Jin Shan Cheng Sichuan Village Restaurant @ Bandar Sunway
Finding authentic Sichuan or Szechuan food in Klang Valley is certainly not an easy task. Having traveled to various places in China before, both Saucer and I are especially attracted to the hot and spicy Szechuan cuisine. This style of Chinese cuisine, originating from the Sichuan province of China, has an unmistakable pungent and bold flavour, particularly a numbing spiciness that is a result of liberal use of garlic, chili and peppercorn. Incidentally, the people in Sichuan eat a lot of hot peppercorn to counter the effect of continuous humidity experienced in the province. One fine evening, the thought of having Sichuan cuisine came across my mind. Apart from the relatively high-class Sichuan Dou Hua restaurant, we didn’t know of any other Sichuan restaurants around.
Contributed by MeiYee or Iamthewitch.com
No. 42A-2, Jalan PJS 8/2,
Dataran Mentari,
Bandar Sunway,
46150 Petaling Jaya,
Selangor, Malaysia.
Tel no: +603-5631-8220
Fax no: +603-5631-8221
Email: pj@jscmsb.com
Website: www.jscmsb.com
GPS Coordinates: 3.075100,101.612550
Interior of Jin Shan Cheng
That is, until we found out Jin Shan Cheng from our dear friend Google. Both of us literally screamed for joy knowing that we could satisfy our cravings for Sichuan food just minutes away from where we stay! The place was situated on the first floor of a car showroom, with a staircase leading up lined with photos of Sichuan dishes. Yes, we were indeed heading to the right place.
Appetizers (RM1/each)
We were presented with a thick menu filled with colourful pictures of Sichuan dishes, and started to point out to the dishes that we normally order. The appetizers were placed on our table after our order, and though I enjoyed the boiled nuts, I guess I would have opted not to have them in my next visit since they’re not free.
Saucer happily waiting for his food
One of the main dishes that we knew we had to order that night was the ‘Shui Zhu Yu’ or literally Water-Boiled Fish in translation. Even though the name refers to water, this dish was not cooked entirely in water alone. The fresh fish slices were first quickly poached with boiling water for a half a minute. They were then placed in a dish, together with lots of chili, peppercorn, garlic, vegetables and other ingredients. Then, a large amount of vegetable oil was heated before being poured over the fish fillet. This way, the fish gets to maintain its tenderness while being coated with pungent flavouring from the spicy and hot oil.
“Shui Zhu Yu” or Water-boiled Fish (RM20)
Just look at the fiery red concoction! What struck me the most was how superbly fresh the fish fillets were! Each slice was perfect – smooth, succulent, flaky and tender. Of course, they were also spicy and numbing, especially if you were unlucky enough to bite into the hot peppercorn! I was careful to avoid these mean devils but I still ended up with numb lips! The oil was heavily flavoured with lots of garlic, chili flakes and peppercorn. It was not only spicy, but gave us a tingly and numbing feeling to our tongue and lips. If you’re worried of the fish being overly spicy, you could try to dry off some of the oil on your bowl of rice, since rice would easily absorb anything liquid.
Generous amount of fish
The portion served was also generous, and both of us found ourselves stuffed just by eating this dish alone! If you ask me for a comparison, of course I have had better ones in China before, but this was as good as it gets! The dish tasted authentic enough, the fish was fresh, and the oil was spicy and numbing. I would definitely return to this place if just for this dish alone.
Let the rice absorb the spicy oil if you cannot stand the spiciness
Contributed by MeiYee or Iamthewitch.com
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