"dim sum" news and stories

Celebrating Chinese New Year this week has left us with dim sum on the brain. Anyone who's ever had the dim sum experience knows the drill: bustling servers, rolling carts piled high with fragrant dishes, seemingly endless choices. But while you might know where to find the best soup dumplings or pork buns in your 'hood, you might be surprised by how much you still have to learn about this culinary tradition. Yum Sugar has a quiz designed to separate dim sum dunces from the experts.

Take the dim sum quiz over at Yum Sugar.

Love the flavors and options at your local Dim Sum restaurant, but can't stand the crowds and noise? Try these recipes in order to replicate some of your favorites at home. They've got preparation advice and recipes for 5-Spice Barbeque Pork Ribs, Spicy Minced Chicken and Water Chestnut Lettuce Wraps, Steamed Buns With Barbecued Pork (Char Siu Hum Bao), Cheater's Pot Stickers With Hot Sour Dipping Sauce and (my favorite) Chinese Broccoli With Oyster Sauce.

Pudding cakes are the perfect dessert for those times when you want to impress your friends and family. Two desserts in one, they are far easier to create than it appears. Try the Coconut-Lemon Pudding Cakes, the Hazelnut-Mocha Pudding Cakes or the (sounds amazing) Muscovado Sugar & Rum Pudding Cakes.

Trying to balance good flavor with healthful, easy to prepare foods? Maybe you should cook up some mushrooms? And then use them as part of this Farfalle in a Broth of Wild Mushrooms and Browned Shallots.

If the state of the world has you down these days, spend just a few minutes in the kitchen sprucing up prepared foods for a quick and comforting meal.

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The first restaurants in a new chain offering dim sum have opened in London. Ping Pong Dim Sum Little steamed parcels of deliciousness. Three eateries are in operation to sample these under-appreciated Chinese specialities.

• 45 Great Marlborough Street Soho
• 74-76 Westbourne Grove
• 10 Paddington Street

If you cant get to one of these fabulous sounding places maybe you could try making dim sum at home. This article in the Independent has several recipes.

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Over the weekend, I begged for some advice about dim sum in the Bay Area, with only Yank Sing and Ton Kiang as names that I had from Michael Bauer's List of the Top 100 Bay Area restaurants. Thank you to all for your suggestions! However, I ended up at Yank Sing anyway because our host couldn't stop singing its praises. He warned me that there would be some of the traditional dim sum like shiu mai and chicken's feet, but there would also be what he called "gringo dim sum." I was worried, but the new-fangled "gringo dim sum" was just as good as the OG. The photo tour is after the jump...

Egg custard tarts are one of the best things you can get at a good Chinese bakery and a great incentive to go out for dim sum around lunchtime. They have a flaky, melt-in-your-mouth crust and a tender, eggy filling. I have never before seen them in multiple colors like these tarts that Tien Mao got at the Egg Custard King Cafe in New York. The tarts in the photo are flavored with almond, strawberry, honey dew, and mango, but the cafe offers other varieties, including traditional, banana and egg white, as well. The tarts are only 60-75¢, so be sure to pick up one or two if you're visiting.

[Via Gothamist]

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