Dim sum question

keeaumoku_tofu

First of all, where can I go for dim sum. My second question is what are those fried taro cakes called in Chinese? I totally blank on it. Yum, dim sum...

DEmeant0r

There's a place in Dublin called good world or something, forgot the name of the street, not sure what cakes you're talking about, Fried fish cakes?

keeaumoku_tofu

but the grey taro ones sometimes made with turnip. OMG, I am so hungry for them now. They look like square little bars and are greasy but divine.

DEmeant0r

Are they the "Faan shu", if not then I don't know.

keeaumoku_tofu

http://chineseculture.about.com/gi/dynamic/offsite.htm?site=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.dimsum.com%2Fds1.html

They don't have what I am looking for here, but yum.

crowbar

Originally posted by keeaumoku_tofu
First of all, where can I go for dim sum.

in dublin, i've tried good world on george st and new millenium next to the gaiety, and both are pretty good.

Originally posted by keeaumoku_tofu
My second question is what are those fried taro cakes called in Chinese?

faan shu comes to mind. never seen it over here though i'm afraid, like siu arp from the local chinese butcher ... yum ...

Wook

there is a pretty good chinese restaurant in dublin 15 , blanchardstown that offers very good dimsum.

Note: Most dim sum should be steamed in bamboo baskets, unfortantly most of the restaurants sell them fried..which is not authentic. (except for certain types of dim sum)

crowbar

Originally posted by Wook
there is a pretty good chinese restaurant in dublin 15 , blanchardstown that offers very good dimsum.

do they have people wheeling them around on trollies there?

ezpzie

You're talking about Lau Bak Go I'm sure, one of my favourites too!
white in colour with bits of shrimp/veg & flavoured pork. Its made from Lau Bak - which I can't translate.. it's brown on the outside and white on the inside, it's like chinese horse raddish.

Good places to get dim sum is the Good World on Georges Street and also The Imperial on Wicklow Street.

ezpzie

The place in Blanchardstown is called Ming Lee or Ming gay I think. It's around the corner from the centre.

Not pushed on trolleys. You can't get that here. Not enough demand in Ireland for that kind of service to be feasible.

keeaumoku_tofu

It sort of has the shape of a small cut cube of tofu, right? Amazingly tasty and, I think, very underrated in the world of dim sum because it's not a dumpling. Could I be hungrier?

Wook

Originally posted by ezpzie
You're talking about Lau Bak Go I'm sure, one of my favourites too!
white in colour with bits of shrimp/veg & flavoured pork. Its made from Lau Bak - which I can't translate.. it's brown on the outside and white on the inside, it's like chinese horse raddish.

Good places to get dim sum is the Good World on Georges Street and also The Imperial on Wicklow Street.

didnt know they sold dimsum in this good world rest. it actually looks pretty 'shabby?'

DEmeant0r

Originally posted by Wook
didnt know they sold dimsum in this good world rest. it actually looks pretty 'shabby?'

Aye they do, it's damn expensive, but the quality is pretty good, but not really worth it. The best dim sum of course is in Hong Kong or those restaurants in the guangdung area.

ezpzie

Yes, it's completely underrated and one of my favourites!
Be warned! when you get fed up of it, you get really sick of it! The secret ingredient is pepper...

Yup.. good world is not well known for their dim sum, I believe the imperial is supposed to do better dim sum. Anyone know somewhere with a wide variety of dim sum is what I want to know... most chinese restaurants in Ireland provide very little variety. Last time I was in Hong Kong the dim sum menu alone had over 4 pages of entries!

ezpzie

Oh! Also there's amazing places in London - I went to a couple in China town which were pretty amazing! Anyone got any experience?

DEmeant0r

I did, but i can't remember, since it was about 6 years ago.

ethanf

Originally posted by ezpzie
You're talking about Lau Bak Go I'm sure, one of my favourites too!
white in colour with bits of shrimp/veg & flavoured pork. Its made from Lau Bak - which I can't translate.. it's brown on the outside and white on the inside, it's like chinese horse raddish.

i think Lau Bak means carrot in chinese, as Lau Bak Go is made from carrots!!!!

crowbar

i've always known carrots to be 'hoong lau bak,' though it's never really made sense because carrots are orange and not red.

ezpzie

They're also called gam sun - roughly translates to golden something - sorry not sure what sun actually is.. would need to see character for some more dissection.

Lau bak means root vegetable I think - ie, tunips, radishes, carrots and beetroot variety - then further distinguished by colour I think.

davros

Can you call Shanghai-style steamed baozi 'dim sum', or even 'dian xin'?

Anyway, a mystery that has kept me awake at night for years has just been solved. I read this in the food section of today's South China Morning Post (online):

Have you ever wondered how they get the soup into the soup dumpling - xiao long bao? It seems difficult, - containing something liquid in a delicate dumpling wrapper. They don't freeze the filling, as one person suggested. And the liquid isn't all fat, as another suspected. The secret lies in the nature of gelatine, which is liquid when warm and solid when cold. A rich, flavourful gelatine is made by simmering pork skin and feet. The resulting liquid is chilled until it solidifies, then cut into cubes and mixed with the xiao long bao filling. The filling is wrapped in the dumpling skins and when steamed the result is a soupy filling.

So clever! The best way I found to eat one is to pop the whole thing near the back of your tongue, exert pressure and let the very hot soup trickle down your throat. You don't burn your tongue or slobber all over your shirt that way

Is there any chance I could get something like that in Dublin?

weichen

..............Even i couldn't figer out what you guys talking about.
dian xin?

davros

"dian xin" - the Mandarin pronunciation of "dim sum".

Literally "small piece heart". Sorry, my Chinese text entry isn't working.

davros

I found a picture of those xiao long bao:

http://www.galaxylink.com.hk/~john/food/cooking/shanghai/xiaolongbao.htm

weichen

Are you chinese?

davros

不是. 我是爱尔兰人可是我住了在中国两年半.

weichen

Cool, I can read it. Where were you living in china?I mean which part of China

davros

在广州. 你是中国哪个地方的人?

weichen

我是大连人，很高兴在这里遇到你。，我在爱尔兰已经快4年了，我是IT Carlow的第一个中国学生，今年是我Degree最后一年。

davros

我也很高兴. 我没去大连. 我没去Carlow!

Sorry, Demeant0r, getting a bit off the topic there. Back to 小吃/点心!

weichen

HUu......okey
I saw superqueen sell 'Dim sum' in carlow, It is just mix chinese starters.Incl spring rolls deep fired prowns.
Is that what you call 'Dim sum'
In china we call small cake 'dian xin'

davros

Originally posted by weichen
It is just mix chinese starters.Incl spring rolls deep fired prowns.Is that what you call 'Dim sum'

Yes. There are hundreds of kinds. In Guangdong, dim sum is a whole meal, usually an early one. Often, the dim sum is wheeled through the restaurant and customers choose as it passes.

In china we call small cake 'dian xin'

Ah, interesting! Same characters, different meaning. Some dim sum are sweet, for example 'daan tat' (egg custard tart) or 'law mai chee' (white balls made of rice flour and filled with red bean paste). If anyone can tell me the Chinese characters for these dim sum, I'd love to know.