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We started off the meal with dim sum and ended with a few menu dishes. The first part of this post will discuss the dim sum portion.
The Cantonese phrase dim sum means literally "touch the heart" or "order to your heart's content". It may be derived from yat dim sum yi , meaning "a little token". ("A Touch of Heart" is perhaps the more poetic translation.) Though the English word "dim sum" refers to the Cantonese variety, the idea of a wide variety of small dishes for lunch also holds for other regions of China. - Wikipedia
The short ribs are one of the things we always get no matter where we go for dim sum. These were tender moist and tasty.
Fun guo are typically filled with chopped peanuts, garlic chives, ground pork, dried shrimp, and shiitake mushrooms. The filling is wrapped in a thick dumpling wrapper made from a mixture of flours or plant starches mixed together with boiling water.
The ones we had were very gummy and it's flavor was hard to figure out.
The next thing we tried was Shaomai (also spelled shui mai, shu mai, sui mai, sui maai, shui mei, siu mai, shao mai, siew mai or siomai). As prepared in Cantonese cuisine, shaomai is also referred to as "pork and mushroom dumpling." Its standard filling is a combination of ingredients, consisting primarily of seasoned ground pork, shrimp, and Chinese black mushroom in small bits. The outer layer is soft, made with wheat flour. The center is usually garnished with an orange dot, made of roe or diced carrot, although a green dot (made with a pea) may also be used.
As you can see New Canton's fit the description perfectly. Such an interesting combination, pork and shrimp. These were nice and warm when we receieved them. The texture was good, not too firm or too soft and had a nice flavor.
Xiǎolóngbāo (literally "little basket bun"; also known as soup dumpling[1] is a type of baozi (filled bun or bread-like item) from Eastern China, including Shanghai and Wuxi. These buns are traditionally steamed in bamboo baskets, hence the name. Locally in Shanghai and surrounds, they are more often known as xiaolong mantou (traditional Chinese: 小籠饅頭; simplified Chinese: 小笼馒头; pinyin: xiǎolóng mántóu). Mantou means both filled and unfilled buns in southern China, but only means unfilled buns in northern China. To avoid confusion, the name xiaolongbao is usually used in other areas.
Xiaolongbao are traditionally filled with soup and meat, but variations include seafood and vegetarian fillings, as well as other possibilities. The soup inside is created by placing some meat gelatin inside the dumpling before steaming. The steam heat melts the gelatin into soup. In modern times, refrigeration makes it easy to wrap up using chilled gelatine which otherwise might be liquid at room temperature during hot weather. - Wikipedia
One usually has to request these as they are not a standard dim sum item. This is the second time that I have had them. I first saw these on the Shanghai episode of No Reservations. They taste good, but have not been filled with soup like I saw on the the show. They were very moist and had nice flavor. Maybe I got the ones with holes in the bottom :(
Next post the geoduck...
