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Text: Jean Chong | Photography: BK Loh
My first impression, as my colleagues and I walked into the Purple Cane tea restaurant, was that we had been transported back in time to 19th century China and I could almost imagine that we were sitting down in a popular local inn; enjoying a cup of exquisite Chinese tea with Wong Fei-Hung over a game of Chinese chess.
It was not surprising that the outlet, situated on the lower ground floor of The Gardens in Mid Valley City, had previously won an award for its interior design. Mainly Chinese décor with a contemporary twist, we were informed by K.C. Tan, service manager of the restaurant, that many of its furnishings were hand-picked and imported directly from China, including a beautiful set of Chinese screen doors.
According to Tan, Purple Cane started as a humble tea house in 1987; a place where friends could gather and engage in idle chat while appreciating fine tea. The trend of traditional Chinese tea drinking soon caught on and Purple Cane became a household name among tea enthusiasts in Malaysia.
Spurred on by encouragement and positive feedback from friends and consumers, the owners decided to expand their business into tea cuisine; setting up the first tea restaurant in the country in 1997. Today, the humble tea house has grown into a chain of 17 tea centres, three restaurants and even a centre for learning the art of tea.
[lg_folder folder="Tea Cuisine At Purple Cane"]
As we were served lunch, we were delighted to be joined by Jack Lee, the master chef who played a huge role in creating most of the dishes on their menu. Jack shared with us that every dish served at the outlet is cooked with tea; be it in the form of tea leaves, powder or broth. Even their rice, is steamed with green tea.
The master chef revealed that preparing tea cuisine is similar to Chinese cooking except that tea broth substitutes the conventional use of chicken, beef or fish stock as a base in their cooking. And each tea complemented a different form of cooking. For example, Jasmine tea is suitable to be used to cook seafood as it can negate the fishiness of its ingredients; while green tea is ideal for steaming food such as rice or prawns. For dishes that are stewed over long periods, high quality tea is used as a base so that its aroma can slowly be released to enhance the flavours of the dish.
Another of the main properties of tea is its ability to absorb excessive oil. Indeed, the food served at Purple Cane is based on a healthy eating concept whereby all their dishes are cooked with less salt, oil, sugar and no artificial flavours.
By this time, I was eager to start sampling their dishes. My eyes lit up as they served the Chicken Bak Kut Teh soup boiled with Dong Ding Oolong Tea as appetizer. The soup came in a two-tiered clay pot; with a lit candle in the bottom keeping the pot of soup on top heated. There were needle mushrooms, cabbage, button mushrooms and chunks of chicken meat in the soup which was flavourful yet light; and had a hint of kum (herbal) taste derived from herbs and spices.
I remarked that I did not detect any overwhelming taste of tea and Tan acknowledged this, saying that in all their recipes, the fragrance of tea is well-blended with the other ingredients and hence, its strong taste would be masked; making their dishes more palatable to the general public. The soup was served with crispy you tiao (crullers) and tofu puffs on the side.
Next came one of their signature dishes, the Aromatic Crispy Duck cooked with Lychee Black Tea. The dish was served in style; with slices of duck, fresh lettuce, shredded spring onion, cucumber and pan-fried egg sheets arranged in plates and baskets atop an elegant oriental tray. Gingerly wrapping the egg sheets around a little bit of each ingredient and then adding a drizzle of sweet sauce over it, I devoured
the roll and found it a delectable starter to the other dishes. The dish is priced at RM18, RM30 and RM 55 depending on whether one wants to order a quarter, half or whole duck.
The Stir-fried Lotus Root and Chestnut was a crunchy and tasty affair which I thoroughly enjoyed. In this dish, chopped carrots, baby maize, green peppers, mushrooms and thinlysliced lotus root were stir-fried and finished with a sprinkling of crispy sliced you tiao and spring onions.
We also tucked into the Mixed Mushrooms Stir-fried with Sui Xian Tea – a combination of three types of mushrooms stirfried with spring onions and green veggies. The mushrooms were cooked just nice so that they absorbed all the rich flavours from its gravy. Particularly, I found the Chinese mushrooms indulgently soft and savoured its natural creamy taste.
The final dish was the Home-made Braised Beancurd in Tea Sauce. Served in a pretty boat-like dish, the beancurd was topped with minced chicken fried with chopped dried shrimps and green onions. Coupled with the gravy, the beancurd was a delicious dish that went well with rice.
I found the meal satisfying and not that much different from conventional Chinese cuisine except perhaps its flavours were less heavy and the dishes, less oily. The pricing of the dishes are also comparable to other mid-ranged restaurants of similar locations. Their vegetable and meat dishes, which can be ordered in small or large portions, are priced between the ranges of RM12 to RM15 and RM22 to RM28 respectively.
Purple Cane is certainly ideal for a gathering of family and friends; a place to enjoy great, healthy food amidst a warm, family-oriented atmosphere.
