PUTIEN Annual Eel Festival 2023 @ PUTIEN Malaysia, Gurney Paragon Mall

It’s the time of the year again for another round of Eel feast in Putien restaurants in Malaysia. This year’s festival is slightly different with Putien Malaysia introducing a few new recipes as additions to the current Eel Festival Menu.

Same like previous years, all selected quality eels were flown in from Shunde Guangdong, China and only the best quality will be picked for the feast.

Special thanks to Putien Malaysia for having me over to try the new menu.

First dish was featuring Fresh Eel Cooked in Spring Water 山泉水煮活鳗鱼where you can taste the best flavour from fresh eel with minimal flavouring added to this dish. This dish will be cooked in front of the diners and will be served individually to you. The soup will only add some ginger, spring onion and goji berries for flavouring. You can taste the sweetness from the fresh and soft eel meat.

Second dish for Eel Festival was Baked Eel Dressed in Garlic & Puning Bean Sauce普宁豆酱焗鳗鱼 was a stronger flavoured eel dish on the menu. This dish served really hot and the waiter will further stir-fried the dish when it is served on the table to let the flavours further infused into the eel meats. This dish is slightly stronger in flavour and goes well with any rice and noodle. The eel meats in this dish is quite springy unlike the one cooked in soup but nevertheless this one should be more favourable by majority. 

The other eel dishes available are2Eel in Fujian Fermented Red Rice Wine福建特色红糟鳗, Spicy Pan-fried Eel 辣子烧鳗, and Steamed Eel in Garlic and Soy Bean Sauce 蒜蓉豆豉蒸鳗鱼.

One of my top favourite dishes in Putien would be none other than the Deep-fried Pork Trotters with Salt & Pepper seasoning 椒盐猪手 that is well balanced in fat and meat layers. The pork trotters were fried to perfection and created the crispiness outer layer with juicy meat inside. One is definitely not enough for me.

One dish that I didn't noticed on the menu before was this Fried Prawn with Cereal 风味麦片虾 which was deep fried to crispy and then stir-fried with some fine cereal they have. The prawns were kinda juicy and fresh, you can even chew it with the shell along as it was kinda crispy, don't waste every bit of it. 

You will not feel unfamiliar with this red-looking dish if you know something about FooChow people.

Being one of the most popular dishes and also the must have festive dish of FooChow people, Chicken in Fermented Red Rice Wine 砂锅红糟鸡 is also one of the must try dishes in Putien Malaysia. It is one of the uncommon dishes available in Malaysia and for people who are not sure how it tasted like, this version in Putien is slightly sweet and a little bit of fermented sour note. Every FooChow family has their own version of red wine paste so although we are cooking the same dish, the taste could be different. 

Other popular dishes in Putien Restaurant are also some of their signature dishes such as their 

虾苗拌头水紫菜 Seaweed with Mini Shrimps 

一品醉鲜鱿 Drunken Squid

莆田荔枝肉 Putien Sweet & Sour Pork with Lychee

自制滑豆腐 Homemade Bean Curd

So how can we finish a meal without some good desserts? 
If you are coming with your family, I'm sure the good desserts in Putien can easily attract some of you or the elderly in your family as there are some good traditional desserts available. 
I've tried the Double-boiled Pear with Osmanthus and Aged Mandarin Peel 桂花陈皮炖雪梨 which was really juicy and put a good ending to my dinner.

Dishes in PUTIEN Restaurant were never disappointing, always the perfect place for a good meal with your friends and family.