Every time I plan a trip, the food is one of the key highlights around which I will plan all other activities. I will spend hours on Yelp to make sure I know exactly where I’m going and why. When the husband and I return from a trip and friends ask how it was, our answer is either, “The food was so good!” or “The food was just ok.” Never mind that we were in Spain or Colorado or some other breathtakingly beautiful location. We just always come back to talking about the food.
Well, my parents and I went to visit my sister in Chicago this past weekend, and any foodie knows that Chicago has no dearth of incredible cuisines to choose from. The Parthenon in Greektown, Rosebud Steakhouse, Shaw’s Crab Shack, and of course the plethora of coma-inducing deep dish pizzas are must-visits. Caramel ice cream french toast at the Bongo Room for brunch? Yes please.
But on this particular trip, what we really craved one morning was dim sum in Chinatown. The food of my peoples. The shared understanding with the other immigrant families in the room that this food is at the heart of our own hearts, and hence it never gets old. The yuppy brunch boutiques couldn’t compete with the carts of savory deliciousness brought to you by women reminiscent of that favorite jovial-but-borderline-bossy Chinese auntie who glowed with pride at the morsels they offered, and hardly hid the fact that they were more than slightly offended when you declined their offers. Only in a bonafide dim sum restaurant would this attitude from your server be both expected and appropriate, and earn them a better tip. After all, it only showed how much they cared.
There is, of course, the pork or shrimp siu-mai. Savory, salty, juicy, deceptively light morsels of meat and finely chopped vegetables enclosed in the thinnest of wrappers, subsequently dipped in soy sauce, hot sauce, or hot mustard. I don’t need the fancy overpriced dumplings at Din Tai Fung. Sit me in an old B-rated Chinatown restaurant anyday, so long as I see the aunties with their carts and the wrinkles of pride on their faces, I know what they have to offer must be authentic.
My sister and I reminisced about how adding the thousand-year-old-egg always made the best pot of rice porridge. Don’t let the black-and-green color or the pungent garbage-like smell of those eggs fool you. That stuff is nothing short of gourmet. Barbeque pork steamed buns, taro cakes, deep-fried sesame balls with red bean filling, and egg custard pastry cups are non-negotiables.
But somehow, what we look forward to the most are the chicken feet and the cow intestines. Frightening as they may appear, these delectables deserve a spot on “The Best Thing I Ever Ate.” Even if you need to close your eyes to eat them, or need a good Tsingtao beer afterwards to help you forget what you just consumed, the flavor in these dishes, when prepared correctly, is absolutely incomparable. (I have to admit though, when we found a small hair in our cow intestine dish, it seemed rather pointless to complain about it to our waiter. I mean, how clean can this cow intestine dish be, really?)
I could tell you plenty of other stories about the crickets and deep-fried waterbugs offered at Typhoon in Santa Monica. The live snake at the hole-in-the-wall in China that was subsequently sauteed into two dishes – one based on the skin, and the other based on the scant amount of meat running along the snake’s slithery skeleton. (That snake dish left me reeling with dizziness in the airport later that day, but it was so worth it.) The raw beef lips that I gleefully found in a 99 Ranch supermarket as the ultimate tool for a future practical joke. The brain soup of some poor unidentified creature that my uncle offered to me in a Taiwan night market. Just a brain in a bowl of broth. (No amount of Tsingtao was going to help me out with that one. I passed.) But alas, this post will remain dedicated to the glorious, incomparable cuisine known as dim sum, the food of my peoples.
omy goodness! my mouth is just watering! foodies! man we are soo spoiled! im gonna get dim sum this week…this is when i miss monterey park (aka your people…haha). elite is my fav in mp!
I haven’t tried Elite yet, but I will be sure to swing by there next time we are in MP!
I definitely agree with your views on planning your travels around new food adventures. I had some amazing food in China which was simple in appearance (like grated fried aubergine and potato) but really complex in flavour. I washed it down with a Tsingtao of course. I’ve also had other memorable food trips around Japan, France, Kenya….getting hungry just thinking about it! I have a blog on traditional British food if you want to stop by. Oh – great photography too, by the way 😉
I was not sure whether or not this was going to be a credible story, but when you started your Chicago list with Parthenon I decided I should take notes.
The food of my people is potato, potato, potato. Yours looks pretty good, too.
I was thinking the same thing, potato, tomatoe, squash and beans. What a wide variety of foods you have tasted and tried. My husband and I are going to Chiago this month, what is a great brunch place? Not chinese, too early for me!
Potatoes are great because they’re so wonderfully versatile! Chicago is full of wonderful brunch places. I’ve been to the Bongo Room and Yolk, both very good and very decadent. 🙂 I’ve also heard good things about Orange (New American) and Wishbone (Southern comfort). Have fun in Chicago!
I have a very limited palate compared to you but your eating makes for interesting reading.
I’ll try most things at least once but sometimes I need my food to be a bit disguised if it’s really out there!
I don’t like dim-sums that much but I love taro cakes!!! And I am jealous that you get to eat them because I haven’t had one for months 😛
It’d been awhile for me too and I had forgotten how much I enjoy them. Thanks for stopping by my blog!
These look amazing! Great pix, and great story…
🙂
Thanks so much!
I too travel places and report back on all the food I tasted! Seems like all my trips are based around meals!! Great post and story!
Food is a wonderful way to “experience” a new place. Thanks for stopping by my blog!
I enjoyed your blog immensely. I live in NYC and am headed to Chinatown later for some Dim Sum too. I can’t wait. Great work! ;D
Thanks so much! Hope and trust you thoroughly enjoyed your meal. 🙂
I can’t ever eat siu mai without my ears skipping a beat. It sounds IDENTICAL to the phrase “Shwmae?” which in Welsh means, “How’s it going?” I keep looking for a steaming plate of dim drwg diolch (“Not bad, thanks”) to follow it up.
That’s so funny! Thanks for visiting!
Ah, pot stickers… chinese dumplings. One of the few Chinese dishes I really, really like.
I spent a summer in China years ago, and I tried very hard to try and consume various food items, but alas, I suspect I lost some weight. And I grew up eating things like hogs head cheese and cracklins and squirrel stew with a few squirrel skulls in the pot to be cracked open and the brain eaten by my grandfather and me (we were the only ones who’d do it).
I guess a lot of it came down to the chop sticks. I can eat with chop sticks, but when you’re eating ‘plate of chicken’ and every bit has bits of bone in it… after a while I find it not worth the efffort… and the chicken feet and head in the mix didn’t do anything to make it more appealling. Or being served broiled fish and communally trying to pick pieces off of it with chop sticks. I ate a lot of rice and vegetables on that trip…. and ate muslim uyghur food with great relish when it was available (I was in western China).
But the dumplings…. those I liked. Heh, and your description of the Chinese auntie… I recall coming across a few of those types while I was there. Ha!
What fun food experiences you have had as well! Ah chop sticks. Some people have mastered those things in a way that I will never be able to achieve. I just use my God-given fingers. Haha! Thanks for reading my post!
Love the pics and how you decribe the food. I went to a very similar restuarnat here in Minneapolis (Tom Pham’s wondrous azian kitchen – yes, azian splet with a z). Loved the food and the experience. The pork buns and dim-sums were to die for! Enjoyable read 🙂
Love the pics and how you decribe the food. I went to a very similar restaurant here in Minneapolis (Tom Pham’s wondrous azian kitchen – yes, azian splet with a z). Loved the food and the experience. The pork buns and dim-sums were to die for! Enjoyable read 🙂
Thanks so much! I appreciate it!
I do my Yelp research every time I plan a trip as well!
Dim sum is such a weakness for me. Being that it is the breakfast hour and I’m at least 45 minutes from passable dim sum and hours away from the Bay Area, I should have known not to read your post.
Congrats on being freshly pressed!
Yelp is amazing – love it! Dim sum really just never gets old. People who haven’t tried it are missing out. Thanks for the congrats and thanks for reading!
wow…looks enticing…really lovely post..i didn’t know that chinese food looked so good…Hope it tastes that good as well :)…Awesome work!!!!
Thank you!!
Oh dumplings…I love dumplings! I lived in Taiwan for about 8 months and would eat them often. Your photography is beautiful!
Amanda
http://bullfrogsandbulldogs.wordpress.com/
Thanks so much! Dumplings are *the* food of my childhood. So many fond memories of making them with family as a child. Thanks for the kind words!
I’m now starving and I just ate lunch!! Just beautiful. Now I want to go to Chicago again!!
Thanks! Food pics do that to me too. Chicago is incredible!
Lovely – your words invoke memories and sensations. Very powerful.
Thank you so much, I really appreciate it!
VERY INTERESTING. I love Chinese food except those creepy ones. My people’s food is also full of variety( EVER TASTED INDIAN CUISINE?) . Mouth watering pictures.
Yeah, I can understand why chicken feet and cow intestine may not be the most appealing to some, haha! I LOVE Indian food. Found a fantastic cookbook a couple years ago and felt like I won the lottery. The flavors are so complex and wonderful!
I like the way you describe a place ~ through its food. Indeed it’s one good way to explore a country’s culture. I tasted cow’s intestines too, but I might pass with the brains, it’s too much for me too… Nice post!
Thanks so much! I agree food is a huge part of a culture. I think I would eat the brain if it was prepared in a way that disguised what it actually was. But what I was offered was way too blatant. Thanks for visiting my blog!
“Sit me in an old B-rated Chinatown restaurant anyday, so long as I see the aunties with their carts and the wrinkles of pride on their faces, I know what they have to offer must be authentic.”
I feel the same way. My husband and I discovered, months back, this hole-in-the-wall mexican restaraunt. Both of us were curious to see how it (not part of a chain) compared with local competitive restaraunts (Habaneros, Dos Pesos, Iguana Grill, and random, thriving others). It far exceeded both of our expectations in it’s authenticity, high-quality entrees AND pricing. We go on a twice-monthly basis, and our servers are always friendly, helpful and remember our regular order before we’re able to give it. Also – their unique, home-made pablano pepper sauce is fabulous.
Aun Aqui
The hole in the walls are my favorite by far!
these look AMAZING- i love dim sum!
Thanks so much! I’m craving more dim sum now after hearing everyone else rave about it too!
Oh wow. My stomach is hurting so bad at work after seeing your delicious photos. I haven’t been to Honolulu’s China town in a while… Dim Sum!!!
Thanks so much for visiting my blog! Dim sum is the best. 🙂
Looks and sounds delicious! Traveling is definitely all about the food! 😉
Yes it is! Thanks so much for stopping by!
I am the same way when I travel! Food always comes first. I agree that the best restaurants are always the B-rated hole-in-the-wall places.
So incredibly blessed to work right beside the Chinatown in my city, and be able to have dim sum whenever I please…which will most likely be today after looking at all your delightful photos. Thank you so much 🙂
Working right next to Chinatown would be the end of me! Haha! Thanks so much for visiting!
Love this post! I was given a book of hand written family recipes for a wedding gift. Being able to cook the food of my people from their exact recipes makes for great memories!
What a lovely, wonderfully personal gift! Thanks for visiting!
Oh my…. is that dan tat I see in the background of one of your photos?
Oh, hmmm, I don’t know! I might’ve missed out!
Oh my goodness, I love this post! I’m half-Chinese and grew up going to random restaurants with relatives. I’m exactly like this, but all my non-Asian friends think I’m crazy! I’m so glad i’m not alone. “Sit me in an old B-rated Chinatown restaurant anyday, so long as I see the aunties with their carts and the wrinkles of pride on their faces, I know what they have to offer must be authentic.” Haha you’re brilliant, thanks for the awesome post!
Thanks so much! Seriously, those B-rated restaurants with the aunties-with-an-attitude serve the best food! 🙂
This is an excellent post! So full of both great memories and tasty food descriptions. Well done; totally worthy of being Freshly Pressed!
Thank you so much! I really appreciate it!
I love a bit of yum cha! And the pics are pretty damned yummy too…
Thanks for stopping by!
I need to be honest I barely read your post but it’s because the quality of your pictures for the dim sum you typed about in Chicago’s Chinatown are making my stomach hurt! They look so mouth watering I’m contemplating booking a flight. So delicious…..
Glad you enjoyed the photos! Sometimes that’s all you need. 🙂 I think it just might be worth the flight out there!
You made me hungry! That looks so delicious! I love those bossy aunties too, they really are a seal of quality 🙂
Yes they are! Thanks so much for stopping by!
We do the same thing when traveling-plan it all around the restaurants, advice of locals, and Yelp. It’s the most sensible way, really, because no matter where you go, you’re going to eat, and a lousy meal can ruin the day!
So true. You have these limited chances to experience fantastic food when you travel and you really do want to make the most of them!
Great photos and the food looks so good. Enjoying your blog!
Thank you so much!
great shots! and now i’m starving. i don’t know if i should thank you or not…i’m likely to hit up the snack cabinet shortly and indulge in something i might otherwise have left alone 🙂
Haha! Thanks, and …I’m sorry? 🙂
Great pictures! The food looks amazing!
Thanks! The food tasted as amazing as it looks! I’m hungry for more. 🙂
I love dumplings. We learned how to make these in culinary school. Now a chef
I have a new passion for these delicous delights!
Thanks for this! Dumplings are the ultimate comfort food.
You make me hungry for home! I miss Arcadia and San Gabriel Saturday dim sums.
That area is the absolute jackpot for dim sum and Chinese food in general. So good!
ahhh the tripe, cannot forget the tripe XD I never ate it, personally it does not appeal to me. My dad loves it and swears by it. The shrimp dumplings however, I’ll have those by the handful.
I miss the days when dim sum was served in those little carts and the ladies would go around table to table offering what they have. Now it’s just pick from the list, serve, eat, go.
I agree, the carts really shape the experience and it’s just not complete without them!
My dad remembers a time when his Chinese roomate found an awesome Chinese restaraunt in a town neither of them were familiar with. When asked how he knew the food would be good, my dad’s roomate just said, “Look around you”. Sure enough, my dad and his brother were the only 2 non-asians there!
I’ll have to try this place sometime.
The crowd is definitely a good indicator of the restaurant. So funny! The place we went to was Phoenix Restaurant in Chicago’s Chinatown. Highly recommended!
Awesome pictures! I love dim sum and try to always find a reason to take a trip down from school to NYC Chinatown so I can get some. =D My favorites would definitely be ha gau and wu tau gau! Even if I don’t have time to go down to the city I would make some dumplings when I am feeling a little homesick. Check out my post about them!
-Herbert
http://soysauceandsteel.wordpress.com/
Thanks so much for stopping by! Dim sum just makes me ridiculously happy. I will definitely check out your post when I get home – thanks!
Your welcome! Dim sum is just one of those comfort meals that I will always seem to have a empty stomach for no matter what time of day!
YUM! I love dim sum!! I love those carts, really makes the experience feel complete! Thanks for sharing 🙂
Thanks for your kind words! The carts make me wonderfully happy. 🙂
Amazing pictures, I can really get a feel for the food. What is the name of the restaurant?
Thanks Alicia! The restaurant was named Phoenix. Soo good!
Food photography is usually quite dull unless it’s done by a pro… these shots are great. Great post and congrats on the fp!
Thank you so much!!
I love dim-sum, and your post made me hungry! Good pics.
Thank you!
Funny you should post this – I just went for dimsum today at lunch with a bunch of friends! My favorite is har gow and the crab claws… oh, and the snow pea shoots with garlic! Yummo!!!
My stomach is growling!
Beautiful pictures.
Thank you Tamim!
yup, i love dim sum, my favorite are shrimp dumpling and sea-food siu-mai, every time i went to Guangzhou, I must have some in the morning, never missed. albeit i like sleeping more in the morning, i think it’s really worth it. you know what, the most excited part was you could pick what you like by yourself, when the waiter was pushing the cart by. 😀
The anticipation of what is coming on the next cart is a big part of the experience. 🙂
Yup, i agree.
I love dim sum, you made me really hungry now!!! 😉
Oh my goodness Yummy! The char siew pao’s always my favorite item to order when I have dim sum, and i always get weird looks from the family because they are so filling I wont’ be able to have anything else on the menu. My joy comes from the moment the waiter arrives with the dim sum baskets, though I know what I’ve ordered, the identical baskets adds a wee bit of suspense and gives me a nice surprise when the cover is lifted and presented on the table. Ohh God am i hungry now!
Maybe someone should create mini char siew pao’s for those of us who love them but don’t want to completely fill up on them, haha!
OH man now i’m hungry lol! char siew pao and Siu Mai are my favourite, but it’s the ha kau that i can’t get enough of! rarely do i find a place that makes GOOD ha kau here in Vancouver, BC cause they are either too thick on the wrap or too little shrimp. Now, if the dim sum places here could make some more pork intestine delicacies i’d be happy 🙂
Looks like some dim sum chefs need to make their way up to Vancouver!
This post made me hungry. I actually love Chinese food. And I agree with you, food is already an attraction to every new place we visit.
Congratulations fo making it in the freshly pressed. Savor the moment!
Thank you! FP was a pleasant surprise and it’s fun to read peoples’ responses. Thanks for visiting!
The food looks great!
It tasted even better! 🙂
looks really great, love the dimsum
Oh~Chinese foods!
I’ve seen a pot sticker place around Lexington Ave in NYC. Heard they serve some fine dumplings and momos…your post just reiterated that for me 🙂
I’ll have to remember this next time I head out that way!
siu-mai looks really awesome! and I am a fan of 100-year-old egg porridge! definitely not “garbage-like”… it’s delicious! asian cuisine ftw!
oh my gosh, your photos make them look so delicious that I almost dont care if they are cow intestines or chickens feet! 🙂 All of it looks so delicious. Too bad there is no food like this AT ALL in chile…
Thank you! Mmmm..gives you something to look forward to the next time you travel outside of Chile!
You are making me hungry!! Love the dimsum pics!!! ;p
nom nom nom!
o my goodness! my mouth is just watering! foodies but i m Vegetarian.
Thankfully there are some wonderfully delicious vegetarian cuisines out there to enjoy as well!
really delicious !!!!!!!!!!
Everything looks marvelous – I have very happy dim sum memories of San Francisco!
Mmmm… SF is another fantastic city for exploring restaurants…
That looks so yummy!
Beautiful post and pictures! I also love to blog about food and travel. But I have never tried this kind of food before. I lived in Chicago for grad school; now I know where to visit when I go back. I wonder if I could be brave enough to eat chicken feet…..
Your blog is lovely! Dim sum is definitely worth trying. Chicken feet can understandably be off-putting in its appearance, and for some it’s just really hard to get over. But the flavor really is delicious!
Well, you’ve convinced me. I will be brave and try them next opportunity.
Your photos are divine! Had to stop myself from trying to touch the delicious images. Yum!
Haha, love this! Thank you!
After reading your post, I feel like taking my family and going to either Singapore, Malaysia or Hong Kong. Dim Sum, a little touch of the heart. Great post!
Thanks so much! I’d be in food heaven in any of those countries.
Absolutely! Makes me proud to be Asian and appreciative of Cantonese cuisine.
Congrats on the FP. Was it people hair or cow hair? There’s always the garden hose method. Hee hee.
Thank you! It looked like people hair. The personal touch from the chef. 🙂
Eww!
I came across your blog by accident, but love your photos and your words.
Thank you so much! This is very encouraging; thank you.
Wawh.,.what a great food., I fell like about to eat it..,nice picture.,
People need more of healthy food. Thoese who move in this direction doing great job.
Dim sum can feel deceptively light. And since you are ordering these small little platters of food, it’s easy to lose track of how much you’ve actually eaten. But I agree that healthy eating is important, and dim sum is probably healthier than caramel ice cream pancakes and things of that nature. 🙂
It all looks delicious!
That looks so delicious, and great pictures.
It was! And thank you. 🙂
I’ve never had proper dim sum and I consider myself a foodie. Your photos and words have painted such a vivid picture I can almost taste them and I want to experience it for myself. What am I going to do? Spain is not the best place for Chinese food, in fact it’s awful!! Glad to have found you, congrats on being Freshly Pressed!
Thank you so much! Oh you absolutely must try dim sum the next time you travel somewhere where you can find it. Spain has some wonderful cuisines as well; I was out there last summer and thoroughly enjoyed the food there.
I just love momos….
I love dimsum! Your pictures made me crave for some!
Thanks for sharing.
Cheers,
Louise
I second that! Gorgeous and tasty! 🙂
Enjoyed your post. Well done!
Thank you for reading, and thanks for your kind words!
Yumyumyum, brings back memories!
Your pictures made me crave dimsum. Good thing that at the restaurants in my neighbourhood there are two menu’s: one for non-chinese and one for chinese people. Tried the cow intestines there, so yummy people! A must eat!
Oh how interesting! What is the difference between the two menus? Do they leave all the more “exotic” foods off of the menu for non-chinese?
We always eat local where ever we go and can usually find delicious healthy food of all sorts.
Local is definitely the best way to go!
Dim Sum – my favourite!
I once had baked scorpion on a bun and fried ants at a Raffles Hotel restaurant in Singapore. I agree, food is at the heart of Chinese culture. One of my favourite memories has to do with food.
Adventurous eating makes life so fun!
mmm, these look amazing – great post!
Thank you very much!
I love dim sum!!! And now I’m hungry. 😀
mmm…dim sum. it wouldn’t be dim sum without chicken feet and intestine.
Know exactly how you feel! I’m a Cantonese person living with my English husband in the UK. Trips to Chinatown for dim sum help to keep me grounded and is an important and regular ritual. In fact, I’m having dim sum tomorrow and your post has helped heighten the anticipation! Thanks and congrats on making freshly pressed!
Thank you! It’s really wonderful to have our familiar ethnic foods nearby. I always realize how much I take it for granted when I talk to friends who live nowhere near authentic Chinese cuisine and have limited ingredients to choose from in their grocery stores.
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I LOVE DIM SUM. That is all. Hehe. I think I even have a post of when I went out to dim sum with my parents.
Us Asians got it good!!
This blog entry captures all the reasons why I love dim sum so much! I love the photos. It’s hard for me to take photos of dim sum because everything gets eaten so fast!
Haha, that is true! I was under a lot of pressure from the family to finish up the pics. 🙂
OMG! Food! I so love Chinese Food. You should come visit the Philippines. We have scrumptious Chinese stuff that you’ll definitely love 🙂
I’ve never been to the Philippines and would love to go there for the food!!
That’s nice 🙂
I was drawn to your blog because of the photo of the dimsum trolley. My trip to London is never complete without a visit to New World in Chinatown because they serve dimsum off trolleys. There’s a Chinese supermarket near my place of work and I try to bring frozen dimsum home to steam when I crave it. But there’s something infinitely more enjoyable about waiting for the server to lift that steamer basket lid so you can find out what you can choose from! 🙂
It really is an entire experience! It’s true that it just wouldn’t be the same if they just brought stuff out to you on plates like in ‘normal’ restaurants.
I can totally relate to all of this.. check this blog out on the Filipino side of my family.. it goes without saying, its always good to get something from home..http://foodcrossroads.wordpress.com/2011/08/18/the-other-side-just-as-interesting/
Wow! Amazing photos! I’m Japanese so I love Chinese food, right after Japanese food of course. Food from your native land is always the best. Thank you for sharing your love for the food of your people. Please check out my blog on a cross country trip… trailertravelinawheelchair.wordpress.com.
Thanks for visiting my sight! Food really does connect us to our culture. Your site is wonderful – what a fun trip you are having!
This might seem like a simple question…but how exactly do you make dumplings? They look absolutely amazing and I love eating them!! (By the way, your pictures are beautiful). But how do you make them at home? Do you know?
Another visitor to my site is in culinary school and he posted a great post with a recipe and explanation for how to make dumplings and the sauce. Enjoy! http://soysauceandsteel.wordpress.com/tag/dumpling/
Awesome! I’ve always wanted to try dim sum.
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Lovely post and beautiful pics! Makes me miss Chinatown dim sum in the states. ^.^~