Putien @ 1 Utama Shopping Centre

“Heng hwa is a rather watery language.”

I still remember my friend, who happens to be Heng Hwa, tell me this, one day, as we were crossing the road coming back from school.

I say, “you mean flowery language?”

No, watery she says.

“Ever stood next to a Heng Hwa, speaking her mother tongue?”

I shake my head.

“Don’t.. unless you want to be covered in spit!”

(Well, just to let you know, there is no spitting involved actually, just that the diction sounds rather salivary!)

Well, water language or no, the Heng Hwa cuisine is still fabulous. When done right, it’s really an amazing style of Chinese cooking that gets under your skin.

Here at Putien, the food does not disappoint. Reading about it, on Boo’s blog, we headed out to check out this place last week, and man, was the place packed – possibly with dozens of heng hwa spitting speaking clan members and what have you, enjoying the food at this new restaurant in 1 utama. Almost every table top we pass is filled with a myriad of different dishes. I wish I could have stopped to photograph all the dishes, as they were incredibly photogenic, but then thought better of it. Don’t fancy angry Heng Hwa’s all telling me off at the same time. I didn’t pack my raincoat (I’m only kidding).

braised luffa with dried scallops RM17 small or RM25 large

Heng Hwa cuisine may be unknown to some of the younger folks, but I guess there was a real dining void just waiting to be filled, and you will notice how the older generation of people have flocked to this joint. A lot of senior citizens fill the tables here at Putien. Multi-generational diners are not an uncommon sight here either. Originated from the Fuijian province in China, Putien prides itself on serving light-tasting and non-spicy food, and will definitely suit those with lighter palates.

Fried Heng Hwa bihoon RM16 or RM24

The Fried Heng Hwa bihoon is definitely a crowd pleaser, and was met with a chorus of approvals from around the table. The vermicelli is fried with fresh seafood like clams and prawns, topped with seaweed and peanuts. The star of the dish is the vermicelli, which is so fine that the place claims that it is finer than hair. While this dish has spawned copycats in many different restaurants, Pu Tien’s version remains the best in town as they import their vermicelli from China. Totally divine!

Shredded Pork Meat in special heng hwa sauce and deep fried sesame buns(mantau) RM5.90 per piece

Here, my buddy shows us how to carve up the mantau and stuff the pork bits into it and.. er, she would not let me post the shot of her stuffing her face:P

The Shredded Meat with Bun replicates a hamburger and this dish is good for kids, and as a light snack. The shredded pork was stir-fried with onions in black sauce, which brought out the savoury taste of the pork, to complement the sweetness of the onions. The buns were coated with sesame seeds and incredibly soft. Flavour wise, this was pretty standard. Not out of this world, but tasty enough.

Putien Ca Fen – which is Heng Hwa style fried Mee Suah and bihoon in a thick seafood stock RM16, RM24

This was an amazing noodle dish! If you go to Putien you must try as many of their noodles as possible, and please order anything with mee suah in it. You won’t regret it because they do it so well here. An amazing selection of noodles, I tell you.

tangy pork ribs with water chestnut RM20 and RM30

This was a forgettable dish. It just tasted like pai-kuat wong (sweet and sour pork ribs). Not very interesting at all.

nice tea cups – so pretty

orh nee – hot yam paste with gingko nuts RM6.90

The Orh Nee at Putien passes my acid test! 100% delicious! The only other place I love my Orh nee is here. Happy to say that Putien’s one is divine as well.

Sweet Potato Balls RM7.90
A terrific discovery thanks to Masak-masak. We will be back for many more meals I am sure. Next week, I’m bringing my family.

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