Sunday, January 24, 2010

Homemade Dim Sum A Go-Go!



 
When Poppa Trix and I lived in New York, we loved to go to Chinatown for dim sum on the weekends. Sometimes we'd satisfy our bun and dumpling cravings at Vegetarian Dim Sum House, which was nice because there was zero chance of biting into a piece of pork or beef based on a linguistic misunderstanding.  This was a  calm spot for dim sum; here, you ordered off of the menu and ate in relative peace and quiet.

But when we wanted adventure - which was often - we headed to Grand Harmony. This was the sort of  Chinatown joint that hosted huge wedding banquets and enormous parties.  It was loud and crowded and chaotic. Instead of just sitting down anywhere, you were assigned a number, which would be announced over an incredibly distorted and cracking intercom. Woe to you if you couldn't make out when your number was up! Instead of ordering dim sum off of a menu, you literally chased down indifferent ladies who were pushing steaming carts of goodies around the cavernous dining room. Fights could break out over shrimp dumplings. Dim sum at Grand Harmony was part meal,  part sport.

Nothing where we live now can compare to dim sum in New York. If we want anything edible we have to drive about an hour to the Washington, DC suburbs. But the urge for dim sum is a craving that cannot be ignored, so last weekend it hit me: Why don't we just make it at home? Sure, at home there won't be any cart ladies to chase down or incomprehensible, ear-splitting announcements,  and there's only Poppa Trix to fight with over the last morsel, but still - there would be dim sum!

I settled on 3 dishes: Vegetarian mock duck eggrolls, soy puffs stuffed with shrimp and scallions, and sesame seed and bonito crusted tofu, which I had been craving ever since I saw it on the beautiful blog Sense & Serendipity. I know it isn't really a dim sum type dish, but the flavors went perfectly with the other yummies  and Divina's recipe is so tasty, and her photos so appealing, that I couldn't resist including it!

For the eggrolls, I used soy mock duck, but you could use any protein you like:
It looks pretty realistic, and it tastes great! It's firm and flavorful, with a slightly sweet/salty aftertaste.

I sauteed the "duck" with 3 shredded carrots, a sliced leek, and 3 garlic cloves in sesame oil for about 3 or 4 minutes.
Next I added scallions, soy sauce, and a bit of cornstarch that had been dissolved in cold water, and sauteed until just thickened. When the mixture is cool, you can assemble your eggrolls (I had enough for 8).  Place a heaping spoonful of the mixture in the middle of each wrapper, and fold like this:
When you have 3 sides folded, as in the photo on the bottom right, just roll it up like a burrito. Instead of deep frying, I brushed my rolls with olive oil and baked them in a 425 degree oven for 8 minutes on one side, and 5 on the other.  They had all the crunchiness that I love in an eggroll, and none of the gloppy greasiness they can get from being deep fried. For sauces, I used a store-bought plum sauce and made a hot mustard sauce with equal parts Colman's mustard powder and white vinegar, with a dash of water.

For the sesame and bonito-crusted tofu, just follow the recipe at Sense & Serendipity: dredge the firm cubes of tofu in flour, egg, and a sesame seed/bonito mixture, and then fry 'em up. The crispy bite on the outside gives way to the pillowy softness of the tofu on the inside. Dip it in a mixture of soy sauce and rice wine vinegar. Perfection!

The third dish, the shrimp and scallion soy puffs, were something of a happy accident. I had originally intended to make cheung fun, or rice noodle sheets stuffed with shrimp. I had bought what I thought were rice noodle sheets at an Asian market but in fact turned out to be stale Vietnamese rice noodle rolls. Doh! What to do? We had already sauteed our shrimp in sesame oil, and now we had no plan.  I remembered that  another one of my favorite bloggers, The Little Teochew,  had once stuffed tofu puffs with something yummy, and I just so happened to have bought some on my shopping outing. So we stuffed our puffs with shrimp and scallion, steamed them, drizzled  thick sweet soy sauce on them and presto! Dim sum - and my Sunday - was saved:

 What the meal lacked in chaos and authenticity, it more than made up for in flavor and the fun of making it all with Poppa Trix.










34 comments:

  1. Sounds like fun and looks delicious!

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  2. wow, this really looks amazing! I have never had dim sum and would so love to try it. Unfortunately I wouldnt trust myself not to ruin it! Great pictures too! Look so professional!

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  3. oh this is so cool, oh love China town, I bet you miss that
    but now u can make it very cool

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  4. wow totally blown away and very impressive on the art this looks like, wonderful presentation and so delicious looking as well, great post trix! and I didnt find you anywhere on foodbuzz!

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  5. Dim Sum is my favorite but I haven't prepared much at home. You have encouraged me.

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  6. I like the creative thinking... sometimes the best recipes are born of accidents

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  7. Well done for making your own dimsum. Looks delicious! Did you miss out the Chinese tea?

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  8. @April: It's so much fun, thanks!
    @Ruth: It's easy, you must try it!
    @chowandchatter: I do miss that, but you're right - at least I can do my own version.
    @pegasus: I'm glad you found the post ; )
    @edschenk: I'm so glad! Let me know ow it turns out when you try.
    @marina: It's true - I'm actually glad I bought the wrong thing.
    @MaryMoh: Thank you! I actually made a nice big pot of oolong tea! Dim sum wouldn't be the same without it.

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  9. I can relate; I was taken to a dim sum joint in Chinatown in New York City in the late eighties and I remember eating and eating and eating...
    I am impressed that you decided to recreate your own at home! wow! Bravo. Looks yummy.

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  10. Just like chinatown, Trix... you rock!!

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  11. Glad you like the tofu. Thanks for the link. Homemade dimsum is a great idea to have at home.You created your own menu for it instead of the usual dimsum we have in Chinatown. But I really miss having dimsum somewhere as we don't have a good dimsum place here. I like the setup too. Maybe you have some Chinese music playing along. :D

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  12. wow - this looks amazing - i have experimented with egg roll wrappers only once before, but you give me a great reason to try again. what are soy puffs by the way?

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  13. Oh! nice one..... well done on making your own dimsum.

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  14. The Shrimp and Scallion Soy Puffs are my fav in this round up...Dim Sum at home--fun!

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  15. Everything looks so pretty and tasty! Great job!

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  16. Excellent Dim Sum - how fun to make them at home!

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  17. finally I found your post .... everything looks so good - you really did a great job

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  18. Confession: everytime I hear dimsum or see the words, I instantly think of Sleepless in Seattle. :o)

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  19. Ahhhh I LOVE Veggie Dim Sum House. There's another new one that opened up a few years ago that I like even better - Veggie Bodhi? It's less greasy and less crowded. I think I have a serious love affair with dim sum and can eat it forever. Glad you're able to recreate all the NYC memories!

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  20. Baked egg rolls... brilliant! I hate when they come out so greasy that they're soggy.

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  21. Yet another meal delight never tried by me. (My fear of crowds would have never let me set foot in a place like that, seriously.) Sigh. Great, great food stuffs--and right up my alley! I love the photo help, too! At least I can live the cultured-dining-experiences through your sharing! That tofu is calling me. . . mmmm.

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  22. Hi Trix,

    Thanks for stopping by my blog. You have a cool blog and loved your step by step recipe of dim sum.. Looking forward to keep in touch with your delectable creations..

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  23. how tasty!!!! i used to looove going for dim sum when i was growing up in SF and then living in LA..also no real dim sum in wine country, maybe i'll have to go the "at home" route.

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  24. Wow! Great job on doing all of this at home! Those eggrolls look deee-lightful! :D

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  25. I love this! Well done, makes me want to pop over to San Francisco for some dim sum!

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  26. Yes, yes, the soy puffs!! I called them tofu puffs. You can stuff anything you want in them. :) What a delicious dim sum meal, Trix! TOTALLY creative and original. You can charge premium pricing for them ... "fusion" dim sum always costs more! :D

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  27. The sesame crusted tofo looks great! Now I want some Dim Sum!

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  28. I love dim sum and love the idea of making my own. It all looks fantastic - kudos to you!

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  29. Gosh, you're such a creator! The dim sum looks better than those at the dim sum restaurant. Great job!

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  30. wow, very impressive work here! have never thought about making dimsum myself. yours look awesome!

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  31. i shared this with Sherm

    i want to visit your C-Town House of Fragrant Flavor again sometime soon. Yum

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  32. I know how's the situation at the dim sum house! Everyone just can't wait to grab their favourite dishes from the steaming cart. War zone, alright! haha... I seldom go to this kind of places. Even my kids prefer to eat at home...peace & quiet!

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  33. I'm pretty "soy mock duck" is the most disturbing combination of words I have encountered in a long, long while!
    Other than that, this post looks awesome! I always think of making dim sum, get overwhelmed in my own head and then let it go again - you've reinspired me!

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  34. Ha! So cute!! I love eating dim sum, i use to go every weekend with my parents but now I can have them in the comfort of my own home! I really like the stuffed tofu yum yum yum

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