Saturday, 8 November 2014 00:00
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Over the years, Sri Lanka has developed its own brand of hybrid Chinese cuisine that caters to the taste buds of the masses. While this form of fusion cuisine has found a warm place in our hearts, purists will argue that using popular Sri Lankan spices and techniques to create conventional Chinese dishes has compromised the authenticity of its traditions.
The owners and chefs at Huasui Chinese Restaurant are committed to recreating genuine southern Chinese cuisine, which focuses strictly on regional flavours and traditional techniques.
Director and Co-partner of Huasui Eric Fan stated that his vision for the restaurant was to present cuisine that would strike a nostalgic chord with the growing Chinese segment in Colombo while introducing its unadulterated form to Sri Lankans.
His local partner Akalanka Perera claimed that despite their deliberate move away from the well-known and much-loved Sri Lankan take on Chinese food, the reception amongst their Lankan diners has been exceptionally positive.
With over 30 years of experience in the restaurant industry, Head Chefs Liu Jinlong and Liang Mingkun are uncompromising with their recipes, using only imported traditional southern Chinese herbs and spices. Dedicated to their own ideal of ‘heritage cooking’, Jinlong and Mingkun have refused to step away from their roots and have attempted to deliver genuine Chinese flavours that pay homage to their origins.
The restaurant’s menu was designed by Fan, in collaboration with his chefs, and presents a host of local favourites like pepper fried beef and chilli chicken, as well as their Chef’s Specials, which include lobster with cheese and butter sauce and garoupa stewed with pickled cabbage. They also offer a variety of rice and noodle preparations to accompany their signature dishes.
Huasui’s mixed seafood braised with rice noodles in casserole was a warm introduction to the restaurant’s identity. The lack of spice was jarring at first but the subtleties of the traditional spices that are incorporated in the dish helped define its unique taste.
It combined characteristically chewy rice noodles with a mix of seafood while its understated flavours were not overpowered with the usual spiciness associated with Lankan-Chinese food. Instead of bombarding your palate with the sweet and the sour, it delivers an aftertaste full of nuances. The green peppers and prawns truly brought the dish to life, although those elements seemed lost in the unnecessarily generous serving of noodles. Their dish of the day was the teriyaki chicken with preserved bean curd. Simple and somewhat unrefined, the chicken was dry and slightly overcooked. Stringy, roasted chicken is a Lankan favourite but it is usually accompanied with a gravy to provide a combination of textures that come together to make the dish appealing and pleasant to eat. This dish however, lacked care and, for the most part, any vision, which meant that it became a slightly unpleasant chewing experience.
The chefs also have a take on diced chicken with cashew nuts. The chicken was beautifully cooked and tasty and the elements worked together to create familiar flavours. Even though it wasn’t a particularly memorable representation of the crowd-favourite, it was certainly delicious.
The restaurant’s mid-ranged pricing ensures that a larger party will find value for money in terms of quantity as the portions are generous. Huasui’s interior is cosy and inviting with a setting that has come to be typical of Chinese food establishments in Sri Lanka. It provides its diners a pleasant and comfortable dining experience that is focused on the authenticity of Chinese flavours above all else.
