Liu Yen Haw may only be 19 years old, but the retail manager of Lau Char Trading in Kepong is already masterful at preparing a good pot of Chinese tea and serving it to his guests.

He has been enjoying Chinese tea since he was 15. On the art of brewing Chinese tea, he says the quality of tea brewed reflects the true character of a person, and how much patience and inner peace one has.

This was also affirmed by his manager, Cody Tan, who I met about six years ago. Tan was also just a young boy when he started involving himself in the tea business.

It proves one thing – the people learning to appreciate the art of Chinese tea are getting younger. In fact, it is interesting to learn that even people from other ethnic communities are also learning to enjoy the art of drinking Chinese tea.

At one buka puasa event at a local masjid that I was invited to last year, some of our Muslim friends told me that they love the silky feel of the Chinese tea, when it is brewed properly.

While talking about Chinese tea and how well it complements his biryani, one of the directors of Hyderabad Recipes, Jasbeer Singh Kaura, told me that he frequently drinks pu’er tea in his office.

Based on my research, pu’er is a variety of fermented tea grown and produced in the Yunnan province of China. Interestingly, most of the tea comes from a town called Pu’er, which was named after the tea.

Liu bao is mainly from Guangxi province and has a longer history compared to pu’er tea.

Personally, I am also a fan of pu’er tea, because of its mellow yet powerful taste. It is a little sweet, compared to the slightly more bitter taste of unfermented or green tea, despite it being good for digestion.

After a heavy meal – like a sumptuous plate of biryani – pu’er is a good relief for the bloating sensation. This is where Xiaguan Tuocha comes in very handy indeed.

The longer the pu’er tea ages, the smoother is the taste of the tea. However, according to Tan, it is the aging of the unfermented tea that fetches a bigger value.

About a decade ago, the price of pu’er was only RM20 for a 357g cake, but the price has now increased tenfold.

The tea cakes that were manufactured around 2003 to 2005 now cost about RM300, while those that date back to the late 1990s can cost up to RM3,000! According to Tan,

“This, of course, depends on the market demand. Tea generally ages faster in Malaysia, because of a higher humidity.”

Lau Char’s tea business started in 2012, but it has since come a long way. They were initially representing Xiaguan Tuocha, but as of last year, they have added another feather to their cap by being appointed as sole distributor of Maosheng Liu Bao in Malaysia.

Because of the long business relationship, Xiaguan presented Tan’s late grandfather with a special souvenir of 35kg of compacted tea leaves for his involvement in organising Chinese calligraphy competitions in schools.

For a recent Penang exhibition, Tan brought along a tea compacting machine to give tea enthusiasts a firsthand experience of how tea leaves are compacted.

One thing that stood out for him on his recent visit to Maosheng was the respect for hygiene at its liu bao tea factory, which is dust-free. This, he said, totally changed his perception about the way Chinese tea is manufactured in modern China.

Most people are more familiar with the Cantonese name, lok po char, the term used by the Chinese settlers in Malaya.

Maosheng and Xiaguan are among the two largest tea manufacturers from China. Xiaguan has been around since 1902, and probably the first to introduce the pu’er series in China.

Besides these, Tan has also started his line of OEM-manufactured Chinese tea by Xiaguan, under the series known as Loong-Ma. Loong (dragon) represents China, and ma (horse) symbolises Malaysia. Loong-Ma, with its own special blend, is only available in Malaysia.

Walk-in guests are also welcome to learn more about Chinese tea from the staff.

There is nothing like biryani from the source. We never flew to Hyderabad to taste biryani the way it was prepared for the Nizams, but we did go to the next best place: Hyderabad Recipes.

Our “flight” to Hyderabad Recipes was with two friends, Barnabas and Adelaine Boon, a couple in their sixties, to savour what has been called the best biryani in Kuala Lumpur. They told me that the biryani here was “an exception,” and I agree.

But I did something else. Because I wanted the couple to sample Mao Sheng Liu Bao tea as well, I brought along a Chinese tea set to Hyderabad Recipes – a practice which I hope will set a new trend here in Malaysia!

One of Hyderabad Recipes’ directors, Jasbeer Singh Kaura, and his very proactive operations manager, Jagannath, invited us to taste their “world famous dum biryani.” But later I found out that Jasbeer and I have something in common.

He told me that he has a Chinese tea set in his office – but it never occurred to him that biryani goes very well indeed with pu’er tea! As Barnabas put it:

“It is a perfect contrast between the spiciness of biryani with the mellow Chinese tea, which speaks of the calmness of the Oriental soul.”

Even Adelaine, who hardly eats mutton, agreed that the special mutton biryani lived up to its name, because of the soft texture, and the lack of the strong odour that puts many people off the meat.  

But the special chicken biryani was my favourite. Like a hidden treasure buried in the basmati rice, the chicken is slightly spicy, but went excellently with the Chinese tea. And it helps with digestion, too.

My suggestion is that if you are going to try out the food here at Hyderabad Recipes, you should bring along your favourite Chinese tea. They can even provide the pots and small cups at no corkage fee; otherwise, their masala tea is just as good to help with digestion.

If you are coming with a bigger group, I suggest you order their full portion BBQ platter, with tandoori chicken, grilled dory, prawns and mutton kebab. We were particularly mesmerised by the fish!

According to Jasbeer, he first discovered the magic of Hyderabadi food to be very good when he was based there.

“That’s why, together with two other partners, we decided to bring in the chefs from Hyderabad so that Malaysians can enjoy a meal of the authentic Hyderabadi food. One of my partners is in fact descended from the Nizams of Hyderabad. Using Hyderabad Recipes as a model, my partner has also expanded the business on his own since 2008 to establish some 126 franchisees around the world.”

Two of their signature dishes – the Hyderabadi fried chicken and Hyderabadi mutton fry – are best eaten with naan. As for naan toppings, you can choose from with garlic, chilli powder, sesame seed and mint leaves.

For desserts, though the gulab jamun reigns supreme for most, my personal preference is the carrot halwa, since I don’t have a sweet tooth.

And most amazingly, for a meal with for four adults and two children, the bill came up to just over RM100!

For the coming month of Ramadhan, their specials will include two flavours of chicken and mutton haleem. They also specialise in bheja fry (goat brains), malai paya (mutton soup), but these two dishes are only available for special orders and for catering purposes.

While most Malaysians would agree that nasi lemak is a national dish, a large number would also agree that it isn’t necessarily as tasty as nasi kerabu golok or nasi dagang, especially if it comes straight from Kelantan and Terengganu.

But they probably haven’t tasted Restoran Binjai’s unique nasi lemak.

In previous articles, I highlighted Pok Nik Nasi Kukus Ayam Kampung in Taman Bukit Permai and Azizah Nasi Kukus Ayam Berempah in Bandar Sri Damansara.

It is this very ayam rempah that sets Binjai’s nasi lemak apart.

When my nine-year-old son tried the nasi lemak, he told me: “Daddy, this is great! Try it yourself,” pointing to the ayam rempah, which is leagues beyond the normal fried chicken you can find anywhere else.

Here, I also found their nasi kerabu à la Kelantan to be very good, if a little on the salty side.

However, restaurant owner, Izzman Hafiz, who hails from Binjai, Kelantan, told me that guests can always request the dishes to be less salty.

“It is just a matter of reducing the budu sauce,” he says. “It’s like chili. Some people like it with a lot of chili, others prefer it without.”

For kids, Binjai serves nasi dagang which can be prepared non-spicy. A plate of rice, with pickled carrot and cucumber, served with a piece of ikan tongkol cooked in high quality santan, costs just RM8.50.

Izzman started the restaurant together with his mother in 2008 when he was only 24 years old. The recipes are from Izzman’s own mother.

The Nasi Kerabu consists of rice coloured by Asian pigeonwings, desiccated coconut and about seven different types of ulam, bean sprouts and fish crackers, which only costs RM5.

However, you have the option of adding ayam rempah or ikan celup tepung to your dish.

They also serve nasi campur, which is mostly ready for the lunch crowd by 10am. By 12.30pm, they’re ready to start taking à la carte orders.