the weight for home use.
With flavour combinations featuring only shrimp and vegetables, the pork tends to have a slightly firmer texture.
For a juicier dumpling, try the shepherd’s purse version with greens, which has a mild pepper flavour.
There are also wontons (10 pieces and 12 pieces) and shu mai with salted egg yolk and pork or corn and pork flavours on the menu.
The outlet seems understaffed; one time, they had to stop serving the siu mai because they had fewer hands available to fold the dim sum.
Shrimp, Vegetables & Pork Dumplings Noodles is RM14.90 with six pieces while the Pan-Fried Chives & Pork Dumplings (six pieces) is RM10.90, and Shepherd’s Purse & Pork Dumplings (10 pieces) is RM16.90.
Yuen Kee Dumpling
51, Jalan Radin Bagus,
Bandar Baru Sri Petaling, Kuala Lumpur.
Open daily: 10am to 10pm
Tel: 011-10657821
* This is an independent review where the writer paid for the meal.
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