Thursday, May 21, 2009

Dim Sum Anyone?

Happy Foodie Friday! Thanks for coming by the Lace and Ivy Cottage and please visit our gracious host at Designs by Gollum for more delicious posts.

I confess that I don't have a homemade dish or a recipe to share with you today, but do I want to take you along for a foodie adventure!

Every time our eldest son is home from college, we celebrate as a family by going out for Dim Sum. In case you're not familiar, Dim Sum is a traditional Chinese cuisine which serves small portions of steamed or fried food along with pots of hot Jasmine tea.

This restaurant specializes in seafood, and guess what you're greeted with at the front door? These are eels, and no, I didn't have any, but I have had them at a Japanese restaurant.

This aquarium held live shrimp. You can't get much fresher than that!


And these aquariums had Mr. Crab. Sorry, my kids are Sponge Bob fans.


The dining room is packed with people. Can't you just hear the dishes clinking, the chopsticks clicking, the diners engaging in loud conversation? Lots of energy and perfect for a large family like ours. No one hardly notices us!

Servers roam around with carts filled with a variety of foods in small stainless steel containers. You just tell him how many you want, he places it on your table, and stamps your bill.

This server had a cart of fried shrimp dumplings.

You know I'm a lover of tea, whether it be a Victorian tea with scones with Devonshire cream and lemon curd or a Chinese tea with dim sum, it's all divine!

Here's a close up of some fried shrimp balls.

These are also shrimp balls, but these are steamed.

Now, I don't know what this is called. It is a pork dumpling wrapped in seaweed, and fried like tempura. Trust me, it's delicious.

Jasmine tea cleanses the palate between bites of these tasty morsels.

These are steamed dumplings called siumai, my kids' favorite. I don't know how many of these they ate!

This is a flat rice noodle filled with shrimp and served with sweet soy sauce.

This is another type of noodle, but pan fried right on the serving cart, topped with sesame seeds and served with a sweet oyster sauce.
This is a combination pan fried noodle. The steam fogged up my camera lens!

A simple dish of steamed Chinese broccoli with oyster sauce.


I hope you enjoyed our Dim Sum adventure. Remember, food is a great way to experience different cultures. You can travel the world right at your own dining table!


Till next time,

13 comments:

Martha said...

We love dim sum -- unfortunately we ahve to go far far away to enjoy!

susan said...

We love it and have not had it in a while..putting this on my list of things to do! I don't think I've ever tried the jasmine tea. Now BBQ here is another story...??...really?? :) Loved your great pictures!

Thoughtfully Blended Hearts said...

That is a wonderful post about your favorite restaurant...thanks for including us...thanks
Becky

Susan @ A Southern Daydreamer said...

I am getting hungry! Happy Foodie Friday! Have a great weekend ~ Susan

Mary Bergfeld said...

I did indeed enjoy your dim sum adventure> Have a great holiday weekend.

Patricia @ ButterYum said...

What a great place!!

Kristen said...

Since moving away from the Seattle area 3 years ago, I haven't had any dim sum...I didn't realize how much I missed it until I saw all of your tantalizing pictures. YUM!

Chandy said...

I haven't had Dim Sum in a loooooong time! I'm hungry for some now that you've shared your delish pictures! We buy siomai all the time and other steamables from our local Asian market so I guess we have our own Dim Sum from time to time. LOL

Nothing like at a restaurant though, huh?

Puna said...

I love Chinese food! I'm so hungry!

Allidink said...

Awesome! My step-dad is Chinese I have been eating Dim Sum for the past 10 years LOL. All of my Chinese friends can't believe I know so much about it haha. I have a Dim Sum shirt! It's drawings of popular Dim Sum with little faces haha. Cool post :)

All the best,
Allison

xinex said...

Your post is making me so hungry. I love dimsum cause you can just point and pick. Unfortunately, there isn't anybody serving it where we live. The last time I had it was in Las Vegas when I had a reunion with College clasmmates last Nov....Christine

Bargain Decorating with Laurie said...

Lorna, I've never heard of Dim Sum. (Remember, I live in Arkansas!) What a wonderful dining experience. Thanks for teaching me about it. Now, if I get the opportunity to try it, I'll at least know what I'm doing. laurie

Mid-Atlantic Martha said...

This looks great - I've never had Dim Sum.

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