December 10, 2009 | 5 Comments
The Accidental Hedonist Guide to Dim Sum
There are two possible ways to approach Dim Sum.
- You can be an expert in the field, giving your thoughts and opinions based off of your thousands of hours of experiences regarding said topic.Or.
- You can approach the topic as a complete ignoramus, claiming no experience at all, and choosing to learn about Dim Sum as an outside who wants to learn, and is willing to take the time to understand the hows and whys.
I have chosen the second way. So take any information learned here with a grain of salt.
Okay, two grains of salt and a teaspoon of sugar.
Having been raised in a part of America where Chinese restaurants began with deep dried egg rolls and ended with General Tso’s chicken, Dim Sum was a new experience for me when I hit the West Coast way back in 2003. After my first experience, I vowed to learn more. The posts listed below are my attempts at understand the who, what, and hows of this great tradition.
History
- What is Dim Sum?
Experiences
Tea
Dishes
(NOTE: I will sometimes have the same dish in two different categories, mostly because some dishes are not easily defined by one single category.)
Buns
- BBQ Pork Bun (Char Siu Bau)
Congee
Deep Fried Dishes
- Taro Dumpling (Wu Gok)
Dips and Sauces
Dumplings
- Pork and Shrimp Dumpling (Shao Mai)
- Shanghai Dumpling (Xiao Long Bao)
- Shrimp Dumpling (Ha Gao)
- Taro Dumpling (Wu Gok)
Meats
- Chicken Feet (Foong Jow)
- Roast Duck (Siu Ngap)
Pan Fried Dishes
- Panfried Stuffed Pepper(Ga heung yeung ching jiu)
- Turnip Cake (Law Bahk Go)
- Shrimp-Stuffed Eggplant (Yeung Qi Dze)
Rice
- Glutinous Rice with Chicken & Chinese Sausage (Ngor Mai Gai)
Seafood
- Shrimp-Stuffed Eggplant (Yeung Qi Dze)
- Panfried Stuffed Pepper(Ga heung yeung ching jiu)
Sweets
- Egg Custard Tart (Dahn Ta)
Vegetables
- Chinese Broccoli (Kai Lan)
Restaurant Guides
San Francisco, CA
- Yank Sing: 49 Stevenson St. San Francisco, CA 94105, (415)541-4949 Google Maps: Website
Bellevue, WA
- The Noble Court: 1644 140th Avenue Northeast Bellevue, WA 98005-2302, (425) 641-6011 : Google Maps: Website
Renton, WA
- The Tea Palace: 2828 Sunset Ln NE, Renton, WA – (425) 277-8600: Google Maps: Website
Seattle, WA
- Jade Garden: 424 7th Avenue South, Seattle, WA – (206) 622-8181: Google Maps:
- Ocean City: 2609 South Weller Street, Seattle, WA – (206) 623-2333: Google Maps: Website
- Purple Dot Cafe: 515 Maynard Avenue South, Seattle, WA – (206) 622-0288: Google Maps
- Sun-Ya:605 7th Avenue South, Seattle, WA – (206) 623-1670: Google Maps
Usual Disclaimer: This is a work in progress, and will likely always be a work in progress. So if there’s something missing here, I probably have some plans to address that at some point in the future.
Additionally, I am human, which means I make mistakes. If you see something wrong, I would love it if you pointed me in the right direction. Feel free to e-mail me at Kate AT accidentalhedonist DOT com with any tips, hints, or advice you may have.
Rude and insulting e-mails will be deleted without a second thought.
Tags: dim sum
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5 Responses to “The Accidental Hedonist Guide to Dim Sum”
Mmmm. Thank you
As I’m sure you’ve heard by now,
dim sum means “heart’s delight” or “heart’s desire”
depending on who you ask…
Once you indulge in some of the finer dishes of this cuisine/specialty, you’ll know the name is so appropriate.
See if you can find a place that serves shanghai-style soup dumplings-
Xiao Long Bao.
Awesome.
Also, try the shrimp or BBQ pork in the soft rice noodle.
Enjoy!
Jay
I’ve been trying to eat a lot of dim sum lately too. I love it.
I grew to love Sau Bow (steamed buns however you spell it) during a 25 year sojourn in Jamaica, W.I. It was only available at the corner Chinese “Emporium” and it had a red or green food colouring dot on it to differenciate between pork or chicken, I think (I only had the pork). Now that was “fast food” with a difference. Delicious and filling!
aauugghhh!!!!
how can you post about Egg Custard Tart (Dahn Ta) and not add a recipe !?!?!?