Uncle Martin has been raving about Da Zhong Hwa Seafood Saunaboat restaurant near Sutera Mall in Johor Bahru. I was eager to try out DZH, especially the "omega fish" which Uncle Martin kept telling us about.
DZH calls itself a "saunaboat" restaurant. The idea is to cook food by steaming it above a pot of rice porridge. The natural juices from the fresh food trickle down into the pot of porridge below as it is being steam cooked. After eating the steamed dishes, customers finish their meal with the porridge full of natural essence.
This was Uncle Martin's fourth time at DZH but the first time for me. DZH is compact inside. Furnishings are simple but sturdy and comfortable. Each table is fitted with a special electric steamer.
I like it that DZH serves live seafood. There were the local staples like mud crabs, Soon Hock, Grouper, La La clams as well as exotic imports like Alaska King crabs, Maine lobsters etc.
These are the "omega fish" which Uncle Martin was telling us about. They are actually Malaysian Jade Perch 翡翠鲈, a local pond raised fish known for its omega-3 rich fat.
First dish was 沙白 clams. The staff will do all the cooking, so we can just relax and enjoy ourselves 😄
Woohoo... the 沙白 clams were very clean. In its tender soft chewy flesh were briny sweet natural juices. Yummy.
Next up, live tiger prawns.
Service was excellent. The friendly staff peeled the prawns for us and even asked if we would like the prawns with heads on or off.
We opted to have the heads on, so that we can suck out the creamy juices with all the crustacean flavours from inside the head 😋
The much anticipated Malaysian Jade Perch. Our swimming fish was netted out of the tank and swiftly sliced. The omega-3 rich fat was scrapped and heaped in the middle of the steaming tray.
The Jade Perch's white flesh is tender and sweet but has a rather pronounced earthly taste characteristic of pond raised fish.
The omega-3 rich fat is light, soft and felt like delicate juicy fruit sacs but it has an earthly taste.
Shanghai Hairy Crabs (mitten crabs) are available at Da Zhong Hwa restaurant as it is in season in China now.
Not much meat but the creamy flesh, gut and roe make Hairy Crab a popular delicacy. It's RM56 a pop - so, unless your craving for Hairy Crab drives you crazy, get it when you are in Shanghai where it (non Yangcheng lake crabs) is available at RMB5 (RM3) each.
Local Mud Crab.
The meaty claw was filled with briny sweetness. Yums!
Some obligatory greens and vegetables to complete our meal like good boys and girls 😄
好料沉底 or the "best stuff sinks to the bottom" as they say in Hokkien. The porridge below the steamy tray catches all the natural juices as they trickle down while the seafood is being steam cooked. We added a couple of salted duck egg yolk into the porridge.
The porridge has layers of savoury sweet flavours from all the essence triggered down from the steamed seafood. The salted egg yolk and dried oyster added more savoury layers to the porridge. It's a great way to round up our scrumptious meal.
DZH offers this robust savoury sweet spicy sambal chili which we all enjoyed. I like this sambal chili which is loaded with dried shrimps but I didn't use it with my steamed food as I like to taste the food's natural favours without any distractions.
Our bill came to RM497.50 for five of us.
Restaurant name: Da Zhong Hwa Saunaboat 大中华蒸汽火锅
Address: 101, Jalan Sutera Tanjung 8/3, Skudai, Johor
GPS: 1°30'59.0"N 103°40'13.1"E | 1.516393, 103.670307
Tel: 07 550 4538 | 019 330 6233
Hours: 12:00 noon - 12:00 midnight
Non Halal
Date visited: 29 Nov 2017
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Went there twice for dinner during weekend. Full house. Better book prior to going. Even if there are table empty the staff will not accommodate you. I do not know the reason. The cooking style is healthy but the food taste bland. The resulting porridge at the end is not up to expectation. This could be that we were not a big group therefore did not order enough dishes. Not a die die must eat place.
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