Nowadays, the restaurant culture is developing towards the direction of the fast-food model. A lot of restaurants have stepped into factory production. They simply process or reheat the semi-finished or finished products that have been shipped to the restaurants. What’s more, little people really care about what is the authentic dim sum.
Drinking morning tea, what is called “Yum Cha” or “Yum Chow Cha” in Cantonese, has an unutterable position in the heart of Cantonese people. The atmosphere matters in drinking morning tea, which is all about exquisite, known as “One bowl with two pieces”. A cup of tea smells the fine aroma of tea; two dishes of Dim Sums tastes all the ingenuity. During a cup of tea, people talked all about days of wine and roses, social events, and even national situations. Eating, it seems like just serving as incidental.
The late 80s and early 90s, the society has developed at a rapid speed. The opportunities to get rich has been seen everywhere. However, a large number of the population is still in poverty, not mention the “i” series products. The after-school activities for most kids were chasing neighbor’s kids, patted “paper doll”. Life was simple and beautiful. I also grew up with the group at that simple time. Although we were poor, we had enough food, wear warm clothes. But talking about food, we have never eaten anything good. Occasionally going to the restaurant and drinking the morning tea were fun events for a family already.
Speaking of morning tea, you cannot stay away from Dim Sums. Traditional Dim Sums in the old time has already disappeared with the economic effects. When you drink morning tea now, there has appeared many unusual dishes on the menu for Dim Sums. I am afraid that additional to shrimp dumplings, shumai, there is few that you can understand what they really are. Even though I like to try and accept new things, I am still the stubborn supporter for shumai and beef ball. If they are not good, I will delete the name of the restaurant from my brain. (by the way, the Dim Sums stores recommended by 2016 Open Rice are all focused on making traditional Dim Sums. The majority of them are good stores with reasonable prices.
Dim Sums are all originated from Guangdong, but shumai is originated from the North and then spread to South. I was made to believe this after several investigations. Shumai all uses flour for skin, meats as fillings, and flower-like cap. To make it dedicated, top-graded, you can add crab meat into the fillings, which makes it even more delicious.
But today, people all makes it more luxury to use seafood with shrimp on top that can be seen everywhere. However, I still like the pure tasty flavor of the meat. The fat and lean meat have to be well-distributed. When you eat them, the meat should fell smooth and soft with rich meat soup, accompanied by mushroom, mixed with shrimp. There is nothing you can be caviled about. Not fancy or preciosity, the Lingnan-style shamai is simply presented.
Going to restaurant used to be a serious matter, which is also an elegant thing. Literati talks about world affairs while drinking tea. Nowadays, the restaurant culture is developing towards the direction of the fast-food model. A lot of restaurants have stepped into factory production. They simply process or reheat the semi-finished or finished products that have been shipped to the restaurants. What’s more, little people really care about what is the authentic dim sum.
The spirit of Dim Sums is about making them with delicacy and effort. Otherwise, making them inferior in quality, it is insulting to the spirit of Dim Sums.