A clever idea has taken hold in south Tulsa--Asian carry out and catering. It's a way to bypass the restaurant experience to concentrate on efficient food preparation. For owner Lilian Lee and her business partner and long-time friend, Joanne Chong, FuWa has been a lucrative venture.
"This has been a good plan for us," Lee said about the business plan. "My husband and I studied where the best place to be with this idea of an Asian restaurant, and we chose this part of the city because there are not many Asian restaurant in this area."
Most of the dishes are family recipes and authentic dishes from her home country of Malaysia. She works the front counter while her business partner operates the kitchen. Referred to as an "Asian kitchen," FuWa offers a variety of Asian cuisine, including dishes from Taiwan and Singapore. In fact, customers should not be surprised to find ingredients in many of FuWa's dishes native to Indonesia, Vietnam, Korea, Mongolia, China, India, Netherlands, Turkey and even South Africa.
The blend of diverse culinary traditions has produced a menu replete with both familiar and unfamiliar fare. For example, appetizers include such commonly found items as Chicken Egg Roll and Chicken Pot Stickers, while Roti Canai and Glazed Honey Chicken Wings are lesser known. Lee raved about the popularity of the Roti Canai ($4.49), Malaysian pita bread with mild curry dipping sauce.
Pronounced chanai, diners will find a cozy similarity between roti canai and Indian naan bread. Roti canai is a type of flatbread found in Malaysia, originally traced to immigrant labor from the Madras region in India. Lee said this is an authentic part of the Malaysian culture and is typically a breakfast item.
The flatbread is pressed out into a circle, twirled into a very thin sheet, and then folded into a circular shape. The folded dough is then fried in oil. The end result is a rich, soft and inviting accompaniment that is somewhat addictive. With the curry dipping sauce, which has a slightly sweet taste ending with a spicy finish, this appetizer is a must.
Originally an East Asian appetizer, the Chicken Egg Roll ($1.29/for one, $4.99/for five) is a staple in Asian cuisine. FuWa's version is tightly wrapped, filled, and then fried to a crispy finish. My dining companion and I found these to be quite substantial. Some of the filling included chopped veggies such as cabbage and carrots; coarsely ground black pepper and cellophane noodles were part of the filling.
The Crab Rangoon Wonton ($4.49/for six), also on the appetizer menu, was prepared and served skillfully in an attractive flower shape. These deep-fried dumplings are wrapped in Chinese wontons then stuffed with a combination of cream cheese, crab meat, scallions and/or garlic.
The outside was crisp to perfection; the cream cheese filling was mildly sweet with a hint of crab flavor, which seemed to disappear in the cheese.
We also sampled two of the soups, the Hot and Sour Soup ($2.99/32 oz.) and Egg Drop Corn Soup ($2.49/32 oz.). These were still piping hot after having been transported home across the city. Of the two, we enjoyed the Hot and Sour soup the best, for it had a rich broth and plenty of fresh mushrooms, tofu, eggs, green onions and red pepper. A variety of contrasting textures in the palate was an attractive feature to this soup, plus the slightly sour taste. (We did notice a slight metallic aftertaste, unaware of its source--something meant to be or an end result of pan-ingredient chemical reaction.)
The Egg Drop soup had a beautiful golden hue and had a generous amount of scrambled eggs. The corn added an interesting dimension to the taste and texture.
For our main meals, I selected the Singapore Curry with Chicken ($7.49), which is a stew of green curry gravy with potatoes and carrots--very much an Asian comfort food. Although a generic term, curry has distinctive spices such as turmeric, red pepper and cumin. The potatoes appeared to be fried or baked prior to being mixed with the gravy and the carrots were cut looking like slender flaming swords. This ragout-like dish was pea-green in color and although labeled with a red chile indicating a "spicy" dish, it was relatively mild.
My friend's entrée, Lee said, is one of the most popular dishes, the FuWa Special Chicken combination special ($7.69). This dinner is served with an egg roll, seasoned rice, sweet and sour chicken and crispy noodles with dips. This was a nice array of food. Dishes at FuWa can be prepared spicy, very spicy or devastatingly spicy. This dish was prepared to the devastatingly spicy level, but we both found it quite tolerable and not as spicy as we would have liked. A few full hot peppers in the dish were, in fact, very hot when eaten, but the sauce and other ingredients in the dish were not overwhelmingly hot. While a little disappointed with this, it did not slow us down from devouring the chopped chicken, snow peas, broccoli and onion over white rice.
We also sampled the Tofu and Vegetable Fried Rice ($6.49) which was characterized by a light flavor with no heavy seasonings, spices or oils to cover the fresh taste of the vegetables. The rice was tossed with mushrooms, carrots, cubed tofu, broccoli, bean sprouts, snow peas and scrambled eggs.
Lee explained to me that the word Fu means "prosperity" or "lucky" and is also her father's name, which for her was a very special part of naming the restaurant. The Wa in the name means "baby doll." Together, the name FuWa means "good fortune," which she said was the perfect description for their carry-out and catering restaurant.
The lobby where foods are picked up and ordered is bright, clean and inviting. Lee's sister, a designer in Malaysia, designed the color and front counter. Lee said the oranges, golds and browns coupled with photos and art objects are a traditional Asian motif. Service was good--quick and friendly.
It should not be too surprising that, as a carry-out and catering business, food is served in some of the best carry-out containers. The containers were firm, thick and tightly sealed; our food was still steaming hot after more than 25 minutes of driving.
FuWa Asian Kitchen
6528-E E. 101st St. So.
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