Many of us remember our first trip to a dim sum restaurant as a mass of confusion- the hustle and bustle, the servers rushing past with carts loaded with strange looking items. What’s underneath those round bamboo baskets? Even after a few visits, the process can be confusing - especially since restaurants often serve over 70 dim sum items. What was the name of that tasty shrimp dumpling you ordered last time?
Dim Sum Demystified
In Have Some Dim Sum, Evelyn Chau takes the mystery out of dim sum dining. Raised in Hong Kong, Chau honed her chopsticks skills during her family’s weekly Sunday trips to a local dim sum restaurant. Today, Chau lives in Toronto, home to one of the world’s largest Chinatowns, where she enjoys cooking dim sum and eating out at dim sum restaurants. Her goal in writing the book was to introduce this unique dining experience to international food lovers.In the introductory section, Chau briefly explores the evolution of dim sum and explains what to expect when you visit a dim sum restaurant. Then comes the food! There are separate sections for steamed, fried, sweet dim sum, and specialties such as Cold Barbecued Meats and Rice Congee. Chau provides the Cantonese and English names and a detailed description of each dish, based on interviews with top dim sum chefs. After reading the book you’ll know that the shrimp balls you love so much are called Ha Guen and that Chinese Tapioca Pudding is made with tapioca pearls and lotus paste.
Recipes
In addition to the descriptions, there are 20 recipes that were kitchen-tested at Toronto’s Dynasty restaurant. In addition to standard dim sum fare, such as Deep-fried Sesame Balls and Barbecued Pork Buns (Char Siu Bao), there are fusion dishes, such as a Chicken dumpling made with Japanese Enoki mushrooms. Despite coming from the kitchen of one of Toronto’s top Chinese restaurants, the recipes are clearly written and easy to understand, designed for dim sum lovers to recreate the dishes at home.Lots of Photographs and Extras
The book contains numerous full page color photographs of many of the dishes, as well as several illustrations, by photographer Vincent Noguchi.The end of the book includes helpful tips explaining how to steam and fry dumplings, and drawings illustrating how to fold dumplings and roll up soya sheets. For newcomers to Chinese cooking, there is a glossary of Chinese ingredients.
Sample Recipe - Wor Tip - Cantonese Potstickers Made With Pork and Vegetables
Ingredients:12 ounces minced pork
6 ounces bok choy
1 package dumpling pastry*
¼ teaspoon salt
¼ teaspoon chicken bouillion
½ teaspoon sugar
pinch white pepper
a few drops sesame oil
½ teaspoon cornstarch
Directions:
1. Defrost dumpling pastry.
2. Saute or blanch vegetables until just wilted. Drain and coarsely chop. 3. Mix pork with seasonings. Add to chopped vegetables.
4. Put a generous tablespoon of pastry onto a sheet of filling.
5. Make into a traditional dumpling, or use a crescent press and press into crescents.
6. To fry dumplings, fry dumpling on one side until golden, then turn. Add a small amount of water and cover fo r3 minutes, to make sure the filling is properly cooked. Remove lid when water has more or less evaporated but do not touch dumplings. Add a bit of oil and fry for another minute. Toss dumplings around to cook them evenly.
7. A healthy alternative is to steam dumplings in steamers on high heat for 8 minutes, after water has come to a boil.
8. For dipping, use either Chinese or balsamic vinegar with ginger shreds. Soy sauce and vinegar is good as well.
*Thicker than wonton wrappers, dumpling pastry is sold in Chinese groceries and the ethnic food sections of some large grocery chains.
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