Part II - Ready for Dim Sum?

Dim Sum (pronounced in Cantonese) consists of a variety of dishes, each in a small portion, and can be either steamed, fried or even baked. In Hongkong, Dim Sum is usually eaten from morning to early afternoon, although some restaurants serve it throughout the day. The most traditional way of serving Dim Sum would be in push-carts, where serving staff push these trolleys filled with little baskets of steamed delights or plates of crispy fried morsels. You can peek at what’s on the trolleys, pick what you like and have it placed on your table.

But nowadays, it is becoming increasingly difficult to find push-cart Dim Sum, most places use a sheet of order form, where you tick off the items you like, hand it to the serving staff, and everything arrives at your table. For my trip this time, it was pretty bad luck at my Dim Sum searching, as one of the restaurant which I had been to previously had closed down, and another two no longer existed as well. Guess this is HK, where things develop faster than you can blink.

I did manage to visit one Dim Sum restaurant for lunch – Luk Yu Tea House.


I only found out about this the day before I left. Located in Stanley Street, Central, this place has a very traditional feel, not surprising considering it has a 73-year history. In the one hour we were there, there were so many regular customers that almost everyone who came up the stairway were greeted by their surnames eg Mr So-and-So, Mrs So-and-So. So(no pun intended) let’s take a look at what I ate.

We ordered one basket of Char Siew Paus (steamed roast pork buns). Boy, were these huge!

White fluffy paus with a saucy meat filling. I just love the ‘splitting’ effect of these paus.

These Har Gows (steamed prawn dumplings) are filled with prawns and minced fish, my first time seeing this combination in a Har Gow. The skin is also soft, with a slight chew.

Another type of dumplings, Shui Gow, served in a bowl of soup. The chopped chinese black mushrooms help to provide a different contrast to the prawn filling.

Make a guess what this is?

Dessert? Pudding? Not quite. This is the first time I had Lor Bak Kow (steamed savoury radish cake) in a bowl. Most times we get it in square pieces which are lightly pan-fried on both sides. This Lor Bak Kow has minced fish in it too, together with Lap Cheong (preserved chinese sausage), which are the red pieces on top, as well as Lap Yuk (chinese waxed meat). That strand hanging off the spoon is the shredded radish.

The only sweet item we had was the Daan Tart aka egg tarts. The pastry belongs to the flaky family, not the shortcrust kind, and it just melts in the mouth. And the egg custard filling is simply divine, I can taste the freshness of the eggs used.

Have a cup of tea first, before the last few Dim Sum. This is Boh Lei, one of the most common tea in HK, according to the restaurant staff.

We wanted to go back to a Dim Sum place where we had visited two years back. Unfortunately it had closed down. But we found another one in the same building. Not as good, but still not bad.

Once again, Har Gows. These ones are larger and filled solely with prawns. Look at the lovely pink hue beneath that translucent skin. Sweet!

These Siu Mai (steamed meat dumplings) combines chicken, prawns and fish. Topped with a bit of fish roe, it’s a meaty piece indeed.

Ma Lai Kow is a type of egg sponge cake which are steamed. These Ma Lai Kow sandwich thin layers of custard in between. Spongy and not too sweet, these are very nice, especially when eaten warm.


That’s all for my Dim Sum ‘journey’ this time. I will have one last post on the food from HK. I wanted to consolidate everything, but Blogger starts going ‘haywire’ once I post a certain number of pics. Anyone has this problem as well?