Chinese Gastronomical Affair at Di Wei Chinese Cuisine, Empire Hotel Subang

Ni hao merry goers~

Wondering what's up with the sudden Mandarin greeting? Well, today I am going to bring you off to the world of Chinese cuisines and whet your appetite with some amazing Chinese dishes that I have tried recently at Di Wei Chinese Cuisines, Empire Hotel Subang. Being a Chinese myself, although well failing at reading or writing Chinese characters, my taste buds always crave the familiarity of Chinese cuisines and I must say that they were satisfied during my feast at Di Wei.

Unlike other traditional Chinese restaurant which serves fragrant peanuts/groundnuts for snacking before your meal, Di Wei serves the crispy fried Fuchuk or also known as the Chinese Beancurd Skin for your snacking purposes. Gently seasoned, I could not stop myself from snacking on it while waiting for my other dining partners although I knew I had to leave space for some glorious food ahead.

Speaking of Chinese cuisines, one of the popular dishes would be soup or in the case at Di Wei their Signature Double Boiled Soup with Herbs and Black Chicken (RM32.50) is a must order. If you have been feeling fatigue or under the weather lately, this soup will be sure to boost your energy levels and revive your liver. With the addition of the valuable Chinese herb which is at par with ginseng, this double boiled soup takes a total of 4 hours to prepare. Instead of the usual white chicken, the black chicken is used to give the additional boost of health benefits and this soup is double boiled to release all the natural flavours into a piping hot pot of delicious broth. They also used green apples to give an additional sweetness to the soup.

Yet another favourite Chinese dish would be the Siew Loong Pao (RM11.60) which originated from Shanghai and made popular in Taiwan. This is another must order dish when you dine at Di Wei Chinese Cuisine Restaurant. Made with minced pork and spring onion with a touch of pork oil, this delicate piece of work use burst in your mouth with the aromatic warm delicious soup hidden within. The skin of the siew loong pao was evenly and thinly prepared just strong enough to withhold the delicious pork broth within but thin enough to burst when you pop it into your mouth. 

Dim Sum!! One of my personal favourite Chinese cuisines is also served at Di Wei. We were also served with their Bean Curd Roll (RM11.60) which had three succulent shrimps wrapped with beancurd and deep fried to crispy perfection. 

The Pan Fried Carrot Cake (RM9.30) has white carrot, corn flour and dried shrimp mashed, steamed, cut into squares and pan fried to give a nice crispy surface. I am quite particular with my carrot cake and I know the tedious work to prepare it at home so I must say the one served at Di Wei does meet the mark at being sticky, nicely seasoned and pan fried.

Now let's meet the golden trio which has Steamed Shrimp Dumpling with Caviar (RM11.60), Deep Fried Sesame Ball (RM9.30) which has a sweet paste made of chestnut and gula Melaka inside and Deep Fried Salad Prawn (RM9.30) made with salad prawns wrapped in dumpling skin, deep fried and topped with salad sauce. This three assortments were really well prepared with the Deep Fried Sesame Ball and the Deep Fried Salad Prawn to be my favourite. I have a tendency to love dishes made using glutinous flour!

So enough of all the small snacking although I was starting to feel pretty full after the assortment of dim sum. Moving on to one of the star dishes that really left an impact on my taste palates is the Homemade Style Baked Spare Ribs (RM20.80). This baked spare ribs are not your ordinary spare ribs! They were marinated in a Chinese herbal soup overnight and marinated again the next day with red onion, honey, black soy cause and spring onions. Even before it touchdown on my tastebuds, I could smell the Chinese herbal soup marinate especially the tong guai which is supposed to be very good for women. The marinate really seeps through the spare ribs and is robust in herbal soup flavour! Well marinated and also baked that the meat comes off the bone easily.

Note: Don't try to go all posh when eating this dish. Dig in with your fingers and devour the meat off the bones!

Just looking at the next dish emits the star factor for the Roasted Goose (Whole RM324.80 | Half RM159). The whole goose was marinated with Chinese herbs, 5 spice and roasted until golden brown and crispy. The skin was really crispy and the meat oh so succulent. The balance of the fatty meat and the lean meat was well proportioned and the whole dish was really flavourful.

Now you are wondering what is this concoction of green liquid served in what looks like test tubes? Well, this green liquid is specially prepared by the chef which contains lime and spinach among other ingredients as a taste bud cleanser. The taste of this juice is really refreshing and don't worry about the spinach because you really cannot taste it at all. Ah so my type of juice!

Now would you just feast your eyes on the Roasted Piglet (Whole RM420 | Half RM233). This roasted piglet is just so succulent and the skin *ahh* so crispy!! I am not really a pork-fan and pork is not really one of the meat that I would regularly consume although I am Chinese but this roasted piglet is really just so good. Can you see the layer of meat and fat which just melts in your mouth? Definitely a dish worth spending.

If you think I am done tempting all of you with good food, you have got to be joking! When this dish appeared there were so many question marks on my head. What on earth is this foreign dish that looks like a huge stone with some star anise stuck in it? Then I knew this was one of their signature dish which is the Herbal Chicken in Rock Salt (RM120). Yes, yes that huge stone is made purely from rock salt which has been baked in the oven! Before serving this dish, the whole dish is flambeed with Chinese roast wine and can you just see the flames on the dish?? Unfortunately for the lighting, the flames were not that obvious but I hope that my photo would suffice. The wine was so fragrant and when they set the whole dish on fire, oh you can just smell the wine evaporating into the air! After the the fire settles down, it is time to break open the rock salt to unveil the amazing dish within.

Once unveiled, you will see the kampung chicken marinated with dark soy sauce and herbs which has been deep fried and stuffed with dry scallops, mushrooms, black fungus and pork belly! Yes this is a dish within another dish and the ingredients are just so filling. Well seasoned and marinated, the chicken is tender plus with the addition of the dry scallops, the overall dish is so flavourful and nutritious. Plus who can just deny that flamboyant act of the dish on fire? The wine adds the additional kick into the overall dish.

Ah and what is this golden dish served in a whole pumpkin you might ask? This is the Fresh Tiger Prawns Braised with Milk and Pumpkin Cream Sauce (RM64). My personal favourite among all the dishes, this dish is just the BOMB!! So creamy and oh the succulent fresh tiger prawns! Just so finger licking good! The cream sauce was seriously amazing and dip the golden crispy buns into it and just suck up the sauce. The number of prawns served were really generous as well and they were just so good I cannot stop raving about it!

Of course we need to have some sort of vegetable dish in our meal but I know some of you may not consider this as a vegetable dish! Presenting the Braised Crab Meat and Crab Roe with Homemade Bean Curd (RM32.50). If you are asking me if that golden goodness is all crab roe, yes you are right! This whole dish just screams CRAB in a good way! Each bite is filled with the braised crab meat and crab roe and the bean curd just melts in your mouth! Soft and supple, the bean curd glides on my taste buds plus glistening with the golden crab roe. 

Note: I am not responsible for any health conditions that occur after devouring this dish! Haha

If you still are not full from that Chinese feast of food, order their Di Wei Signature Fried Rice (RM29) which will be sure to fill up your tummy! The secret to this fried rice is in the sambal! Using their own unique sambal, Di Wei's signature fried rice is made with fresh egg, prawn, sweet bean and fragrant sambal that is just mouthwatering. I am telling you, if I wasn't so full from the other dishes, I would gladly eat a bowl of this fried rice. The prawns were nice and juicy and the sambal has that right amount of kick to it! Add some stinky beans and I think my mum would definitely fall in love with it. Unlike the ordinary Chinese fried rice, this fried rice definitely has the Malaysian taste to it!

Di Wei Chinese Cuisine Restaurant serves really good authentic Chinese cuisine and you can choose between the private or open dining option. This is a Chinese restaurant I would definitely recommend if you want to enjoy good Chinese cuisine especially for special occasions. I am sure both the young and older generation would appreciate the well prepared Chinese dishes Di Wei has to offer.

Di Wei Chinese Cuisine Restaurant

Level 1, Empire Hotel, 

Empire Shopping Gallery, 

Jalan SS16/1,

Subang Jaya, 47500