Dim Sum Yum Yum!

Dim sum is the name of the Chinese cuisine involving a light meal or brunch served with Chinese tea. Dim sum cuisine consists of a wide spectrum of choices. It includes combinations of meat, seafood, vegetables, as well as desserts and fruit. The various items are usually served in a small steamer basket or on a small plate. To start our last full day of our vacation, we headed to Daly City, a suburb of San Francisco. There, we dined at Koi Palace, a favorite dim sum house of the locals.

Here’s what we feasted on:

Shrimp Dumpling Purses (蝦餃 har gau): A delicate steamed dumpling with whole or chopped-up shrimp filling and thin (almost translucent) wheat starch skin.

Rice noodle rolls or cheong fun (腸粉 cheong fan, 肠粉 chángfěn): These are wide rice noodles that are steamed and then rolled. We had ones that were filled with vegetables inside and topped with a sweetened soy sauce.

Steamed meatballs (牛肉球, usually simplied as 牛球, 牛肉丸 niúròuwán): Finely-ground beef is shaped into balls and then steamed.

Cha siu baau (叉燒包, cha siu baau, 叉焼包, chāshāobāo): the most popular bun with Cantonese roasted pork & onions inside. We had them steamed, fluffy & white.

Potstickers (simplified Chinese: 锅贴; traditional Chinese: 鍋貼)Northern Chinese style of dumpling (steamed and then pan-fried jiaozi), usually with meat and cabbage filling. Note that although potstickers are sometimes served in dim sum restaurants, they are not considered traditional Cantonese dim sum.

Sou (酥 sou, 酥 sū): A type of flaky pastry we had that was filled with shrimp.

Stuffed Crab Claws (Yeung Hai Keem): For these, the snapper is used as a handle. A portion of shell is removed from the meaty end, leaving the meat attached. Shrimp and crab paste are then pressed around the claw meat, and the whole is dipped in flour and crumbs, then deep-fried.