What's your favourite dim sum?

[KungFuPanda]

I'm lucky enough to live in Manchester which has a decent Chinatown. Most restaurants have a comprehensive dim sum menu at lunch time. The better and larger places have dim sum carts being pushed around on the busy days where you can have a peak at what's in the baskets and decide whether to have the dishes or not.

Being oriental, whenever we go out for a Chinese, I'm left to order for the whole group. I'm lucky in that both my girlfriend and friends are all quite adventurous eaters and eat whatever I order. The basic dim sum staples which I order are:

Har Gau - king prawns in a steamed rice pastry
Siu Mai - steamed prawn and pork dumplings in a wonton pastry
Char Siu Bao - fluffy spongey dumplings with roast pork in
Chickens Feet - steamed in black bean sauce
Baby Squid - steamed in black bean sauce
Cheung Fun - Steamed cannelloni style rice rolls with meat or prawns inside with sweet soy sauce
Salt and pepper crispy squid

Usually coupled with a big plate of white rice topped with three types of roast meat (roast duck, crispy roast belly pork and char siu pork)

Price wise, you're looking at around £3 a dish for the dim sum and around £7/£8 for the rice dish.

So, what do you guys order or alternatively if you never have tried, what's stopping you?

[KungFuPanda]

If you're going to Chinatown in the city centre, I'd recommend Pearl City. Up some stairs next to the casino. Ask for the Chinese menu too. It's a lot more comprehensive but written in English as well.

Other than that, Glamorous above Wing Yip is also good but that's on Oldham Road on the outskirts of town.

[KungFuPanda]

Glad to see I've got some of you drooling for a bit of dim sum. I usually go at least once every fortnight having the luxury of living in Manchester City Centre but I've not been for a while hence the post.

I've not eaten any dim sum in London, much preferring to go for a decent steak on the few occasions I'm down there.

Manchester wise, I'd say the best of the mainstream places are Pearl City and Kwok Man. Both open until the early hours, both are frequented by the oriental community and both feature drab interiors and surly staff. Unfortunately the latter is the norm for Chinese places up here. I'd say the siu mai are better at Kwok Man. Their Peking ribs are also amazing. Pearl City have had the business acumen to introduce the Chinese menu (which is expansive compared to the regular menu) in English so anybody can order the same stuff. If you need a filler on top of the dim sum, I'd go for one of the dishes which are served atop of a bed of rice whether that be roasted meats or something stir fried.

The Yang Sing is also a big Manchester institution. Back in the 80's when I used to go to Chinatown with the parents, it queues used to stretch down Princess Street. Nowadays, nowhere is that busy anymore. The Yang Sing is still good. Very good. A bit corporate mid week but the food is second to none. I usually save that venue for special occasions rather than a quick dim sum lunch.

Wing's on Lincoln Square is also good. Very nice if a little dated interior. The manager is a bit of a character and can sometimes be a bit scary however the service from his staff is brilliant. Food is good but not on a par with the Yang Sing.

For the PHer who lives out in China, have you been to the Michelin starred dim sum place in HK? I've not even ventured that far but have seen YouTube videos. The food looks amazing.

[KungFuPanda]

I think the Chinese version of gyoza are called wor tip. You can get frozen bags of them at most chinese supermarkets. The secret of cooking them is put them in a frying pan with a little oil, fill the frying pan with water so that it's about a third up the side of the dumplings. Boil fast with a lid on and then when there is a little water left, take the lid off, turn the heat down slowly and the last bit of water will evaporate away leaving the oil which will crisp up the underside of the dumplings. The initial boiling stage steams the inside and makes the outer pastry soft.

Edited by KungFuPanda on Thursday 23 June 22:45

[KungFuPanda]

Pferdestarke said:

I love the culture of Chinese people surrounding food. I often sit alone as the only English guy in one particular restaurant and watch how they order, chat, eat and laugh, enjoying and understanding every morsel without any of the arrogance many of us show towards food and in particular lesser cuts/fat.

Although I'm oriental, I'm Vietnamese so can't grasp the cantonese menu at most places. So I'm still left in a similar position to you and gaze over at wonderment at the plates of stuff the Chinese order. Stuff stir fried over beds of rice, big tureens of broth with meats, fish and veg in and all the seafood dishes. I recently went for lunch with a Chinese mate and we ordered stir fried lobster with ginger and spring onions stir fried and served on a bed of soft thick egg noodles. It was amazing.

[KungFuPanda]

Since starting the thread, I managed to get to Pearl City a couple of weeks ago with my mum and sister. From memory, we had crispy squid, char siu bao, pan fried turnip cake, rib ends in black bean sauce, prawn wontons, king prawn cheung fun, siu mai and her gao I think.

Anyway, later today, I'll be out with some good friends for my birthday meal. We're heading to the Yang Sing. Harry the chef patron gets his cars serviced by one of my friends who is also attending. I think we're going to get looked after. Anyway, I'll try and take some pics but I'm planning:

Char Siu Bao

Scallops in the shell with glass noodles and garlic

Duck and pancakes

Lobster with ginger and spring onion served atop of soft egg noodles

Everyone then picks their own main course

Slightly controlling but then again, it's my birthday.