Last weekend I went to a great Chinese place called Peach Garden for a luncheon with some great wines (notes posted earlier in the wine talk forum). The standouts of that lunch were a trio of sweeter German wines, plus two types of dim sum that still stand out. The first had a very fine wrapping around what I can try and describe as a small but very richly flavoured pork meatball with chives in a little broth. I've had pork broth dim sum before, but this was something else with an amazing depth of flavour from the pork, broth and seasonings and the meat incredibly tender. Needless to say we ordered plenty more.
That meal ended with a basket of sweet dim sum - a steamed fluffy bun filled with a slightly salty egg custard. Only managed one of those given that I'd eaten a ton of food by that point (not to mention having drunk a lot of wine!), but it was phenomenal with the bun exterior being very light, and the custard inside incredibly rich and complex without feeling too heavy or sweet (and going quite well with the Auslese on the table).
Today had lunch at the Crystal Jade La Mian Xiao Long Bao and ordered a whole lot of different dim sum.
First was an interesting vegetarian one with chives, spring onion and a little chopped carrot and bok choy inside a thin translucent wrapper. Decent on its own (not something I felt like having much more of), tasted better with some of the house ginger/chili sauce adding a bit more kick and flavour.
Then a round of different pork dim sum that were all really awesome. First Tianjin-style steamed pork buns. Depending on where I've had them these can range from fairly dull by-the-numbers starters to really amazing dining experiences - this was definitely at the latter end of the spectrum. The pork was incredibly tender, slightly sweet and there was plenty of it (with not too much sauce, which I like); bun incredibly light and fluffy. I think my brother and I alone ended up ordering about 3 baskets worth just for ourselves. That was followed by a basket of pork and chive dumplings that was very similar to the ones from the weekend at Peach Garden, but not quite as amazing (with the pork filling not quite as flavourful or moist) - though still very good. And then a freaking amazing pan-fried pork and sesame dim sum with a very light, just slightly flaky crust that made me feel quite guilty about ordering/filling myself up with so many of the steamed pork buns.
Still, great eating. And the nice thing is that I'll be heading back once again to the Crystal Jade early next week for lunch and more dim sum.
True story: when I was a young bride my husband invited a workmate named Ranjit Chana and his wife to dinner. I wondered aloud about what to make and he (this was a former husband--yes, like almost everybody else I too had a practice marriage) suggested American barbecue, specifically pork ribs. (We were living in the UK at this point.) So that's what I made and as we sat down to dinner I realized in horror what I'd done. Now the Chanas gamely and graciously ate the food even though I made it clear they did not have to, but I could tell that they truly would have preferred not to. And there were so many other things I could have made! I just didn't think.
) or religious about it - I've just gotten ill on almost all occasions when I've had any kind of seafood in the past, so take the safe route and avoid it these days. 