Today, I revisited the Food Place food court, located at Pavilion Mall. The food court is located beside the Oriental Kopi Restaurant. It is time to try another stall.
This time, I ordered Stir fried seafood with rice from the Li Ji lala noodles stall for RM28.90 per plate. The dish features a generous assortment of seafood stir-fried in a savoury Chinese-style sauce and served with a bowl of steamed white rice.
The plate contains Lala (Asian hard clams), Whole prawns, scored squid, Okra (lady's fingers), Onions, spring onions, garlic, and chilli. The glossy soy-based oyster sauce gravy, lightly thickened with starch, coats all the ingredients and pairs perfectly with steamed rice.
The combination creates a balance of sweet seafood, savoury umami, aromatic garlic, and fresh vegetables. The rice absorbs the rich sauce, making it a comforting one-plate meal.
Unlike famous dishes with a single inventor, stir-fried seafood with rice is a classic Cantonese "dai chow" (大炒) dish. Dai chow refers to Chinese eateries that specialize in freshly cooked stir-fries over very high heat using a wok.
Its roots lie in southern China, particularly Guangdong Province, where cooks emphasized using the freshest seafood available from nearby coastal waters. Chinese immigrants later brought this cooking style to Malaysia and Singapore during the 19th and early 20th centuries.
In Malaysia, the dish evolved by incorporating local seafood such as lala, which became especially popular because of its sweetness and affordability. Many Malaysian seafood restaurants and hawker stalls now serve variations with prawns, squid, fish, or mixed seafood, often with chilli, ginger, garlic, or even Chinese rice wine. Dishes centred around lala have become particularly well known in Kuala Lumpur, helping popularize this style of cooking.
Overall, this is a hearty Cantonese-style seafood rice dish that showcases the freshness of the seafood rather than relying on heavy seasoning.
