(Amended 2023
The two-week festival is the perfect opportunity to explore Chinatowns and experiment with unfamiliar Chinese foods. If you haven't tried Dim Sum there's a great treat in store.
But be prepared. Dim Sum is almost a ritual during Chinese New Year and queuing - particularly on Chinese New Year weekend - is inevitable. The best Dim Sum restaurants are open daily at lunchtime year round.
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| Fierce Chinese Lions guarding Gerrard St in the heart of London's Chinatown |
Dim Sum
Background
Dim Sum is a special Chinese meal, usually served at lunch, which consists of a series of tasty, pretty, mainly savoury Asian hors d'oeuvres. Each offering is usually consumed in one or two mouthfuls, allowing the diner to sample lots of delicious items without discomfort to the palate or the wallet.
Dim Sum originated in Southern China where food is prepared and cooked simply. There is little French-style coating or sauces.
Dim Sum falls into two main types: steamed or deep-fried.
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| Bamboo steaming trays |
Many of the steamed items are served in stacks of bamboo steamers. In Asia, trolley service is popular - flag down a waiter/ress and point to what you want from the steaming selection. The bill is calculated by the number of dishes on the table.
Like most Chinese meals, dishes are shared. The meal can be as healthy or unhealthy as you like but modern Chinese chefs are well trained in cooking low-fat without loss of flavour. If there are concerns about cholesterol, steamed items are best. They are flavourful, juicy and packed with gorgeous flavours. 67 prefers Dim Sum only on Indulgence/Blow-Out days.
Choosing a Dim Sum restaurant
In London, there are plenty of good places for Dim Sum but in recent years, the Blogger has tended to visit -King Lau on Leicester Street. If Dim Sum is a-couple-of- times-a-year thing, the food has to be excellent and the prices unexcessive. Joy King has never disappointed. Large parties can reserve private rooms and arrange menus in advance.
The New Young Cheng on Lisle Street (the Blogger's favourite place for Chinese lunch), spritzed up with a flash bar and new loos, now does Dim Sum as a regular lunch thing and is popular with the Asian/European clientele.
The Blogger had hoped to review a few Dim Sum restaurants in London but that won't be possible. The net has some good surveys. Most of the large Dim Sum restaurants will be of good quality that you can trust but if there is advice to give, it is this: look not just at the menu but also at the diners.
The best Dim Sum restaurants have lots of Chinese diners. The Blogger is not being racist or class-conscious-ist or whatever-ist but choose a restaurant where the diners seem most like yourself. The state of the dining room is also a good signpost.
The Blogger has vivid memories of visits in the past to the high-end Royal China restaurants dotted around central London. And the last time the Blogger visited the beautiful Min Jiang in the Royal Garden Hotel, Kensington (probably 10 years ago) the meal was mind-blowing: beautiful artistic food, fabulous flavours and textures and wonderful service.
Ingredients
Many steamed dim sum are wrapped in rice flour pastry that, after steaming, becomes transluscent and succulent; after deep-frying, they become crisp and crunchy. Stuffings often contain meat and/or fish, water chestnut, Shitake mushrooms, baby corn and bamboo shoots. Meat or fish can be finely minced, flavoured then formed into delicately flavoured golf-ball sized meatballs. Flavourings include soy sauce, fresh ginger, garlic, five-spice powder and honey.
Pork often appears in Dim Sum; let the waiter know if that is a problem. Try one of the plates of rice/noodles with chicken, duck or fish from the main menu. Chinese restaurants include more meat and fish-free pastries in their offerings but vegetarians should probably order a plate of rice or noodles with beautifully sauced veg and tofu in addition to pastries.
Sauces
Usually include:
The Menu
Dim Sum often sounds hilariously, unintentionally rude because the names are English transliterations of Chinese words. Waiting staff may become offended if laughter is too loud or prolonged.
Most menus usually have pictures of each Dim Sum.
A portion contains 3-4 individual pieces (depending on size) and costs just over £5. If any item worries by its taste or appearance, no one will be offended if it is not eaten. Chicken feet are not recommended for westerners.
Ordering
The sky is the limit but for two people start with one large Dim Sum (eg mie gai - pork & chiken wrapped in stickty rice and vine leaves), maybe 4 smaller items (steamed and fried) and a dessert. (And that is generous.)
If you want to sample lots of things, it's better to go in a crowd. The staff are great with westerners. Talk to the manager ahead of time and and work out what you want and how much it's likely to cost. Most Dim Sum establishments also serve alcohol.
To Drink
Most Dim Sum restaurants have a bar - the newer ones quite snazzy - and the usual selection of bottled waters and soft drinks. The traditional accompaniment for Dim Sun is Chinese tea which is said to aid digestion. Ask for it weak as it will strengthen as it sits. A non-traditional but lovely drink is hot Japanese sake.
Some of 67goingon50's favourite Dim Sum (among the many delicious offerings)
Steamed
Mie Gai (Rice with Mixed Meat in Lotus Leaves)
An all-time favourite; always ordered. This delightful dish will appear on the table as a steaming, triangular shaped package wrapped in glossy lotus leaves. Inside is sticky rice infused with delicate exotic flavours wrapped around a filling of chicken, pork, Chinese sausage, water chestnuts and Chinese mushrooms. The lotus leaves are not eaten; draw them away with chopsticks or a fork. The contents can be divided and served with a Chinese spoon. One Mie Gai will serve two people.
Har Gow (Steamed prawn pastries)
Fresh prawns are encased in rice pastry, shaped like tiny columns with a frilly top edge, and steamed till tender. Needs a bit of soy sauce but clean-tasting and wonderfully satisfying.
Dumplings
These can be steamed or fried but contain a mixture of pork and/or shrimp with mushroom and bamboo shoots. The pastry is flour and water. The dumplings are crescent shaped, fat and distinctively pleated on one side.
Lions Heads or Beef Meatballs
Large beef meatballs (usually 2 to a portion) often flavoured with Worcestershire sauce as well as soy sauce. Marvellously moist dense texture with wonderful flavours..
Cha Siu Bao or Steamed Bread Stuffed with BBQ Pork
One of the most popular items. White snowy bread dough is stuffed with thick slices of bbq pork in a gravy rich with ginger, honey and Chinese spices. The buns are steamed (the paper lining the bottom is thrown away). Bakeries in Chinatowns do a baked take-away version of this.
Deep Fried
Deep Fried Won Ton with Sweet & Sour Sauce
Won Ton are the Chinese version (or precursor??) of ravioli, served deep-fried or floating in broth. Delicately spiced minced pork is wrapped in rice flour pastry. Deep-fried until brown, crisp and crunchy, and dribbled with fluorescent red sauce, these won ton are popular with westerners and children. There's usually 3 large wonton in an order.
Prawn Toast
Chopped prawns bound together with egg white are spread on bread and sprinkled heavily with sesame seeds. Served in triangles, it's deep-fried and irresistable but should carry a health warning.
Woo Gok or Chinese Scotch Eggs
The outer wall is delightfully yummy mashed yams; the centre is a mixture of ground meat, Chinese mushrooms, water chestnuts and a delicate gravy. They are exceedingly hot inside so care must be taken when biting into it. They can be eaten by hand or with chopsticks.
Dessert
Daan Taat or Baked Egg Custard Tart
Another 67 favourite which is always ordered. Classic Hong Kong style egg tarts with flaky papery pastry and a deep yellow custard rich with egg.
Additions
If you'd like something a little more substantial there are plenty of one dish noodle or rice dishes on the menu. They'll cost around £10 each but, shared, will go far. Examples: Rice or Crispy Noodles with Barbecued Pork, Duck or Mixed Barbecued Meats. Curried Singapore Noodles with mixed fish and meat.
This information has been compiled by B Lee/ Bright Sun Enterprises and may not be reproduced without the author's written permission. B Lee/Bright Sun Enterprises accept no liability for the consequences of any action taken on the basis of the information provided
The Blogger has vivid memories of visits in the past to the high-end Royal China restaurants dotted around central London. And the last time the Blogger visited the beautiful Min Jiang in the Royal Garden Hotel, Kensington (probably 10 years ago) the meal was mind-blowing: beautiful artistic food, fabulous flavours and textures and wonderful service.
Ingredients
Many steamed dim sum are wrapped in rice flour pastry that, after steaming, becomes transluscent and succulent; after deep-frying, they become crisp and crunchy. Stuffings often contain meat and/or fish, water chestnut, Shitake mushrooms, baby corn and bamboo shoots. Meat or fish can be finely minced, flavoured then formed into delicately flavoured golf-ball sized meatballs. Flavourings include soy sauce, fresh ginger, garlic, five-spice powder and honey.
Pork often appears in Dim Sum; let the waiter know if that is a problem. Try one of the plates of rice/noodles with chicken, duck or fish from the main menu. Chinese restaurants include more meat and fish-free pastries in their offerings but vegetarians should probably order a plate of rice or noodles with beautifully sauced veg and tofu in addition to pastries.
Sauces
Usually include:
- Soy Sauce. Asian etiquette suggests the sauce is poured into the ceramic Chinese spoon which is set on a side plate. Chopsticks are used to dip the food into the soy sauce but hands are acceptable, as is forks and spoons.
- Chilli sauce. It is said that when the Chinese engage in violence, they do so ruthlessly. It is wise to bear this in mind when using Chilli Sauce
- Minced fresh ginger, green onions & sesame oil.
Dim Sum often sounds hilariously, unintentionally rude because the names are English transliterations of Chinese words. Waiting staff may become offended if laughter is too loud or prolonged.
Most menus usually have pictures of each Dim Sum.
A portion contains 3-4 individual pieces (depending on size) and costs just over £5. If any item worries by its taste or appearance, no one will be offended if it is not eaten. Chicken feet are not recommended for westerners.
Ordering
The sky is the limit but for two people start with one large Dim Sum (eg mie gai - pork & chiken wrapped in stickty rice and vine leaves), maybe 4 smaller items (steamed and fried) and a dessert. (And that is generous.)
If you want to sample lots of things, it's better to go in a crowd. The staff are great with westerners. Talk to the manager ahead of time and and work out what you want and how much it's likely to cost. Most Dim Sum establishments also serve alcohol.
To Drink
Most Dim Sum restaurants have a bar - the newer ones quite snazzy - and the usual selection of bottled waters and soft drinks. The traditional accompaniment for Dim Sun is Chinese tea which is said to aid digestion. Ask for it weak as it will strengthen as it sits. A non-traditional but lovely drink is hot Japanese sake.
Some of 67goingon50's favourite Dim Sum (among the many delicious offerings)
Steamed
Mie Gai (Rice with Mixed Meat in Lotus Leaves)
An all-time favourite; always ordered. This delightful dish will appear on the table as a steaming, triangular shaped package wrapped in glossy lotus leaves. Inside is sticky rice infused with delicate exotic flavours wrapped around a filling of chicken, pork, Chinese sausage, water chestnuts and Chinese mushrooms. The lotus leaves are not eaten; draw them away with chopsticks or a fork. The contents can be divided and served with a Chinese spoon. One Mie Gai will serve two people.
Har Gow (Steamed prawn pastries)
Fresh prawns are encased in rice pastry, shaped like tiny columns with a frilly top edge, and steamed till tender. Needs a bit of soy sauce but clean-tasting and wonderfully satisfying.
Dumplings
These can be steamed or fried but contain a mixture of pork and/or shrimp with mushroom and bamboo shoots. The pastry is flour and water. The dumplings are crescent shaped, fat and distinctively pleated on one side.
Lions Heads or Beef Meatballs
Large beef meatballs (usually 2 to a portion) often flavoured with Worcestershire sauce as well as soy sauce. Marvellously moist dense texture with wonderful flavours..
Cha Siu Bao or Steamed Bread Stuffed with BBQ Pork
One of the most popular items. White snowy bread dough is stuffed with thick slices of bbq pork in a gravy rich with ginger, honey and Chinese spices. The buns are steamed (the paper lining the bottom is thrown away). Bakeries in Chinatowns do a baked take-away version of this.
Deep Fried
Deep Fried Won Ton with Sweet & Sour Sauce
Won Ton are the Chinese version (or precursor??) of ravioli, served deep-fried or floating in broth. Delicately spiced minced pork is wrapped in rice flour pastry. Deep-fried until brown, crisp and crunchy, and dribbled with fluorescent red sauce, these won ton are popular with westerners and children. There's usually 3 large wonton in an order.
Prawn Toast
Chopped prawns bound together with egg white are spread on bread and sprinkled heavily with sesame seeds. Served in triangles, it's deep-fried and irresistable but should carry a health warning.
Woo Gok or Chinese Scotch Eggs
The outer wall is delightfully yummy mashed yams; the centre is a mixture of ground meat, Chinese mushrooms, water chestnuts and a delicate gravy. They are exceedingly hot inside so care must be taken when biting into it. They can be eaten by hand or with chopsticks.
Dessert
Daan Taat or Baked Egg Custard Tart
Another 67 favourite which is always ordered. Classic Hong Kong style egg tarts with flaky papery pastry and a deep yellow custard rich with egg.
Additions
If you'd like something a little more substantial there are plenty of one dish noodle or rice dishes on the menu. They'll cost around £10 each but, shared, will go far. Examples: Rice or Crispy Noodles with Barbecued Pork, Duck or Mixed Barbecued Meats. Curried Singapore Noodles with mixed fish and meat.
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