Balik Kampung Part 3 - Sun Kong Restaurant (新江酒楼)

I'd blogged about this restaurant before and more or less the dishes are the same, except that we ordered a particular dish we don't normally order.

Many relatives went back to Ayer Kala to attend my aunt's 80th birthday whom I thought was grandaunt :P The blur sotong me. Well, I don't go back often and some relatives are not around when I make a trip back there.

Before I forget, Ayer Kala Village is located about 1/2 hour before reaching Grik Town. Because the village area is located in the midst of a hill valley, it can be SEARING hot during day time and as cold as air-con during night time :S

Nice tables. Below is the picture of the restaurant's interior. No people because we were there at 11am :S By noon, the place was jam packed like usual. Some customers from out station purposely went there to eat, some stopped by for lunch while on their long journey back home, some returned to hometown and decided to eat there to reminiscent the Ayer Kala bee saw (flavour in Hokkien) like my dad LOL

By the way, the restaurant is only beside dad's ancestral house, so no hassle. Just walk over only. Haha!

The next picture (below) pretty much sums up what they serve. Easier for customers, easier for the restaurant too :) Many customers frequent the place for their river fish especially when the season comes. During the time of my trip which was beginning of June, it was low season. Thus smaller river fish (around 2+kg) or sometimes only certain fish are available. When the season arrives, bigger fish would be available and it can reach up to 8kg. But of course, it depends on luck too. Not always can get big fish right? Hehehe

(click the picture below for a better view of the picture)

Here came a dish we never miss out. Sai To Fishballs, 西刀鱼丸 RM30 (60 balls) Bouncy and crunchy unlike the fishballs sold at the market. Savoury and fresh. It has tiny hints of dried mandrin orange peels. They only add a bit into the fishballs to bring out the flavour. No weird fishy smell too.

I saw my aunty made fish balls when I was small and it really depends on how you prepare the fish paste (as in scraping the fish using chinese porcelain soup spoon and slapping the fish paste towards the bowl by hand). It takes loads of energy so she doesn't make it anymore.

Then Braised Pork with Preserved Vegetable (梅菜蔻肉, Mui Choy Kau Yuk) RM20 Definitely something I hadn't try before and it was delicious. The roasted pork and preserved vegetable were cooked separately. Meaning, the roasted pork was stirfried and steamed for a some time. Later cooked preserved vege was added in before serving. A flavourful dish, can still taste the pork's wok hei and not very salty as we thought it would be. But it can be quite an oily dish because of the roasted pork. Overall, good.

I actually prefer this over the other version of kau yuk which is large slices of roast pork steamed with yam slices. The pork and yam would be sandwiched together alternatively in a bowl before being placed into the steamer.

Hot Plate Tofu (铁板豆腐) RM10 Tasted alright but I think the tofu was slightly over fried. The outer layer of the egg tofu was a bit thick and rough. A dish suitable for both kids and adults. Not heavily flavoured like Cariso's beloved words, "cheng cheng tei".

Another simple dish was served. Stirfried Frog with Ginger & Spring Onion (姜葱田鸡) RM25. One of my favourite dish. We asked the boss if the frogs they had on that day was good and he said yes :) Good indeed. The frogs were meaty, bouncy and smooth. Not too old, just nice. The sauce wasn't heavily flavoured but its a tiny bit to the sweet side due to the large amount of onions and spring onions used in the stir fried dish. Also, its "cheng cheng tei".

Stirfried Brinjal with Bean Paste & Fish Ball (茄子鱼丸) RM10 Brinjal is one of my favourite vege...hmm...when its cooked right ahaha! The brinjal dish in the following picture was soft and smooth. It looks bland but the dish tasted just right and a bit to the sweet side. Maybe to balance off the salty bean paste. It won't be delicious if there was only salty taste to it.

But I must admit that the dish was quite oily. Funny thing is, brinjals won't be soft if you stir fry them with too little oil and they tend to be dry. Still considered a "cheng cheng tei" dish minus the oil LOL...

Deep Fried Pork with Sweet & Sour Sauce (古佬肉,Ku Lou Yuk) RM10 was ordered for the kids. If you'd noticed, most of the dish were catered for the elders (老人菜/ Lau Lang Chai) :P

The deep fried pork was crunchy and not dried inside while the sauce was only slightly sour which made the dish very appetising. I ate a lot of it hahaha... The sauce wasn't too starchy either, just enough to coat the meat. Small pineapples chunks were ripe, sweet and juicy :D

Next, Stir Fried Vegetable Shoots with Garlic (青炒菜, Ching Chow Choy Miu) RM12 The vegetables were bought by a relative of mine in the early morning wet market just down street from our ancestral house. The leaves were young and after stir frying it it had strong vegetable taste and very smooth texture. A huge bunch of it only produced a small plate :P Again, a "cheng cheng tei" dish.

Lastly the fish was served. A 2kg Tengalan (丁加兰, RM137.50 per tail depending on weight) was split in half for 2 tables which I think was alright because with it would be difficult for it to cook thoroughly if the fish was too thick. A lot of bones because of its small size but the meat was smooth. The belly part was very rich.

Although its a river fish, they do not have the muddy smell smell and we are talking about Perak River not some small murky river. In fact come to think of it, all the river fishes (Jelawat, Tengalan, Sebarau and Baling?) normally avaible in the restaurant taste good and smooth.

The soy sauce that came with the steam fish was delicious. Not just plain salty but the flavour was good and fragrant. A tiny bit sweetness was in it too or was it me? But I did came across with a soy sauce brand from Ipoh that is salty with a bit of sweetness to it and that is before cooking it.

2 tables (One table with 12 person, the other 13) with a total cost of RM361.50 :) My parents and I left Ayer Kala with a full belly and a full bag of red dragon fruits XD

Address:
Sun Kong Restaurant (新江酒楼)
S-2, Kampung Baru Ayer Kala,
33420 Lenggong, Perak.
(Be aware of the Ayer Kala road sign as its sometimes hidden behind an outgrown tree. The village is on your left if you're driving from Penang's direction or on your right if you're driving from Grik's direction)

Contact:
Tel - 05 7981480
Fax - 05 7981904
H/P - 013 5295400

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