To me, YUM CHA (Drink Tea) is going out for Dim Sum. HECK CHA GNOW (Eat Tea Food) is what we Toishanese call it. DIM SUM (Touch the Heart) refers to the actual morsels.
We’re in week #2 of our 3 week trip, now in Jiangmen, our third city. So far, we’ve had full blown YUM CHA, or at least some Dim Sum just about every day.
Rather than log all chronologically, I’ll share our Dim Sum Eats randomly. Many of these restaurants do not have English names, and GOOGLE maps is wonky here. So no restaurant names and addresses, for the most part.
A couple of mornings ago in FOSHAN:
Our Tea Lady cheerfully prepared our Pu-ERH CHA.
In the old Dim Sum Cart Lady days, the pro move was to position by the kitchen door. First pick as the fresh dim sum is carted out. Those days are long gone, replaced by QC Mobile Device ordering, for better or worse.
(Better for me. When it comes down to Dim Sum Combat with some smiling elbow wielding Grandma for the choicest baskets, nolo contendere!!)
Nevertheless, we chose a table by the enormous glassed-in kitchen, and got to scope out all the goodness coming out and got to drool and get some off-menu ideas.
BITTER MELON SALAD an off-menu item. Our tea lady had to ask us what unusual item we were munching on from the bed of shaved ice!
Thin shaved gourd. Healthy mound of uber-fine crispy DEEP FRIED TARO SHREDS, ROASTED PEANUTS and PICKLED SHALLOTS. 1000 ISLAND’ish dressing.
UNUSUAL. DELICIOUS!! The components worked together and made for a refreshing tasty snappy treat.
RED RICE ROLL with SHRIMP and YOUTIAO
When in Guangdong…….
LEEK DUMPLINGS
The ones we just enjoyed in GUANGZHOU had set a high bar. These were just very good.
The OG (Old Gangsta) and Old School never gets OLD:
BEEF CHEONG FUN
LO BAK GOH
BEEF MEATBALLS on FU JOOK
SIU MAI
HA GOW
PHOENIX CLAWS
Well prepared food. Good friendly service, well spaced tables and ambiance conducive to conversation and relaxed dining. Representative of the quality-mid-range Dim Sum Houses we’ve encountered in [China.]
- this may be it: Qingyuan Mingcha
