I’ve been hooked on dim sum since I was young. It’s not only because I love food but also because I love to try many different things. As you know, I like to eat them as much as I like to make them. Here’s a quick A to Z run down that I originally put together for San Francisco magazine. I just updated it for your future dim sum adventures at a restaurant or in your own kitchen.
A is forthe vast world of Asian dumplings, many of which originated in China. Chinese restaurants, dim sum houses, and bakeries offer excellent opportunities to sample them, from the steamed and fried to the baked and boiled. Chinese dumplings are often encased in a doughy wrapper or fragrant leaves and involve various flours and starches. They're morsels that you'd eat lots of!
B is forbao, commonly translated as “bun” on menus. It may be plain or stuffed, savory or sweet, leavened or not, and steamed, baked, panfried or deep-fried. Bao originated in China, perhaps as far back as the third century C.E.
C is forchrysanthemumtea (“flower tea”), which pairs nicely with dim sum and is un-caffeinated; a blend of chrysanthemum and pu-erh teas helps to cut the meal’s richness. There’s often co*ke (not Pepsi), which goes remarkably well with Chinese food.Champagneis excellent with deep-fried morsels.
D is fordaikon radish, a.k.a. Chinese white turnip or just “turnip” on menus. It’s grated and featured in pan-fried slabs of Cantonese radish cakes. Here’s a recipe for Vietnamese banh bot chien, a dim sum and street snack in which the daikon cakes are fried with egg and eaten with sriracha; note that the Viet daikon and carrot pickle is served as an accompaniment.
Vietnamese banh cu cai bot chien.
E is forsugar-dusted egg puffs that are made from deep-frying a thick batter similar to that for French cream puffs. Marvelously rich and best fresh from the fryer.
F is forfried dim sumsuch astaro puffs and sesame balls. To enjoy them hot and crisp, examine the cart offerings before committing. Order them from the wait staff, if possible.
Taro puffs made at home. So incredible.
G is forgreenssuch as gailan, pea tips and snap peas. Balance your dim sum meal with some veggies. Opt for oyster sauce on the side to avoid its intensity. Gailan (Chinese broccoli) should be cut into manageable, chewable lengths. Garlic chiveslendtheir color and pungent flavor to many dumpling fillings.
H is forhar gow,the classic translucent shrimp-filled steamed dumplings. Excellent ones are not too large (2 bites each) and contain a slightly snappy, sweet, briny filling. The skin should not break when you pick it up from the steamer basket.
Homemade har gow shrimp dumplings! Make and eat all you want.
I is for orderingice water by its Chinese term: bing sui in Cantonese, bing shui in Mandarin. You may earn major brownie points.
J is forjook (a.k.a. congee), a creamy rice porridge that's great for mellowing hangovers and upset stomachs. Eat it plain or punch it up with fried crunchies, pungent scallion, and savory morsels. Jiaoziis the Mandarin Chinese term for dumplings, which may be boiled (below), fried, or steamed. They may be eaten any time of the day. Pot stickers are part of the jiaozi family.
K is forKamei, a super well-stocked restaurant supply shop on Clement Street in San Francisco. Shop there or the Wok Shop in Chinatown for steamers, dishware and other Asian cooking tools for dim sum gatherings at home. {If you have a good “K” term, let me know.}
L is for fragrantlotusleaf packets containing sticky rice, chicken, vegetables and other goodies. Calledlo mai gaiin Cantonese, they vary in size; eating one is a delicious treasure hunt.
M is formantou, steamed rolls made from leavened bao dough. Sometimes they’re deep-fried and served with sweetened condensed milk for dunking (see the photo at the top). Decadent.
N is fordim sum etiquette no-nos, such as don’t fill your teacup before doing so for others — who should silently acknowledge your hospitality with a finger kowtow: Tapping the index and middle fingers on the table. Dim sum is about sharing (not hogging) so count up the number of dumplings per serving and do quick math to ensure that everyone gets to partake. Order extra, if needed.
O is foroffaldishes such as chicken feet and beef tripe. The steamed young pork liver at Hong Kong Lounge 1 in San Francisco is wonderfully delicate.
P is forPeking duck, which may be served at fancy restaurants via a roast duck carving cart that roams the restaurant. Otherwise, check the carts or menu. Porkis the most popular protein used to make dim sum; it’s typically ground and diced for fillings and roasted as savory-sweet, mahogany-colored char siu Chinese barbecue.
Q is for Qingdao, the birthplace of Taoism and Tsingtao Brewery. From 1898 to 1914, Germany occupied the northeastern coastal city in China and founded the brewery in 1903. Tsingtao beer, a crisp lager-style brew, is served at most Chinese restaurants.
Fresh from my fryer. Ultra crisp and delicate.
R is for steamed rice noodlerolls. Shrimp-filled rolls are most popular, but the rolls may be filled with beef, pork, fish or vegetables. They should be drizzled with a slightly sweet soy sauce and cut crosswise at tableside. Try sweet dim sum pastries, such as sesame balls filled with pastes made of red beans and other legumes. They are classic crowd-pleasers.
S is forsiu mai, steamed open-faced dumplings that are ubiquitous at dim sum. Petitones filled with fatty, slightly sweet pork are glorious one-bites. Sesame oil is used in a fair number of dim sum recipes.
Tofu skin salad and boiled jiaozi dumplings served with dark vinegar and ginger. Classic northern Chinese.
T is fortofu, a mainstay on dim sum menus. Tofu skin (yuba) rolls, whether steamed, pan-fried or deep-fried, are often prepared with pork, shrimp and vegetables. Fried salt and pepper tofu and pressed tofu salads are terrific vegetarian tofu options.Warm tofu pudding (think soy panna cotta) topped with ginger syrup is a favorite sweet treat. Takeoutdim sum is perfect for hosting a nosh session at home. Refresh by resteaming or microwaving boiled or steamed dumplings. Slide baked or fried dim sum into a 350F oven; put them on a rack place on a baking sheet to promote heat circulation and even re-crisping.
U is for theumamithat goads you to eat more dumplings. The savory goodness may come from animal or vegetable protein, dried mushroom and seafood, soy sauce, and perhaps touch of MSG.
V is forvegetariandim sum, such as vegetable pot stickers and boiled vegetable dumplings. They may be filled with spinach or pea tips. Look to smallsalads, such as chilled cucumber and garlic (often listedunder “appetizers and snacks”) to round out a meatless meal.
The semi-see-through ones are made with wheat starch skins, not rice flour skins. That's a siu mai in the far back right.
W is for wontons, a perennial favorite whether in broth, enrobed in chile oil, or simply fried (my family favorite fried wonton recipe). Wheat starch, not rice flour, is what makes har gow dumplings white.
X is forXO sauce,a condiment created by Hong Kong chefs; like fine cognac, ‘XO’ denotes refinement and luxury. Dim sum items accented with XO sauce are considered premium. The sauce relies on dried scallop and other umami-rich ingredients for its intense, savory-sweet flavor. Xiao long baosoup dumplings contain soup inside the wrapper (the dumpling isn’t served in soup). Poke a hole, pour out the soup, drink the soup, then eat the dumpling with vinegar to contrast with the savory-sweet-gingery flavors.
Y is foryum cha (literally “drinking tea”), the southern Chinese term for morning and afternoon teas enjoyed with dim sum snacks. Yum cha is the entire meal experience of which dim sum is a component. It’s totally acceptable to say, “Let’s go for dim sum,” but you’ll likely impress people with, “Let’s go for yum cha!”
Z is for zongzi, pyramid or cone-shaped dumplings wrapped in bamboo or other kinds of leaves. Inside, the sticky rice filling may encase fatty pork, jujubes, salted duck eggs, or mung bean paste. Zongzi (joong in Cantonese) can be sweet or savory, boiled or steamed. They’re traditionally enjoyed during the Double Fifth Festival (a.k.a., Dragon Boat Festival) – which falls on June 20, 2015, according to the lunar calendar.
I'm sure I've missed stuff so feel free to add your ideas. For more recipes, search VWK for dumplings.
