Ye old Fuzhou Restaurant

Special Fuzhou Fried rice

Fuzhou cuisine is a major part of Fujian culinary art, which is distinguished by its rich colors, its sweet and sour flavours and its sometimes pickled taste. I mean, one look at it and you know its Fuzhou. Truly the cuisine gives new meaning to the term ‘seeing red’ and for this, we have the red yeast rice to thank. Red yeast rice is produced by cultivating a particular strain of yeast on rice. This fully cultured rice is then either sold as the dried grain, cooked and pasteurized to be sold as a wet paste, or dried and pulverized to be sold as a fine powder. Adding this to the cooking is what imparts that characteristic red color in Fuzhou cuisine. In Malaysia, you can find a high concentration of Fuzhou folk living in Sitiawan, or Sibu, Sarawak. In Kuala Lumpur there are several Fuzhou restaurants and here in Petaling Jaya, a great one to visit goes by the obvious name, the Old Fuzhou Restaurant.

Incidentally, if red yeast rice rings a bell, it will be for the reason that this substance was at the center of FDA controversy not too long ago. The wonderful thing about this red yeast rice is that it mimics the statins. Statins are drugs that can lower your cholesterol by blocking a substance your body needs to make cholesterol. Statins may also help your body reabsorb cholesterol that has built up in plaques on your artery walls, preventing further blockage in your blood vessels and therefore heart attacks, the most popular and famous one we all know as Lipitor. Now because the chemical in red yeast rice mimics the statins, the FDA had some disputes over whether to classify it as a drug or a dietary supplement, in the US.

Anyway way back before the FDA even got their talons into the red yeast rice, the Chinese in China, were already using red yeast rice as a medicine for gastric problems (indigestion, diarrhea), for poor blood circulation, also for spleen and stomach health. So in light of this, no wonder the Chinese are famed for living to a ripe old age. I might also add that, the way we Chinese eat Cholesterol laden food, some statins in the diet probably does more good than harm anyway.  So that’s just some interesting facts on the red yeast rice for your kind digestion.

(Reference Mayo Clinic)

Mee Sua with Red Wine Chicken

red wine chicken with pickled vegetables

From the lavish to the simple, Fuzhou cuisine is enjoyed at all levels and its snacks are no exception. Typically light, yet hearty, these snacks include fried Oyster Omelette (Or chien) and special handmade fish balls (fish balls with meat stuffing).

springy, bouncy fishballs

egg omelette with oysters – Or Chien

Signature dish – fishballs stuffed with meat

Ah, introducing the famous Kampung Koh Chilli sauce, from Kampung Koh of course. I am told that only this chilli sauce will do. No other chilli sauce should be eaten with the oyster omelette! This is the best chilli sauce on earth. For your information, Kampung Koh is a village located in Sitiawan, Perak. It was founded by two Chinese pastors from the province of Fujian during the early 1900s and therefore, Fujian sauce for Fujian cooking!

Not the healthiest of foods , but totally delicious!

Vinegar Pork Trotters

This was the only non Fuzhou dish we had, the Vinegar Pork Trotters and now you see why we might need the red yeast rice to balance off the meal, eh? 😉

Thank you Marian for the kind invite to dine at The Old Fuzhou restaurant.