Dim sum never has, and never will be a dish recommended for those on a low-sodium diet.Īnd, yes, I understand that trying to name the best dim sum houses in the San Gabriel Valley is a fool’s errand. And for better or worse, expect to be very thirsty for hours afterwards. Take note that they’re the favorites of many other people as well, which means they’re often packed to the gills, especially on weekends. The following are an assortment of some of my favorite dim sum destinations. Dim sum is a snack no one ever grows weary of. There are hundreds of dishes in the dim sum arsenal, only a few dozen of which appear in any given restaurant. Instead, there are Chinese restaurants scattered throughout Southern California, that specialize in dim sum during lunch hours, a meal that’s usually so inexpensive it’s almost embarrassing to find yourself confronted with a bill for four that would seem reasonable for only one.Īn average dim sum meal might consist of small triangles of rice flour called fun gor, filled with pork, shrimp and bamboo shoots steamed minced beef balls called au yuk wonderful translucent steamed shrimp dumplings called har gow bowls of rice gruel, a porridge called congee, flavored with preserved egg massive balls of steamed rice called gwor ching chung, wrapped in lotus leaves that encase a mixture of duck, preserved egg yolks and mushrooms and more, much more. Here in Los Angeles, there aren’t any true teahouses, restaurants that are open solely for tea and dim sum. There are lots of tasty dim sum options, sure to satisfy all of your dim sum cravings. Pouring tea in a Hong Kong teahouse is mastered through a combination of practice and Bactine. I did the same thing the next 10 times I tried. The first time I tried this, I burned the living daylights out of my hand, and poured tea all over myself. To pour the tea from the pot into your now-warmed cup, you turn the lid upside down on top of the pot, slide the lid so it’s slightly askew, lift the pot, and try to pour more of the tea into your cup than on the table. And the tea is served in a very different manner, one which often leads the novice to burnt fingers, and a soiled shirt. In Los Angeles, you rarely have a choice of more than one type of tea in Hong Kong, it’s rare to be offered fewer than five. to 3 p.m., the hours in Hong Kong begin at around 6 a.m. While most teahouses in America are open only from about 10 a.m. There are certain styles and rituals endemic to the teahouses of Hong Kong that stand in stark contrast to the rituals of the dim sum houses of Los Angeles. The new generation, he bemoans, is more interested in breakfasting at McDonald’s. Unfortunately, according to Willy Mark, the teahouse is becoming a thing of the past. The teahouse, I should add, is always the same one, for once a teahouse is chosen, it’s visited with the same sort of loyalty usually reserved for USC-UCLA football games. In the old days, a Chinese gentleman would begin his day with 30 minutes or so of tai chi chuan, followed by an hour of practice on one or more of his musical instruments, leading inevitably to breakfast with his favorite song bird, carried along in a fine silver cage, to a venerable teahouse, where he was well known, and well respected. When I was last in Hong Kong, a fellow named Willy Mark, who’s the on-staff epicure of the Hong Kong Tourist Association, lamented long and loud to me over many a cup of very strong tea, that the traditional ritual of the Chinese teahouse, where those marvelous snacks called dim sum are served in the morning, was quickly coming to an end.
0 kommentar(er)
