One can count on one hand the number of restaurants that serve superlative Chinese food with a consistency that only a few other restaurants in Ipoh have managed. Crab House is one of them.
Opening less than four years ago, it was the new kid on the block amongst the giants in Chinese cuisine in Ipoh like Overseas Greentown, Mun Choong both Pasir Puteh and Horley St. (Pusing Public), and East Ocean Menglembu.
Today, Crab House has established its own niche on the Foodie scene and not only has it expanded into two shop lots with a private room upstairs, but it is constantly coming up with interesting new dishes to tantalise your palates.
A group of us had the pleasure to sample some new dishes recently, prepared by Chef W.S. Wang and a new Chef, Teng Gee Seong who in addition to being a wok master, is also an artist with flour, butter and other edible ingredients and has won numerous awards for his artistic displays in various culinary competitions in China, Japan and SE Asia.
Chef Teng who has worked in Singapore, Sarawak and Brunei, has many accolades to his name amongst which is being listed in 2006, whilst working in Indonesia, in the Guinness Book of World Records for his 50 metre Butter Carving called “Eyes of the Dragon”, a record that remains unbeaten till today.
Today, Chef Teng keeps his artistic skills honed while conjuring up new dishes as the concept chef for Crab House and still comes up with amazing creations like those featured on this page.
According to him, his flour sculptures which are made with merely flour, sugar and water, can take up to five years to air dry after which they can last up to 100 years without disintegrating. Now that is what I call durability.
Crab House is of course well known for their large Indonesian Crabs which are prepared in any style you may choose. My favourites are the Salted Egg and the stuffed glutinous rice preparations, made especially yummilicious if the crabs have roe. Crabs now go for RM95 a kilo.
Naturally we couldn’t have had a meal without crabs and this time, it was even more refined than ever. Stuffed crab claws were very fresh, off the shell, coated with a thick layer of fish cum meat mousse, deep fried and served with a touch of mayonnaise. RM10 per piece.
We then had a grass carp haruan cooked in rice wine with ginger and cloud ear mushrooms, the carp because it was wild caught, had nary a whiff of muddiness, the rice wine lending a sweet touch to the soft fresh fish meat and the cloud ear providing a velvety crunch to the combination. Carp at RM45 per kg and wine additional at RM18.
The Yeen Yeong Fatt Putt or Yin Yang Buddha’s Bowl was interesting. This is a ring or bowl usually made with mashed taro and deep fried, which houses the meat or vegetables and serves to soak up juices from the filling in the centre. In our case, the Buddha’s Bowl was a delicious combination of pumpkin and Taro, combined in swirls with the pumpkin lending a sweetness to an otherwise salty taro. Ours came with small pork cutlets in a dark soya sauce – RM26.
Braised pork ribs with celery, carrots and broccoli was almost like a western stew, with the exception of soya sauce which gave it its oriental touch. It was too sweet for my taste but enjoyed by others at the table.
Braised pork ribs RM8 each.
With its established popularity in Ipoh, Crab House is set to spread its wings and open a branch In Kuala Lumpur. Proprietress Fanny Chan who is busy doing the renovations in KL sounded excited about the new venture. With the way things have been going in Ipoh, I have no doubt Crab House KL will be a roaring success in no time.
Crab House 32 Laluan Perajurit 1, Taman Ipoh Timur Tel: Fanny Chan, 012-565 7723; W.S. Wang, 014-940 8500 GPS: N 4° 616 733, E 101° 125117 Open 7 days a week, 11am-2.30pm & 5.30pm-11pm Kuala Lumpur branch: Opening early November 39 Jalan Anggerik Vanilla U, Seksyen 31, 40460 Shah Alam.