Dim sum and other Cantonese food

[garcia1000]

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Since when is spicy food appreciated by Caucasians in general? Real Szechuan food is too spicy for almost all Caucasians I know. Of course some of the wordly denizens of this forum will be exceptions, but I wouldn't agree with the generalization otherwise.

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Ok I lied

Next up!

Rice noodle rolls (cheung fun)

These are delicious! It consists of an ingredient wrapped by a thin rice noodle wrapping which you can see in the picture. It is served with soy sauce. The soy sauce has two functions; firstly, it brings out the flavour of the cheung fun. Secondly, a fresh cheung fun will have a slightly sticky exterior, and the soy sauce will mitigate that. It is also common to put in a small amount of oil to make sure the cheung funs don't stick to each other.

Common ingredients include barbecued pork, shrimp, and minced beef. Others that are also used are scallop, vegetables, dried shrimps, fried dough, and probably others.

A well-made cheung fun should have the following characteristics:

It should be hot. Ideally, it should be freshly steamed and made.

The noodle part should have the right texture. It shouldn't be too chewy, but it must be substantial and easily picked up with chopsticks.

The noodle part must be thin. Generally, a thick noodle will mean that the inside of the noodle has been insufficient cooked, which leads it to being hard. This is undesirable.

The inside filling must be reasonably fresh. In contrast to har gow, this is not absolutely vital, but fresher ingredients do taste better.

The soy sauce must be right. The soy sauce used is sweeter than normal soy sauce. It must match the cheung fun.

If oil is used, there should not be too much oil. Too much oil makes the food unhealthy, and leaves an undesirable oily film.

This item is usually a 'medium' or 'large' depending on the filling.

garcia1000 likes this very much! Especially the barbecued pork and scallop versions.
Pictures!

[garcia1000]

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My favorite Chinese dumpling is Xiao Long Bao, or Soup Dumplings. I think it's not a traditional Dim Sum item and I don't see it everywhere (it's a Shanghainese dumpling, not Cantonese) but it is awesome.



-Al

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From the picture, that looks to be good xiaolongbao because the wrapping is thin and you can see the stuff inside. The meat inside shouldn't be too fatty, or else the juice tastes yucky.

Xiaolongbao is Shanghainese food and cannot usually be found at dim sum. You would go to a Shanghainese restaurant for that.

[eckoo]

This is called "Seen Jook Gune". It is very delicious!

Another one of my personal favorites is the beef balls with Worcester Sauce. The added sourness gives the dish an extra kick.

[gusmahler]

The first time I had dim sum, I thought, "wow, what an inefficient way to serve food." It just didn't make sense. Instead of ordering what you wanted, you were forced to eat whatever they had. And since I came at a non-peak hour, the pickings were slim.

I've since learned that those problems don't happen at better dim sum places.

Recently, I've been going to Ming's in Palo Alto: http://www.mings.com/

[Duke]

Thoughts on dim sum:

1. That must be the worst job in the world.

2. They never have enough shumai

3. Chinese people and I disagree on what parts of animals are edible.

4. I always screw up and get the wrong sort of buns for dessert.

5. The food at the places where you order it is better than where the middle aged women are peddling their carts full of random stuff.

[El Diablo]

garcia and others,

Awesome thread so far. Keep the info coming. I am looking forward to taking my next dim sum trips to the next level.

[garcia1000]

Turnip cake

This is actually made from what you guys know as Japanese daikon radish, combined with rice flour. Pictures first since some people may not be familiar with this!




Okay, now you know what it is. Generally, most dim sum places will have the pan-fried turnip cake. Some older traditional ones will also have steamed turnip cake. I'll talk about the pan-fried one here since you guys will rarely have the opportunity to sample the delicious and healthier steamed version.

So what this is is basically turnip and rice flour. These ingredients are not flavour-dense. Hence, other things are added. Generally, things added are dried shrimps, dried mushrooms, and Chinese-style sausage. There are a few things which determine the yumminess of this:

The pan-frying must be done skilfully. For example, it should be slightly charred, but not burnt. The inside should be warm or hot, but not cold.

The less oil there is from the pan-frying, the better. Generally speaking, in Cantonese food, less oil = good. This shows the skill of the chef, because it is harder to pan fry with less oil, at least in traditional woks. It is also healthier.

The rice flour must be high quality. When biting into it, low quality rice flour will have a starchy effect, sort of like when you bite into a crappy apple it feels bad even though the taste is the same. Good quality rice flour will have that slightly chewy consistency, sort of like good rice noodle rolls.

Secondly, the radish strips should be noticeable. You don't want them to be too thick, which would affect the consistency of the cake, but not finely ground sticks either. It is more of a personal preference as to how much radish should be in the dish.

Thirdly, the flavouring ingredients such as dried shrimp and Chinese sausage, should be proportioned in a reasonable manner. You don't want too much or too little.

Of course, it should be served hot right after being pan-fried. Usually it is served with an optional chilli sauce, which you can use if you desire more flavour. I don't partake in chilliness, usually.

The variation between good and bad turnip cake is very large.

garcia1000 loves this! He will order one every time.

[Analyst]

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HC is open till 9:30pm nightly (including weekends), but is closed from 2:30pm till 5:00pm during the day.

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I went to HC for lunch yesterday, and I can see this is going to become a habit. I had the pork XLB and they were excellent; next time I'll try the crab. Green onion pancakes, too!

[imitation]

garcia,

I think there are more than 4 different types of chinese food. Hunanese, Xin Jiang and Tibetan are all very distinct. Every province really is unique imo.

[garcia1000]

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garcia,

I think there are more than 4 different types of chinese food. Hunanese, Xin Jiang and Tibetan are all very distinct. Every province really is unique imo.

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Yeah, you're right.