Based in Manila, Philippines, Dessert Comes First is a chronicle of the food-obsessed food writer, Lori Baltazar. This website is all about desserts, restaurants, coffee, and the pleasures of homebaking. Read more about me Dim sum bites
Mon, May9th of 2005
2:31 pm
One oft-heard comment about my Restaurant Hot List was that it was heavy on Chinese places. I don’t apologize for it. Chinese is my default cuisine. For some reason, when I want to eat but don’t know what to eat, nine out of ten times I find that something Chinese will satiate my appetite: dimsum and congee for light days, or rice toppings and ho-fan for my man-eater days.
Depending on whom you talk to, dim sum means snack or “heart’s delight.” The Chinese character for dim sum also means “touch the heart.” There are more than 100 varieties of dim sum, and everyone has their favorites. My heart beats for ham soy kok, machang, 
taro puff, siopao, hakaw (shrimp dumpling), and anything encased in a glutinous wrapper and fried. Also can’t get enough of those egg custard tarts.
So I was shocked/stupefied/amused at the latest food report that came my way about dim sum being unhealthy. Apparently, all of Hong Kong is atwitter about a report by the Hong Kong government that claims that eating dimsum is bad for the health. It’s caused such a reaction that it’s now fodder for newspaper headlines and teahouse conversation.
The findings were based on laboratory analyses of 750 dim sum samples. Hong Kong’s Food and Environmental Hygiene Department found high fat and salt and low calcium and fiber in everything from fried dumplings to seaweed. (Duh. I never thought dim sum was a particularly healthy food choice). The report suggested that locals should eat these kinds of dim sum in moderation and choose more dim sum like steamed buns and steamed rice rolls.
To add salt to injury, the government also suggested that regular dim sum diners should order plates of boiled vegetables, (with dimsum??!) to go with their meals, the report said, and should beware of some steamed dim sum for which the ingredients are fried, like bean curd sheets.
Obviously, the report came as a shock to Hong Kong locals because dim sum is part of the culture. It’s like the government issuing a study that we should have boiled vegetables as a side dish to our crispy pata (fried pork hock) and kare-kare (peanut beef stew). Hello?
I must aver however, that people are more mindful of their health now, even in teahouses. In the more upscale Hong Kong restaurants, working women and taitais (homemaker wives of rich businessmen) can sometimes be seen dabbing their dim sum with tissues to soak up some of the grease and leaving the fried exteriors of some of the dumplings on their plate. Some women even dip their dim sum into their tea to remove excess oil before eating it.
I will not go that far, since I believe in everything in moderation. Now excuse me while I run to my nearest dimsum house.
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Lori, what’s that weird shadow in the corner of your pics in today’s blog? Is there something blocking the flash? -K
[Reply]
Comment by Anonymous — May 9, 2005 @ 8:45 pm
If there’s something you have to love about these teahouses, it’s the bottomless FREE house tea (hehehe). Personally, I love shrimp cheung fan (shrimp wrapped in a thin rice wrapper and served up with a sweet soy-based sauce). the HK street version is chi cheung fan (folded and chopped layers of cheung drizzled with sesame seed, a reddish savory sauce). Hmmm…second to that is sio long pao, the teeny siopao that gets served with a light vinegard and julienned ginger sauce. -K
[Reply]
Comment by Anonymous — May 9, 2005 @ 8:52 pm
K-
That weird shadow is what you call the corner of a wooden steam basket. :p
lori
[Reply]
Comment by Lori — May 9, 2005 @ 9:16 pm
K-
Yeh, gotta love that hot house tea. All the better to melt away all that fat! Heheheh.
Lori
[Reply]
Comment by Lori — May 9, 2005 @ 9:17 pm
hakaw is my personal favorite dim sum. That and the spicy chicken feet.
[Reply]
Comment by Eric — May 11, 2005 @ 11:55 am
Hi! (I’m a friend of Eric’s)
I enjoyed reading through your blog. ^_^
One of the best places for Hakaw (IMHO) is DEC along Wilson — they sell a pack of 12 for PhP150 and all you need to do is steam it. ^_^
[Reply]
Comment by Tin (ni Johann) — May 18, 2005 @ 6:22 am
Hi Tin,
Thanks for the hakaw tip. I’ll make sure to pass by soon.
Welcome to dessertfirst!
lori
[Reply]
Comment by Lori — May 18, 2005 @ 9:56 pm
i really enjoy your blogs; beng an avid chinese food devourer, here are some places for your consideration:
- su zhou- mabini, san juan… their siao long pao are ‘palaban’
- gloriamaris’ hotpot- hands down the king of hotpot
- charlie’s wanton- haig street, mandaluyong- good old chinese comfort food
- spring deer- timog avenue- hands down most underrated chinese restaurant. its owner, once you get to know him can whip you ‘out of the menu’ items that are beyond compare, especially seafood items
- emerald garden- roxas blvd. – great ulam and fried rice!
[Reply]
Comment by acid — September 5, 2005 @ 3:03 pm
Hey acid,
I really appreciate the tips. I’ll put them on my list.
[Reply]
Comment by Lori — September 5, 2005 @ 5:23 pm
I have to agree with Acid – Suzhou served the best dumpling and xialongbao on this country! I am not exaggerating because I took some respondents onto it – one dumpling lover who have tasted the claimed best dumpling in Shanghai and one food pickie who is of Cantonese descent (Cantonese people are known food pickie among all ethnic groups in China! => ) and they gave their thumbs up!
I think the best tip with dimsum, hakaw for this ex, is that the skin should not be thick and chewy…it should be as light and translucent as possible (thinking of Shangrila’s dimsum – w/c btw also served the best dimsum in town but of course, a bit steep). The taste should be brought out by the filling.
For authentic and good xialongbao (or sio long pao as one anonymous poster defined), the tip is there should be the soup/sauce that would come out when you took a bite of it. A bit messy but that is how its supposed to be done =) And suzhou does this to the T.
[Reply]
Comment by cathy b — October 27, 2005 @ 12:40 pm
can you pls. teach me how to make shrimp hakaw and salted fish fried rice please
[Reply]
Comment by samantha odriguez — February 10, 2008 @ 8:52 pm