DA GAN GUO Resturant 大干锅 @ Jalan Genting Klang

Spicy Sichuan Sensations

One of the best things in life today is that you can practically enjoy cuisines from other part of the world without having to be there in the country itself. The world has become a melting pot now with people traveling constantly and bringing in cuisines from their travels.

One of the latest Sichuan restaurant to open in our metropolitan city is Da Gan Guo Restaurant. Located in a heavily populated area of Jalan Genting Klang, the Sichuan restaurant is housed in a fairly new building of MH Avenue. Barely few months old, Da Gan Guo hopes to introduce the flavors from Hunan served in big trays and claypots. Food from Hunan are generally renowned for the nostril tingling and lips numbing sensations. Foodies with penchant for such heat will surely enjoy the dishes at Da Gan Guo.

Ganguo (干锅) or dry pot is a variant of hot pot. It differs slightly from our standard hot pot in the sense that this is not a soup base hot pot but rather more of a sauce based hot pot. The idea is to order your choice of hot pot meat or seafood cooked in various sauces and then add in additional order of side ingredients to add on to the hot pot to be enjoy slowly like a regular hot pot.

The décor is minimalist and one can enjoy the cool dining area or the alfresco area at the spacious restaurant. Plus point for Da Gan Guo is that their air-conditioning is pretty awesome because we barely broke out any sweat while enjoying the lip numbing dishes. Since the dishes are also cooked gently over heat on the table, the coolness of the dining room really helps to make it really comfortable for slow savoring of the hot and spicy food.

The menu is filled with a substantial list of dishes. Pictures help of course and while the name of the dishes doesn’t really give out much to the flavors of the dishes, it helps when one can see what the dish looks like when ordering. What we also like was the fact that Da Gan Guo offers various levels of heat so one can order to one’s enjoyment. We thought we would go easy with 10% heat level and even that, it was enough to make us chase our dishes with water.

There are plenty of signature dishes to choose from but perhaps the most outstanding one would be the Sour & Spicy Grilled Fish with Seafood (RM158 – Ma Yao/Snapper | RM168 - Grouper).

A whole fried fish of your choice together with an abundance of seafood ingredients are served in a large wide tray with a piquant sour and spicy tomato based broth. The whole grouper is fried so that when the dish is cooked slowly over the heat in the broth, the fish retains a lovely firm texture. The flesh is nicely fresh and sweet too.

Seafood… the whole clan from huge prawns to regular prawns, clams and squid, it’s literally a succulent seafood treasure pot. Gloriously fresh and sweet, the prawns are such a treat. The clams and squid are best enjoyed fast before it cooks too long in the broth. Perhaps what made the dish so unique is the addition of beansprouts, pickled radish, pickled Xiaomi chili pepper or millet pepper, lotus root, whole garlic cloves, preserved vegetables and lots of coriander.

I know it doesn’t look that spicy but trust me, the heat is there. The sour broth is very appetizing and I kept going back for more. We ate the dish slowly and the more it boils, the tastier the whole dish becomes. This is also where one can order extra ingredients such as meat slices, fresh seafood, leafy greens or root vegetables, assorted mushrooms to add into this broth. The dish is large enough to feed 4 or more.

The next dish is a piping hot and peppery Pork Tripe with Chicken Soup (RM35 /RM55 /RM85). The cloudy soup may not look as appetizing in color but the flavors are robust with a big oomph of peppery hit. We could taste the meaty essence in the soup. There were also lots of tender pieces of chicken and pork stomach pieces that are delicious. Just like the first dish, one can also order extra ingredients to add on to this soup.

The next dish is another spicy one that will guarantee to numb your lips. The Grilled Fish with Spicy Sauce (RM88) is laden with lots of dried chilies and the Sichuan peppercorn at first sight. The red snapper is also fried and smothered in a pungent Ma La sauce flavored with black beans, more chilies, garlic, onions and more. There were also some sort of soft pieces of gourd and cucumber and beansprouts that had soaked up the flavors of the Ma La and tone down the heat when one savors them.

The more the dish boils down, the heavier the flavor intensifies. Since the few of us can tolerate heat pretty well, the dish was very enjoyable for us. The fish also soaked up all the flavors of the sauce well and is very tasty and savory. It’s a dish that truly signifies the Hunan cuisine on their liberal use of chilies.

The Hot ＆ Spicy Chicken (RM35 /RM55 /RM85) is similar to Lat Chi Chicken and the dish is cooked very well. I have had many versions of this elsewhere and so far, this is one of the better ones I have had. 

Besides the mount of dried chilies, there were also plenty of boneless chicken cubes that has been coated with light batter and seasoned well. There is also lots of onions, and cucumber to give it more aromatics and textures. The dish is wondrously aromatic and pungent with a bold chili note. It is moreish and salty, perfect with steamed rice and beer.

Then there’s more seafood and more heat with Stir-Fried Baby Lobster with Ma La Sauce (RM108 /RM158). Technically this is crawfish but I guess it does resemble a baby lobster. This one is also bathe in a deep red and ferocious looking Ma La sauce too. There is also lots of beansprouts beneath the crawfish and the sauce is basically garlicky with lots of Ma La numbing heat. I seemed to prefer the fish over this one because it takes quite some work to pry the meat from the crawfish but the flavors are still pretty good.

The last dish is the dish that I least expect to like since I am not a frog fan. However, one taste and I love it. It’s the least spicy dish of the lot. The Signature Deep Fried Edible Frogs (RM58 /RM88) also has lot of ingredients in the dish. Pieces of tender frog, creamy slices of potatoes, crunchy lotus root, crunchy stem lettuce pieces and lots of aromatics all sautéed in a tasty spiced oil. The flavors are just sublime, gorgeously savory with moreish notes. I kept savoring the vegetables because they were so yummy and that frog was so succulent. 

A must-order dish at Da Gan Guo!

You don’t need to order as many main dishes as we had because the servings are generous. I would recommend to order less main dishes and add on more side ingredients because some of the main dishes goes a long way to feed a family of four. There’s plenty more dishes to choose from a lavish Under The Sea pot filled with crabs, prawns and more seafood to Stir Fried Roasted Pork with Chive, Premium Stir Fried Prawns and Ribs with Spicy Sauce, Oven Baked Crab with Rock Salt and more. The best part of dining here is that flavors are never boring or mundance so expect fireworks of flavors from the humble kitchen of Da Gan Guo.

DA GAN GUO RESTAURANT

G-2, MH Avenue,

Jalan Genting Klang,

off Jalan Bunga Babbler,

BT 3 1/2, trail,

53300 Kuala Lumpur

Tel: 03 – 4031 7823 | 010 – 824 6000 | 017 – 343 1869

Facebook: www.facebook.com/DA-GAN-GUO-Resturant-大干锅-577914115736370

Business Hours:

Mon - Sun: 11 am-3 PM | 5.30 pm-11.30 pm