Ba Sheng Zai Huo Guo: Unconventional steamboat stock for ingredients

Choice selection: Assorted seafood and veggies for the steamboat.

Ba Sheng Zai Huo Guo,
Hyper Chain Sdn Bhd,
No. 15, Jalan PJU 5/3,
Dataran Sunway, Kota Damansara,
Petaling Jaya.
Tel: [phone]
Business hours: 11.00am to 1.00am daily.

HAVING tasted steamboat before, I assumed what I was about to savour was just another soupy experience in a Chinese restaurant.

But I was totally wrong, as I had the privilege of having something extraordinary at Ba Sheng Zai Huo Guo, a restaurant located in Dataran Sunway, Kota Damansara.

Its owner Kiew Sang Cheek opened this restaurant, formerly known as Xin Chun in 2008, to offer a different steamboat experience.

“Steamboat has always been my favourite ever since I was young. The gathering of people around a pot of boiling soup not only creates laughter but a certain bond among family and friends.

“Therefore, I thought the business would be a resilient one, less likely to be affected by a crisis,” Kiew said, adding that the rebranding took place in 2012 and one of the aspects in rebranding involved creating new recipes and perfecting his soups.

Kiew introduced his new soup base called silky porridge soup and curry soup.

The silky porridge soup is a light rice-based soup that is different from all the soups that I have tasted. It was delicious, but most of all healthy since it was made of rice and water.

Seafood is added to the soup, making it tasty, but he did not want to share his recipe as it is a secret.

The other soup, which is also a must-try, is the curry soup.

Kiew Sang Cheek

Here, Kiew has added some homemade chilli paste, giving it that much-added spicy boost that will tantalise your taste buds.

However, by adding a variety of seafood into the pot adds more flavour to the soup.

Kiew sourced for the best seafood and meat along with vegetable combinations to make the perfect pot of steamboat.

The delectable spread of ingredients features fresh seafood comprises prawn mantis, flower crab, silver pomfret, tiger prawns, abalone, mussles, prawn balls and mutton slice, among others.

Fresh corn, baby spinach, cabbage, and Roman lettuce were added in the silky porridge soup, while brinjals, mushrooms and tau foo poh were added in the curry soup, giving it different flavours altogether.

The other unique thing about Kiew’s steamboat was the three-seconds fu chok. These dry soy strips are first fried crispy and then dipped into the soup for only three seconds to give it that distinctive taste. I would say thumbs up for this excellent idea of serving fu chok.

The other must-try item is the Gyoza dumplings, which are made of prawn meat, carrots, cabbage, ginger and spring onions and wrapped with the Gyoza wrap.

This is something that I have not tasted in any steamboat restaurant and it is a wonderful recipe.

The other item also not to be missed is the restaurant’s pork balls. According to Kiew, the prawn and pork balls are also homemade.

With the soup and fresh seafood combination, one must also try the sauces and chilli pastes created by Kiew, as these are also homemade.

The restaurant also serves ala carte dishes like Sweet and Sour Crab, Kam Heong Lala, Deep Fried Sotong and Lala Meehoon, among others.

As for something sweet and cold under the dessert category, the ice-blended red bean is highly recommended. Other variety of ice-blended desserts include cendol, sour plum, cincau, grape fruit and soursop.