Wednesday, April 17, 2013

Sampling Dim Sum



This is how my day looks today. It looks worse than it feels. It is actually cloudy but warm and the sun came out when I went to the laboratory.

When I go to a restaurant, I prefer to have small portions of a lot of varieties of food; rather than big plates of the same food. So I really love tapas, which are small plates of Spanish snacks or appetizers.

The Chinese also have a type of tapas. There is a Cantonese style of cooking called dim sum which consists of small bite-sized or individual portions of food traditionally served in small steamer baskets or on small plates.

When I first came to Vancouver I would attend dim sum for lunch with my work colleagues.  There I would sit entranced as the served walked by with fully laden carts of ready made foods.  You would simply point to the plates you wanted and the servers kept track by punching holes onto a card left on your table.  Each plate was about $1.50 (Canadian) and there was really only one size. You could easily get filled on 3 orders or plates of food but when you went out with a large group everyone ordered what they wanted and so we sampled many things. It was always a bargain at about $7. per person.

These days most of the restaurants that serve dim sum, and there are fewer than before, have gone high scale. You very seldom get carts of food rolled by your table. Instead you order from a menu.  Sometimes the menus feature coloured photos of the dishes for the uninitiated.

In other restaurants you simply mark the quantity of a particular dish you want on a menu list (like the photo below). The server then picks it up and places the order. I had a choice of 4 sizes of plates at the restaurant I went to today. I ordered the smallest size.


Last night and this  morning I had to fast in preparation for blood work today.  I got a late start to my day so by the time I finished at the laboratory I was quite hungry. I went across the street for dim sum and made it in time before it closed the dim sum service.

Food (L to R - rice rolls, shrimp dumplings, steamed buns, pork dumplings).

I ordered:

- pork (dumplings) sui mai
- steamed barbque pork buns
- shrimp (dumplings) har gow
- rice rolls with beef.

The order was a little much for me but I decided to place a 2nd (take out) order of everything except the shrimp dumplings (oops, I meant except the pork dumplings).  Jasmine tea accompanied my lunch. I also had condiments of chili oil, mustard and hot sauce.

The grand total came to $19.95 (including tax). The prices have doubled since my first experience of eating dim sum. I think it is still a good bargain for two meals especially when the food is very tasty.

I took the photos with my camera phone today. The resolution and colours are not the best but it works in a pinch.

 
Update:  My blood work was normal. Praise God! I hope to keep it normal with hard work and prayers.

I'm linking up with Our World Tuesday today. I hope you join in too!

10 comments:

Denise said...

Thanks for sharing.

Marja said...

mmm that looks delicious. We have something similar here at a Korean restaurant. In Holland we used to have Indonesian rice table. That's one of my favourite foods

Yogi♪♪♪ said...

I haven't eaten dim sum in years and I miss it. I liked the old school of the carts with uniform small plates you write about.

Gail Dixon said...

Your food choices look delicious! I enjoy sampling different foods also. That's why when I go to a Cajun restaurant I usually end up getting some kind of platter with an assortment of seafood. :)

Ann said...

With all that talk about food, I'm feeling hungary, so, I'm off to have something to eat, not dim som though, as I am not too familiar with it.

Kay L. Davies said...

Oh, I remember how much I loved having dim sum in Vancouver. I think the last time was in the late 70s/early 80s. Sigh. How I miss it! When my husband and I were downtown a few years ago, we went to Chinatown but I couldn't find my favorite dim sum restaurant. I thought it faced Pender St. at the corner of Main, but 1980 was a long time ago. Maybe it was called Asia Garden. I forget.
Anyway, your dim sum photos made me hungry, the pork buns especially. I loved those SO much.
K

Cindy said...

Your last photo is beautiful, what is it of?
I love dim sum, I have been to a restaurant here in Winnipeg that serves it several times. We go with our Pastor and his family who are Filipinos, but they pastored in Hong Kong for several years, so they know exactly what is what and how to order. My hubby and I really enjoy it. I think the pork dumplings are my favourite.
Have a great day! Cindy

Joyful said...

Hi Cindy, I'm not sure what kind of a tree it is. It might be plum or a different type of cherry tree. Apparently there are many varieties of cherry trees. I love the deep pink colour and these blooms last a little longer than the delicate pink ones I featured a few posts ago. Have a great rest of your week!

Pat @ Mille Fiori Favoriti said...

Hi Joyful!
I like dim sum very much and the selection you chose looks very delicious and the price sounds good. Thank you for your visit and kind comment.

Jan said...

Yes I agree. Lots of small dishes and samples of different tastes are my favourite too. I love tapas and Dim Sum too. Tapas are a little expensive over here however. x

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