Posted by Renée Suen in asian, chinese, dim sum on December 22, 2007 at 8:48 am
A perfect snack or mini-meal. Pan fried radish cakes are tossed in a hot pan with spicy XO sauce. The former, a slightly gelatinous cake, is mildly sweet and its pillowy soft interior is dotted with specks of salty Chinese dried sausage and shrimps, the latter, is a luxurious and fiery combination of conpoy, cured ham and red chillies. This version of "stir fried turnip pate with supreme spice sauce" can be found at Dynasty Chinese Cuisine (131 Bloor Street West).
Dim sum means "to touch the heart," and like Spanish tapas, is composed of many small dishes. Similarly, these bite-sized treats can be served hot or cold; they are also steamed, baked or fried. Originally a Cantonese custom dating back to the Sung Dynasty (960-1279), dim sum is linked to the Chinese tradition of drinking tea. Hence the term "yum cha" (to drink tea) is often referenced when partaking in this mid-morning meal.
At dim sum a large selection of teas and condiments such as hot sauce, mustard, soy sauce, Worcestershire and even XO sauce may be offered.
Either selected from a checklist and prepared straight from the kitchen, or having already made the rounds on push carts that stop at each table, a dim sum meal at any restaurant with these fine offerings exposes the palate to a multitude of culinary delights that tantalize the taste buds. Dim sum comes as an assortment of dumplings, buns, meats, seafood, and vegetables; desserts are also bite sized and pre-portioned for sharing. With a thousand and one ways to touch each sense, the delicious morsels range in their package and design, taste, and the combination of ingredients they each contain. And although there are a large variety of items available, selecting tasty dishes is not such a daunting task as there's bound to be something to suite everyone's taste.
This two part series is by no means a comprehensive guide of every dim sum item available, nor does it feature dishes by every fine establishment in our fair city, but it is a tribute to the fare that I have documented recently. From mid- to high- end, what can be noted from this post is that beside the classics like shrimp dumplings or chicken feet, many restaurants are starting to offer more creative concoctions. Recent years have found bold chefs taking the liberty to churn their creative juices and offer modern takes on these traditional treats. Often each becomes an edible piece of art, many are showcased here. These include foie gras filled crisp and airy pastry pockets that can be found at The Grand (655 Dixon Road, Etobicoke), or contemporary dim sum from Lai Wah Heen Restaurant (108 Chestnut Street) and Empire Court (8500 Warden Avenue, Markham). The most impressive thing to note is the amount of care and detail that can be showered onto each piece which can be gone in just one bite.
Clockwise from top left: har gow aka crystal or supreme shrimp dumplings from Lai Wah Heen Restaurant and Q Dim Sum Palace, respectively; sui mai from Lai Wah Heen; and scallop, shrimp & vegetable dumplings from Q.
Staples like the ubiquitous shrimp dumpling or pork and shrimp sui mai come in a spectrum of shapes, sizes and quality. Sometimes the dumpling is enough for two mouthfuls, hyper inflated with innards. At times the fillings are chunky; other instances more like a paste; still there are times that the contents resemble a gelatinous mess. Whatever the preference, the general trend I've noticed is that the higher the price paid for the steamed treat, the more likely larger and higher quality ingredients will be found. This is where one might find half a sea scallop atop each quadruplet of sui mai for $5.50/basket in contrast to a lone pea at $1.50/basket. Of note, great dumplings do not rely on top notch fillings alone. Skins, or wrappers, could range from being toothsome, chewy, tender and not too thick nor starchy, to those that disintegrate upon contact or even when breathed on due to poor manufacturing or too much time spent in the steamer.
In the lap of luxury at Lai Wah Heen. From left: steamed purse of crab meat and shrimp; salmon and asparagus dumpling; and a xiao long bao (soup filled dumpling) with both crab meat and pork.
The real deal. Lai Wah Heen serves a billowy shark's fin dumpling filled with cured ham, scallops, finely chopped fungi and dried scallop. Instead of being buried in the dumpling sack, the toothsome shark's fins were like slippery translucent noodles floating in the golden broth.
Dumplings don't necessarily require shrimp, scallops or pork. Q Dim Sum Palace (365 King Street West) offers a seafood dumpling that combines shrimp, scallops and some sort of green vegetable (usually chives, sometimes asparagus). Other dumplings are filled with a combination of minced meat and aspic, and when steamed become a magically encased soup filled dumpling; this is a house specialty at Ding Tai Fung Shanghai Dim Sum (3235 Highway 7, Unionville). Chefs can get super fancy using ingredients such as crab, salmon, and shark's fin. Golden Leaf Chinese Cuisine Restaurant (now closed) offered baskets of sweet hearty lobster dumplings in single serving portions; Lai Wah Heen sells a pricey version of shark's fin dumpling in a rich broth that make chicken noodle soups jealous. Vegetarians would find great comfort with meatless fillings of mixed mushroom and snow pea shoots, or Chinese mushroom and water chestnut at Cha Liu Dim Sum Restaurant (Floor 2, 2352 Yonge Street).
Clockwise from top left: steamed jumbo lobster dumpling and lobster filling inside from Golden Leaf Chinese Cuisine Restaurant; whole and cross-section of the steamed assorted mushrooms & snow pea leaves dumpling from Dynasty.
From left: Q's chang fun with fried dough; Dynasty's steamed rice crepe with shrimp & snowpea shoots; Q's chang fun with shrimp & scallop.
Other encased nibbles come as rice rolls, aka "chang fun." Paper thin sheets of steamed glutinous rice flour act as a slippery and silky wrapper around various meat and non-meat delicacies, these include: the vegetarian version of plain rice rolls (steamed or pan fried) or mixed Buddha delight; protein packed BBQ pork, lamb, minced beef, chicken and mushrooms, shrimp (with or without greens), and scallop; and even fried Chinese doughnut. The latter, a treat embraced by all ages, is a wonderful juxtaposition of the crunch and crispness provided by airy logs of fried dough to the smoothness of the steamed rice sheet covering. Dip a piece in a mixture of soy sauce, hoisin sauce, hot sauce and/or peanut sauce to reach a culinary epiphany.
Clockwise from top left: steamed egg custard bun from Dynasty; sticky rice with assorted meat in lotus leaf is a not-to-be-missed treat from Lai Wah Heen; a close-up view of the the rich egg custard bun filling; finally Lai Wah Heen's squash paste pastry with sesame & melon seeds seduce the taste buds and the eyes.
Larger steamed items include steamed buns, lotus leaf wrapped rice dumplings, or steamed rice bowls. Also known as the stomach fillers, these carb offerings are both hearty and extremely delicious. Aromatic lotus leaf leaves a fragrant sent on rice grains that bath in meat juices, while steamed rice bowls send diners to sticky rice heaven. Of the items with edible containers, steamed buns are cute and fluffy balls of white bread, aka "bao," meanwhile chewy tapioca starch skins are often found surrounding a sweetened paste of bean or root vegetable. Both versions do their job in providing a neat enclosure to the soft fillings hidden within. To please a craving for something insanely rich, nothing beats a bun filled with an almost liquid golden egg custard and a piece of salted duck egg yolk. Steamed or fried, The Grand makes an exceptional version that should not be missed.
Stay tuned for more mouth-watering small plates in "An Ode to Dim Sum, Part 2."
Renée Suen is a graduate student at the University of Toronto, specializing in cardiovascular sciences. She has an insatiable appetite and can often be found searching for something tasty to eat with her camera. Many of these culinary discoveries can be found on her Flickr site.
