There are many restaurants in Colombo serving Chinese food – but how authentic are they? Soya sauce or oyster sauce added to a dish doesn’t make it “Chinese”. Inexpensive five-star hotel restaurants you can expect a chef from China to be responsible for the cooking, but what about in the independent restaurants that claim to serve Chinese food?
There is one restaurant that is not only authentic but long-established. That is the Shandong Chinese Kitchen Colombo. Lee Bin Kao and his brothers who are pioneers in the Chinese restaurant business in Sri Lanka.
It all began when, to avoid being enlisted in the Chinese National Army in 1937, young Lee Bin Kao with his three brothers traveled from China to Sri Lanka by ship.
Starting afresh life in Colombo, Lee Bin Kao and his three brothers opened a Chinese restaurant in Colombo Fort /Pettah named ‘Shandong Chinese Kitchen.’ It mainly catered to crews from visiting ships.
Lee Bin Kao met and married a Sri Lankan woman, Pearl, in 1959. The couple had six children.
These children reminisce about how their father used to cook up a storm in the kitchen during their childhood. The succulent dumplings were a firm favorite of the Kaos and a staple on the table during the Chinese New Year celebrations.
The ‘Mantu’ or Chinese bread was also steamed in bamboo steamers and the children would eat them with local curries. Mrs. Pearl recalls having a pot of soup always boiling away in the kitchen. She talks about how the whole family got involved in the noodle-making process at home, with the family supplying freshly made noodles to local shops as well as to the Army.
The kitchen was the ‘family room’ where all gathered to share their stories while enjoying the tantalizing Chinese fare. Friends of the Kaos would flock to the tiny kitchen to taste the dumplings, roast pork, vegetable chop suey, and other ‘exotic’ fare that was unheard of in Sri Lanka.
Sharing the passion
From the early years, the Kaos family’s passion for cooking Chinese food was evident. Most of the Kaos children became excellent chefs and to this day enthusiastically entertain their guests with dishes created from recipes handed down to them over the generations.
It is in this spirit that Shandong – TCK was formed. As a homage to the province of the village home of Lee Bin Kao, the restaurant is aptly named Shandong. Just as everyone used to gather in the kitchen to talk about their day as they tasted enticing dishes, the Kaos encourage customers to relax in the stylish yet homely ambiance, tasting mouth-watering, authentically Chinese cuisine made with recipes that are that have been passed down over the years.
Here are the top 10 authentic Chinese dishes to try at the Shandong Chinese Kitchen.
- Chicken Dumplings
Chicken and spring onion filling wrapped inside flour dough.
- Prawn balls
Savory prawn filling that is coated with croutons. - Crab and egg sweet corn
A thick soup made with crab, sweet corn kernels, and egg. - Tom yum seafood
Clear hot and spicy soup made with seafood. - Crystal Chicken Fried Rice
Basmati fried rice with chicken, carrots, and spring onions. - Hot butter cuttlefish
Spicy batter-fried cuttlefish served with capsicum and spring onions. - Chilli chicken with nuts
Chicken cubes, cashew nuts, and vegetables cooked in a spicy sauce. - Indonesian Fish
Fish served in a coconut-milk-based yellow spicy sauce. - Singapore chili prawns
Batter fried prawns served in a spicy egg-based sauce. - Green beans in garlic sauce
Fresh and crunchy green beans served with onions and garlic.
All these dishes can be ordered online at shandongchinesekitchen.lk As well as authentic Chinese cuisine, Shandong also serves all kinds of alcohol at the restaurant.
