In November last year, self-taught chef Chong Yu Cheng nabbed an elusive Michelin star – his first – for his progressive Malaysian restaurant Terra Dining. Since then, Chong, or YC as he is better known, says his life has completely changed.
“After the announcement, the restaurant was booked out for months. And since then, I have been given opportunities to collaborate, do guest stints and even make television appearances that would have never come my way without the ‘star’. The difference has been night and day,” he says.
A self-taught chef whose only previous kitchen experience was an internship at Sweden’s famed three Michelin-starred Frantzen, YC is also one of KL’s most intellectual, philosophical chefs.
His cooking is driven by the high level of skill, precision and introspection that he pours into it.
It is also very much boundary-less modern Malaysian fare – in one instance, he might take inspiration from rendang while the next bite could be an ode to the glorious multi-layered flavours so ubiquitous in Indian banana leaf meals.
It’s a melange and one that YC is happy to explore and tap into.
A meal here is also a celebration of all things homegrown – culinary cultures, rituals, produce, producers and the quintessential invisible link that makes us all uniquely Malaysian.
Terra Dining’s latest menu, titled Inert.ia (priced at RM568++ per person), is an ode to these Malaysian ingredients and meals interspersed with modern techniques and wizardry.
There is also the option to tack on a zero-proof botanical pairing (highly recommended), curated by renowned Malaysian tea brand Beca Tea whose ancestral roots date back nearly 100 years. The pairing is priced at RM268 for five glasses.
Highlights from the menu include the trio of small bites that form the prelude to the meal. Of these small morsels, the Fried Mochi, Shiitake, Tofu, “Duckkwa” is a lone ranger in that it really stands out from a textural perspective.
A play on loh mai kai (glutinous rice with marinated chicken), the glutinous element here is replaced with a mochi base accentuated by braised shiitake mushroom and a duck bakkwa that makes use of duck legs.
Quite honestly, the dish doesn’t bear any resemblance – even a distant one – to loh mai kai.
But that doesn’t actually matter because it tastes so good – the chewy base allows for plenty of pause for thought (something YC actually engineered to be this way) and the duck bakkwa provides a rich umami contrast that conversely also doesn’t overwhelm the palate.
Another small bite that impresses is the Salted Egg Mung Bean Curry, Onion Jam, Cauliflower, Papadom.
The base of this little tartlet has been fashioned out of papadom and everything else in this configuration is meant to resemble the riotous explosion of flavours that are a rite of passage in a traditional Indian banana leaf meal.
On this count, this little one-bite wonder delivers – executing the punchy, multi-layered, richly-spiced flavours that make BLR such a memorable experience.
Up next is Squid, Laksa-sabayon, Sarawak Laksa XO Sauce, Cucumber, or as YC calls it, “one of my favourite laksas with my least favourite laksa combined”. The dish is an amalgamation of Sarawak laksa (which YC loves) and laksam, which he only encountered as an adult and doesn’t like, despite having grown up in Terengganu (where the dish is from).
The little bowl is host to a crazy amount of elements from lemongrass vinegar; a coconut cream infused with galangal, shallots and chillies that is then turned into a foam; finely julienned squid meant to imitate noodles; and lemon basil to round this out.
The breakout star here is the squid noodles, which are slippery smooth silken vixens. This is accentuated by the creamy, satiating flavours of laksam and the umami-rich boosts of Sarawak laksa coated at the base.
It’s a meal of contrasts that is also a working display of “opposites attract”.
Move on to the charms of the Mystery Fish, Masak Lemak Beurre Blanc, Pandan, Chayote Leaves paired with flatbread.
The fish (which is essentially whatever is in season) has been cooked to perfection here and features crackly, crispy lightly charred skin against flesh that has a smoky countenance and tender succulence. The chayote meanwhile is a sleeper hit, retaining a too-cool-for-school charred aura from being cooked over a charcoal fire to attain wonderful “wok hei” notes.
The masak lemak sauce offers all the robustly aromatic underpinnings of this classic Malay dish with nuances of beurre blanc to tame this tempest. The result is a sauce that is ridiculously good and equally ridiculously addictive.
The fermented flatbread paired on the side has a fluffy demeanour that has clearly been crafted as a receptacle to mop up every last dying ember of the masak lemak sauce – echoing the uniquely Malaysian way of savouring gravies and curries till the last drop.
For mains, there is the Pureblood Wagyu, Rendang Beef Cheek, Thai Basil Palak (+RM200).
Pure-blood wagyu is wagyu with 100% Japanese genetics, which in turn means the meat is far more beefy and intense.
Here, the wagyu has been grilled over charcoal and placed atop king oyster mushrooms that have been basted in butter and smoked over rambutan wood. The brown square parcel in this constellation is essentially a beef cheek pressure cooked in rendang sauce and then shallow- fried.
Then there is a Thai basil palak inspired by palak paneer as well as, strangely, Taiwanese three-cup chicken!
YC’s mind works in mysterious ways and yet this is clearly the power play move of a culinary genius. Because how else do you explain these strange, disparate components putting together a powerhouse performance?
Because that’s what this is – a powerhouse. The beef is the guiding force here, lending a supple quality to the meal that is then buoyed by the inspired cameo of the beef cheek and the herbaceous yet umami packed delivery of the palak. It’s a show-stopper in every sense.
End your meal on an equally high note with probably one of the best things on Terra’s current menu – the Carrot Halwa Tart, Pistachio, Thosai Ice Cream, Mango Chutney.
To make the carrot halwa, YC infused the dish with a carrot juice and milk reduction enhanced with spices like cardamom and cinnamon.
The thosai ice-cream meanwhile is a labour of love that takes 14 days (yes, you read this right) to make.
And yet, one taste and you can see how the intense, obsessive love that YC has channelled into the dish is oh-so worth it. The tart is incredible – retaining all the qualities that make the spice-nuanced carrot halwa so beloved yet somehow elevating it to a whole new stratosphere. And that thosai ice-cream? It’s a strangely bewitching treat with a permanent funk and tanginess that somehow gets better with repeated eats.
If you’ve ever dined at Terra Dining before, you’ll notice that the changes that YC incorporates are seemingly small and incremental. And yet, his perfectionist streak and level of discipline means that no meal here is ever the same. Those tiny, imperceptible changes? They make each iteration better than the last.
It’s in YC’s DNA to keep improving. Which is why having a Michelin star has pushed him even more than he regularly pushes himself, allowing diners to experience a singularly superlative meal time and time again.
“My nature is always to up the game, so I’m happy that the star is bringing in diners who expect more and are tougher critics. Because if I don’t intend to play at that level, why bother getting the star in the first place?” he concludes.
Terra Dining
91 Jalan Aminuddin Baki
Taman Tun Dr Ismail
60000 Kuala Lumpur
Tel: 011-7072 7777
Open: Tuesday to Saturday,
6pm to midnight
