Sad State of Dim Sum in Madison

What happens when 3 Asian friends plus Mike get together for weekend brunch?  The craving for dim sum becomes so overwhelming that we dared to try dim sum in little ol' Madison.

Bad idea!  We should have had logic win over our craving!

We had a choice between China One, which Bing and Jenny said they've tried before and were scarred by the buffet/dim sum experience, and the harmless but nothing special Hong Kong Cafe.

Bing and Jenny never tried Hong Kong Cafe and Mike and I never tried their dim sum so we bravely headed there the weekend after the "Polar Vortex."

Let's start with the positives.  The Saturday-only dim sum at Hong Kong Cafe has a good variety considering the Asian ingredients limitations in Wisconsin.  The service is attentive and friendly. 

Menu of Dim Sum Dishes rather than Carts

Now the one major negative that detroyed our taste buds: Over salting all the dishes!

We started off with the best dishes that we tried: Pork Congee, You Tiao (Fried Savory Doughnuts) and Chinese Veggies topped with Oyster Sauce (they didn't have the traditional Chinese Broccoli)

Pork-Filled Tofu Skin (drenched in an untraditional extremely salty sauce) and Shrimp Dumplings (frozen?)

Shrimp-filled Fried Eggplants (drenched in an untraditional and extremely salty sauce again) and Singapore Noodles (a better dish than some of the other ones we tried)

Shu Mai (better than some that we tried)

Daikon Radish Cakes

Chicken Feet (super salty)

Fried Tofu and Shrimp Balls (super salty)

 

 

It would've been a signficantly better idea to wake up early and drive 2.5 hours to Chicago for great dim sum!

Dim Sum at Shanghai Chinese Restaurant

I've always felt like Chinatown at Mopac offers the best quality and variety of dim sum in Austin.  However, many have recommended Shanghai Chinese Restaurant's dim sum.  I tried it out twice in two months and found it to be pretty good!  Chinatown at Mopac is pricier but the portions are bigger, they offer some dishes that are outside of the dim sum repertoire but are tasty nonetheless, and there's notably more attention to details.  Shanghai Chinese Restaurant has a good amount of variety, the dishes aren't drenched in nasty corn starch, and the quality of ingredients is high.

Here are some of the things from the first visit:

Shu Mai, Fried Tofu Stuffed with Shrimp, Char Siu Bao, Mushroom and Pork Wrapped in Bean Curd Skins

Lo Bak Gao (Turnip Cake)

A Cart of Fried and Pan-fried Dishes

Jalapenos Stuffed with Shrimp 

Ma La Gao (Steamed Sponge Cake)

Green Tea Fried Sesame Balls with Black Sesame Paste

Photos from the 2nd visit:

Shu Mai, Curry Squid, Mushroom and Pork Wrapped in Bean Curd Skins, Ha Gao, and Chicken Feet

Char Siu Pastry

Beef Tripe

Steamed Pork Ribs with Black Bean Sauce

Gai Lan (Chinese Broccoli with Oyster Sauce)

Shanghainese Soup Dumplings (very bad version) and Fried Tofu Stuffed with Shrimp, 

Ma La Gao

Fried Sesame Balls with Red Bean Paste

Cantonese Food in Beijing

I came back from conducting field research in China earlier this month.  Because of the sub-zero temperatures and being sick with respiratory infection, I spent my leisure time eating instead of sightseeing.  My wonderful hostess in Beijing is originally from Guangzhou.  She often reminisces about the amazing Cantonese food in her hometown, and the recent Cantonese food craze in Beijing has made it convenient for her to get a taste of home.  But frankly, Cantonese restaurants (First Chinese BBQ) in Austin serves dishes that are made with higher quality ingredients and with less grease and heavy-handed seasoning!  You can really taste the difference in the BBQ dishes like cha siu, roasted pork belly, and soy chicken. 

Cha Siu, Roasted Pork Belly, and Soy Chicken with mustard, sweet & sour sauce, and minced garlic and green onion in oil

Check out the grease in the stir-fried beef and flat broad noodles (which aren't wide enough) and the corn starch in the stir-fried asparagus!

Stir-fried Beef with Flat Broad Noodles

Stir-fried Asparagus

However, there are some positives about Cantonese restaurants in Beijing.  You can order dishes with ingredients, such as bamboo fungus, that are hard to come by at Cantonese restaurants in the U.S.

Spinach with garlic, Goji berries, and bamboo fungus

I was very happy to have tried this preparation of si gua (luffa).  This was so addictive and seems easy enough to make at home.

Steamed Si Gua with minced garlic and dried shrimp

We also tried out a dim sum restaurant in a residential neighborhood one lazy weekend, which turned out pretty good.  The turnip cakes were particularly exceptional because they used more daikon than rice powder, making the cakes more translucent than the ones in the U.S.  I was super happy to see that they also served a spicy XO sauce version!

Turnip Cakes

Spicy XO Sauce Turnip Cakes

Beef Chang Fen

Custard Tarts

Coconut Buns with a custardy coconut milk filling

Unfortunately, this restaurant managed to screw up 3 dim sum standards: shu mai, steamed pork ribs with black beans, and har gau.  You really shouldn't open a dim sum restaurant if your chefs can't make decent versions of these standards.  C'mon Beijing!

Blech! Sickly-looking Shu Mai

Instead of Pork Ribs, we got chunks of pale fat

Unimpressive Har Gau

Dallas: JS Chen's BBQ

Dallas has a much bigger Asian population, which means more and better Chinese food venues!  My brother took us to JS Chen's BBQ for a dim sum brunch in the late summer.  They do not offer a wide selection of dim sum dishes, but the few dishes they offer are quite tasty.  In addition to dim sum dishes, we also ordered stir-fried water spinach and Chaozhou-style duck (Spiced Soy Sauce Duck).

Stir-fried Water Spinach

Chaozhou-style duck (Spiced Soy Sauce Duck)

Pan-fried Taro Cake

Turnip Cake

Steamed Shrimp Dumplings (Ha Gao)

Stuffed Bean Curd Skin

Steamed Sweet Sponge Cake (Ma La Gao)

BBQ Pork Pastry

JS Chen's BBQ serves standard pan-Chinese dishes that will not knock your socks off, but the food will sufficiently satisfy any hankering for Chinese food in Texas.

Get Sum Dim Sum

Get Sum Dim Sum looks suspiciously like a Panda Express, but I knew that I loved their siu mai before my first visit because my brother brought some back home for me to sample a month ago.  Not knowing what to eat before catching Fiddler on the Roof at the Bass Concert Hall, I decided that it was the perfect time to...."Get Sum Dim Sum!"  Har har har.

And you know what?  As lame as the name is and as much as it looks like an Americanized Chinese fast food joint, Get Sum Dim Sum sure offers some delicious dim sum!  However, I hear that the prices are better at Fortune Restaurant and there's definitely more variety at either Fortune or Chinatown on Mopac.  But if you need a quick and delicious meal close to campus, there's no reason to pass on this place.

You must order the pork siu mai.  The ingredients are the freshest I've had at any dim sum restaurant, and they're huge!  As for the other dishes I tried, they were all excellent.  I really don't think you can go wrong with any of the dishes on the menu.

Pork Siu Mai

Steamed Spinach Dumplings

Law Bok Go-pan-fried turnip cake with Chinese sausage

Eggplant Stuffed with Shrimp

Salt and Pepper Tofu

Chinese Brocolli

Cha Siu Puff Pastry-filled with Chinese BBQ pork

Gai Mei Bao-baked bun with coconut

Egg Custard Tarts