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| The steamed lotus root roll is a bestseller in Hakkasan |
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| Xiao Mai dim sums at Zen, Leela come with fillings of chicken and prawn |
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| Broccoli and pine nut dim sums are a great draw at Ming Yang |
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| The scallop Siu Mai at Yauatcha comes garnished with flying fish roe |
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| Prawn dumplings are part of the 23 varieties of dim sums at Zen, Park |
Would you like to try steamed crystal vegetable dim sums along with jasmine green tea? Or would you rather dine out on steamed prawn and enoki mushroom dumpling? If you have a sweet tooth, you could round off with a custard-filled dumpling or an egg tart too!
You got it right. Dim sums (called dumplings in the west), the bite-sized Cantonese food in steamer baskets, have taken the Indian culinary scene by storm. And no, we’re not talking about those steamed or fried Tibetan momos made from refined flour (maida).
“The difference between the two is that while the momo is a staple in Tibet, dim sum is a traditional Cantonese dish made from various flours like potato flour and Red Lotus flour,” says corporate chef Irfan Pabaney, Hakkasan, Mumbai.
Today, dim sums (either steamed, pan-fried or baked), have ceased to be simple appetisers with chefs in 5-star restaurants coming out with exhaustive dim sum menus. And the fillings go way beyond pork, chicken and prawn — think shredded cabbage, chives, lotus root, Chilean sea-bass, scallops, dried mushrooms, broccoli, cuttlefish, pine nuts and more.
Dim sums were originally a part of the Cantonese Yum Cha or tea-drinking tradition when travellers on the ancient Silk Route gathered at roadside teahouses to drink tea and dig into dim sums.
More of a breakfast snack, dim sums are of many kinds — like the pouch-shaped Har Gau, which should have thin, translucent skin that feels smooth and soft when eaten. Other popular varieties include Siu Mai, with the right mix of lean meat (pork or mushroom) and fat and Char Siu Bao — a steamed bun with a meat or vegetable filling. Many Indian restaurants are offering four to five-course dim sum baskets. Vegetarians can look forward to vegetable-filled dim sums, a significant trend in Indian restaurants. Think lotus root, carrots, corn, spinach, shitake mushrooms and soy beans.
Nutritionists too swear by them because they’re light. There isn’t much emphasis on seasonings, which are simple like oyster sauce, honey, Hoisin sauce, sesame oil, soy sauce, five spices, Chinese wine, salt and sugar. According to Anirudhya Roy, executive chef, Taj Lands End, dough-making is the tricky part: “The consistency of the dough should not be too soft nor too hard, which leads to uneven rolling and affects the quality.”
Check out some signature dim sums created by the chefs of fine-dining restaurants across the country.
ZEN
THE PARK, CALCUTTA
For dim sum lovers in Calcutta, Zen, at The Park, has an interesting dinner spread. Chef Mohan Singh has been serving up dim sums for some time now and Zen has many kinds of non-vegetarian dim sums.
For health freaks who want steamed dim sums without the flour outer, the chef recommends steamed vegetable bundles along with tak sauce (a cream sauce flavoured with mint and coriander) or radish cakes, filled with carrot, radish, corn flour and Asian vegetables.
The prawn dim sums with golda chingri (tiger prawns) mince is a bestselling dish. “It’s most preferred because it’s lightweight and lightly flavoured,” says Singh whose personal favourite is Har Gau, with mildly flavoured mince-prawn stuffing. Vegetarians can opt for triangular dim sums filled with asparagus and water chestnuts, cheese and vegetable dim sums and shitake mushroom dumplings.
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A do-it-yourself guide |
| Give your family a pleasant surprise with these mouthwatering dim sums |
| Har Gau (above) Ingredients 80gm tiger prawn, chopped 30gm water chest nuts 5gm sugar Salt to taste 2gm white pepper powder 1tsp sesame oil For dough: 50gm wheat starch 35gm potato starch 50ml hot water method Mix tiger prawns with all other ingredients. Set aside for a while and then stuff the mixture in the dough giving it a proper Har Gau shape (pouch shape). Steam it in bamboo baskets and serve hot. |
Ingredients 250gm cabbage 150gm bok choy 50gm each of fresh mushrooms, carrot, chopped ginger and onion 50gm black mushrooms (boiled) 30gm chopped spring onions 1tsp white pepper 1tbs oyster sauce 1tbs sesame oil ½ tsp salt 1tsp cooking wine 1 cup vegetable oil method For the filling: Wash and boil the vegetables for two minutes and drain. Chop into small pieces, dry and store in a container. Heat oil in a wok and fry the onions and spring onions. Add chopped ginger and mix with the chopped vegetables. Season and keep the mixture in the fridge for 10 minutes. For the dough: Cut the dough into small 5gm pieces each and roll them into thin round sheets. Stuff the filling into the sheet and close. Bring three litres of water to a boil and put in the dumplings. When the dumplings start floating on the water surface, after 4 minutes, add one cup of cold water. When the water boils again, remove the dumplings on the plate and serve. |
The flour is the most critical ingredient. While the chef and his team use special carbohydrate-free flour, others like potato starch, tapioca, wheat starch, red lotus flour, rice paper and wonton skin are imported from Thailand.
Chef’s tip: The dim sum dough requires proper kneading. The ratio of flour and water is 2:1 respectively.
MING YANG
TAJ LANDS END, MUMBAI
The Who’s Who of Bollywood rates it as their favourite for dim sum dinners with 20 varieties of steamed and fried dumplings. And Chinese masterchef Yui Kwong To rates Har Gau, Hakka Siu Mai (fillings of prawns or chicken), broccoli and pine nut dim sum and Kothe (pan-fried crescent shaped chicken dumpling) as the biggest draws.
The chef from south China explains: “Har Gau means a person laughing. We believe if you eat this dish on Chinese New Year day, you’ll be cheerful throughout the year,” he laughs. He has also an impressive vegetarian line-up like vegetable Siu Mai (dim sum with mushrooms, carrot, zucchini and celery), vegetable spinach dumpling (assorted vegetables and spinach) and Kenya beans with water chestnut. Dim sums are incomplete without tea and at Ming Yang and you can opt for several Chinese teas.
Chef’s tip: The filling should be firm and take care not to oversteam.
PAN-ASIAN
ITC MARATHA, MUMBAI
The Oriental restaurant has a special noodle and dim sum chef from China to rustle up steamed and fried wonders. Chef Wong Peng, has 20 varieties on offer. The restaurant’s bestsellers include steamed crystal vegetable dumplings, shrimp dumplings, chicken Sui Mai and carrot dumplings.
Says Liang Xiaq Qing, executive chef, Pan-Asian: “Ingredients should be fresh because dim sum filling must be light and simple in taste.”
The marination of the meat should also be done properly, especially for prawns. The ingredients central to Southeast Asian cooking like dim sum flour, potato starch, soy sauce, oyster sauce are imported from Singapore, China and Thailand. One can also opt for a dim sum basket that starts with a soup followed by steamed or fried dumplings, a main course and ends with a sweet dim sum like mango-custard filled dim sum.
Chef’s tip: Don’t overstuff the filling, or dumplings will break when boiled.
HAKKASAN
MUMBAI
This Michelin Star Chinese restaurant from London was brought to India by Ka Restaurants. It has a 15-seater dining room and vegetarian options galore. Says Pabaney, “In India, vegetarian dim sums are in demand because of growing health reasons.”
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| Shrimp dumpling with roast chilli oil sauce at Pan-Asian |
The menu, designed by the London team, consists of signature dishes like scallop Sui Mai garnished with orange flying fish roe, edamame (a kind of soy beans) dumplings, lotus root roll (the lotus root is steamed with carrot, asparagus and shitake mushroom filling and then wrapped) and taro root dumpling (steamed tuber with yam beans and shitake mushroom filling).
Chef’s tip: Add potato starch to maida to soften the dough. All the vegetables should be cut into equal sizes.
YAUATCHA
MUMBAI
This Michelin Star London dim sum teahouse is another addition to Mumbai’s culinary scene. Yauatcha offers a tea menu with over 15 labels to choose from. “Dim sums are popular because of their diversity, texture, flavours. Our chefs have taken recipes from all over China and infused them with modern sensibility,” says Ajay Bery, CEO, Ka Restaurants.
The extensive vegetarian selection includes steamed vegetable dumplings, lotus rolls, truffle edamame dumpling and three-style mushroom Cheung Fun. The chef’s picks for non-vegetarians include crispy prawn Cheung Fun, scallop Siu Mai, Shanghai Siu long bun with chicken and Chilean sea bass mooli roll. If you like it baked, go for turnip cake with vegetables, vegetable Shanghai dumpling or golden fried vegetable puff.
Chef’s tip: Cleanliness is crucial, as one uses bare hands and fresh ingredients.
WOK TOK
THE GRAND, DELHI
Here, dim sums include more of leafy vegetables like cabbage, sprouts and baby bok choy and are made without the dough. Shilpi Gupta, the executive sous chef at the restaurant says that the baby bok choy, spinach and cashew nut dim sum and crystal chicken dumpling are the most popular ones.
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| Prawn paper rolls from Wok Tok |
For an Indian touch, there are seven-spiced dim sums. Gupta says, the biggest challenge is to make the Chinese cabbage dim sum which needs to be wrapped very delicately. He says, “They tend to break while steaming and so one has to be extra careful.”
Chef’s tip: The dim sum dough should be creamy in colour and the skin should be translucent and shiny.
ZEN
THE LEELA, BANGALORE
This menu has 23 varieties of dim sums by Cantonese chef, Huang Zhiwen. The must-try nibbles here include crunchy barbecued pork buns (Qia Xiao Pao), Xiao Mai (chicken with prawn) and Zen Xiao Xiao (filling of prawn and bamboo shoot), served with dips like spiced black bean sauce and chilli soy sauce.
Says Zhiwen: “My favourite is the lobster dim sum as seafood is fresh in my hometown and pork is the most preferred meat.” For vegetarians, the chef recommends the Bai Chai Jiao (Chinese cabbage dumpling). The main course can have glutinous rice stuffed in lotus leaf and rice rolls. Round off the meal with Jian Duai (glutinous rice with lotus seed paste), custard buns or egg tarts.
Chef’s tip: The dough’s thickness should be right and folding after stuffing is most important. If you’re frying the dim sum, the oil should be of medium temperature.
