Over the past couple of months I have become quite the food blogger. I or (CT) bring a camera to every restaurant we go to. Since Yvo has been busy with school, I am stepping up and will now have a weekly column, Tuesdays with TT. Bon Appetit!
UPDATE: I am becoming a blogging machine, so I will also be reporting on Thursday afternoons for you.
Believe it or not, I have never been to Dim Sum before. Growing up in the Jersey suburbs, my family was not the most adventurous of eaters. CT made it her priority for us to go ASAP. She prefers going with her good friend Wan who speaks Chinese so she can get us the best food at the best restaurant. Wan is off to graduate school in London soon, so we were running out of time before she left. CT picked one of her favorite places, Jing Fong Dim Sum on Elizabeth Street aka the place with the big escalators. After waiting 15-20 for a table, we proceeded up the escalator. The place is enormous. It can seat a couple hundred people at one time.
After sitting down, the food comes immediately, since it is already prepared and being passed on the traditional dim sum carts. Simply point at what you want and the server will mark your card and present you with the item. Talk about instant gratification. We let Wan go nuts and choose what she felt was the best items.
On the left- steamed pork ribs with taro roots, garlic, and red pepper. Very tasty, somewhat gelatinous from the cartilage.
On the right- seafood and pork shu-mai. Good seafood flavor.
Pork buns. They look like soup dumplings, but alas they were not. These were just ok.
Clear shrimp dumpling – in Chinese it’s sometimes called “crystal dumpling” because of its clear wrap & chewy texture. The wrapper was a fail on this because it became too sticky so the dumpling fell apart when grabbing it with chopsticks. The shrimp inside was tasty though.
Fried shrimp! These were very good. I ate these like potato chips. Heads, shells, and all!
Thin noodles wrapped shrimp. I think Wan said this is her favorite dish. I also liked it a lot. Very delicate.
Yvo’s Note: This is also my favorite dim sum dish – rice noodles wrapped around shrimp with a sweet soy sauce
Roast pork buns. MMMMM. These were probably the best roast buns I have ever had. Very fresh and the meat inside was still pretty hot.
Chicken feet. The one item I knew I wanted to get before arriving. Zimmern and Bourdain eat them all the time, so I really wanted to try them. They were very tasty. Very similar to the buffalo wings you would get at the bar, but a little harder to eat with less meat and more skin.
Savory Dumpling- fried sticky rice paste/dough(?) with pork stuffing. These were good in that they were sweet and savory at the same time.
Yvo’s Note: Fried mochi filled with savory ground pork. Growing up, my brother and I called them footballs for their shape and our inability to pronounce the Chinese name (ham sui gok, or ‘salty water triangle’ I think)
Crispy Duck with Hoison Sauce. I saw this dish and had to have it. It was amazing. The skin was so crispy! Dipped in hoison was the perfect salty/sweet combination.
Shrimp Spring Rolls. Self explanatory and just ok.
Lotus wrapped sticky rice and chicken, ground pork and Chinese sausage. CT says this dish is mandatory. It was very tasty. Lots of different flavors all mushed together.
For the 5 of us, all of this food was $15 including tax and tip. Apparently that is considered expensive for dim sum. I thought it was a great deal. Navigating Chinatown on the weekend can be a little hairy, but well worth it for this. It was a great meal and look forward to returning again. Thanks Wan!
CT says
Yummm…. I can’t wait to go back! The savory dumplings are my fave, but I was glad we tried the chicken feet! Though I’ve been dimsum-ing for most of my life, this was the first time. Thanks TT! And Thanks Wan – we’ll miss you tons!!
Lkp says
This is one of my favorite dim sum joints in town! Also try Golden Unicorn! I’m long overdue for a Jing Fong trip, and I’ll make sure to try the crispy duck. Thanks for the delicious reminder!
CT says
Oooh, I love Golden Unicorn too! That’s usually my top choice, except I can never explain to other how to get there!
Feisty Foodie says
I think I might have to review your posts if you do another one on dim sum, or not let you write about Chinese food… HAHAHAHA
TT says
sorry we aren’t all Chinese! a couple more years till world domination.
Jared says
I went to a wedding at Jing Fong about 2 weeks ago. The wedding banquet food was equally tasty.
MT says
Bravo for eating all the authentic dishes TT!! I am Asian myself and all those are my usual dim sum dishes! I am particularly impressed with the eating of shrimp heads, very chinese of you for a first-time dim sum meal 😉
Nicholas says
I just like the really long escalator… and the fact that, even though it’s a bit pricier than the other dim sum places, speaking Mandarin won’t get me yelled at.
Hungry says
OOoooh, I’d love to bring you guys to dim sum too. And go for the truly weird stuff!
CT says
I’m there!! Just name the time and place!
gar says
Ever thought about starting your own blog TT? 🙂
When I do get dim sum, steamed rice noodle is always my usual. Love that it’s freshly made…slurpy, silky, and smooth…yum…
I personally think Flushing offers better dim sum restaurants though. 🙂
TT says
Thanks, Gar, but I am happy with the way things are now. A lot less pressure and more fun this way!
BlindBakerNYC says
YUMMMM! Crystal shrimp dumplings (aka har cheung) and chicken feet are my faves! And I agree with gar: dim sum in Flushing is better.
Feisty Foodie says
Har cheung isn’t crystal shrimp dumplings… that’s har gow! DING DONG 😛
BlindBakerNYC says
HAHAHAHAHA! I totally spaced when I wrote that! I lurve har cheung AND har gow- there’s no point in going out for dim sum if those two dishes aren’t on the table in front of me. And chicken feet. Must have chicken feet.
T.C. says
All Har Gow and Siu Mai belong to me.
I haven’t done dim sum in Chinatown in ages. Usually just Flushing and infrequent. Oh well.
Richard Poh says
Hey, the thing you ate that was crispy duck isn’t duck lol its baby pig. its considered a delicate dish because of the tenderness of the baby pork and the crispy skin. just figured u shud know lol