Like many Chinese-style seafood restaurants, Soon Kee has an extensive menu of stir-fried (煮炒) dishes with emphasis on seafood like fish, shrimps and crabs. Chicken and pork dishes are also available.
The restaurant received a fresh stock of live brown crabs this morning. The price is RM78.00 per kilogram, which seems quite expensive in my opinion. But what else can we do when our crab cravings kick in?
There are many ways to cook crabs. But to truly appreciate the crab’s freshness, Salt-Baked Crab (盐焗螃蟹) is the best option. The 550-gram crab teases us with firm, juicy flesh underneath its thick exoskeleton. A hammer and a cracker are provided to crack the hard shell. Meanwhile, the yellowish “egg” is actually crab roe that is excreted when the crab is being cooked.
Sweet & Sour Crab (酸甜螃蟹) is another popular way to enjoy crabs. Dressed in sweet and sour sauce, the two crabs are also cooked with dried shrimps (虾米) and eggs. In my opinion, the sauce is way too sweet. In fact, sourness is almost absent here. This dish goes reasonably well with fried mantou (馒头, RM3.00).
Fish Head Pot (鱼头炉, RM25.00) is another signature dish at this seafood restaurant. This delicacy is served in a steamboat pot with burning charcoal at the center to keep the food boiling hot. The highlight of this dish is pre-fried snapper fish head. Other notable ingredients are taro (芋头), cabbage, scallion, tomato, seaweed and fried onions.
Another recommended dish here is Fermented Beancurd Fried Pork (南乳炸花肉, RM14.00). Pork belly is coated with fermented bean curd (南乳), resulting in very strong savory flavor. Fried to a scrumptious crisp, the pork is usually eaten with chili sauce.
Stir-Fried Amaranth (清炒苋菜, RM6.00) serves as counterbalance to the previous dishes. Juicy amaranth is cooked with sliced garlic in light sauce.
As for Chinese Tea (中国茶, RM2.40 per teapot), tieguanyin (铁观音) is the choice today. This variety of oolong tea is a specialty from the Fujian Province of China.
Address: 10-1-1, Jalan Setia Prima U13/G, 40170 Shah Alam, Selangor
Contact: 03-3341-3400
Business hours: 11:00am-2:30pm, 5:30pm-9:30pm, closed on alternate Mondays
