Friday, January 19, 2007

Frozen dimsum on my mind

Since moving to Hong Kong, I've eaten a lot of frozen dimsum. And I mean a lot. The variety available in even the smallest of grocery stores in HK is fascinating. Frozen dimsum is to Hongkers like canned sardines are to Pinoys. Or instant noodles.

My hands down favorite is Japaneze gyoza by Doll Dimsum. Doll Dimsum also makes great shrimp wonton and hargow (shrimp dumplings). Amoy makes a good sharks fin dumpling.

[Aside: Only in HK did I appreciate the difference between wonton and dumplings. Dumplings are meant to be eaten "dry" while wontons should be served with broth.]

The gyoza needs to be heated in water then fried, which makes it a little harder to prepare than your regular frozen dimsum (which you just nuke for about 3 minutes), but it tastes exactly like it would in a Japanese restaurant. Serve with soy sauce and red vinegar.

But what's really cool about frozen dumplings is that they're cheap. Like crazy PhP2 a siomai cheap. You can literally eat all the siomai you want.

x x x

When I left New York I really missed the crispy fried shrimp at the "Chinese" restaurant near the building where I lived. They were 1 part shrimp popcorn, 1 part cameron rebusado. I still remember the styro foam container it would come in. And the grease stains it would make on the faux wood coffee table.

One day, long after I have left Hong Kong, I will write about lox or spring rolls or peirogi, and I will recall with much fondness, the 47 kinds of frozen dim sum.

No comments: