Many dim sum chefs in Chinatown are in their 50s and 60s. It’s rare to see a young apprentice in the kitchen nowadays, says Eric Lee, the operations manager of Dim Sum Go Go on East Broadway.
Mastering dim sum can take a decade of training and practice, and apprentices have to work their way through each kitchen station: making rice rolls, steaming, frying, creating the fillings, wrapping dumplings, and mixing the dough. This lengthy process makes it a challenge to find new chefs.
thanks, like @TheLibrarian28 I also enjoyed this (“Al Roker Explores America’s Changing Chinatowns”).
two things from it: the longest running family-owned Chinese restaurant in the US (Pekin Noodle Parlor) is in Butte, Montana! and a young chef in New York (Lucas Sin) who’s signature dish is mapo mac & cheese!
The BDSM Chicken (center), for which a bird is deboned and deep-fried whole, is an obvious centerpiece for any meal at Wenwen, but the constraints of the restaurant’s kitchen mean that only five are available each day; they’re usually sold out by 5:05 P.M.Photographs by Mary Kang for The New Yorker
