Who remembers the first time they ever heard of dim-sum? I don't remember the exact age but I remember it was around the 4th-5th grade period. My old-friend Chris "Santi" (short for his full last-name which is long and Thai) introduced it to me when I would sleep over at his house for the weekend when we were kids. Chris's father used to love to take him for dim-sum to one of three Chinese restaurants in Memphis that would serve up the special lunch-time meal. Thank God I got to tag along for those trips...
In Memphis, the few Chinese restaurants that do serve dim-sum only serve it on the weekends and they never advertise the fact that it is available there. One of the places (New Nam King) is an all-you-can-eat buffet and on Saturdays if you go in for dim-sum, you will notice how the restaurant is segregated between large, obese individuals and large (in number) Chinese families enjoying their dim-sum. I never noticed the segregation until late high-school when my good friend Noah and I began our weekly dim-sum visits. We would usually meet after I got out of an AM Mass on Sunday and then gorge on all of the yummy dumpling goodness. One summer, Noah took off to China for a month and came back with all sorts of good dim-sum dishes to introduce me to.
I can honestly say that everything I know about dim-sum is from personal experience. I have never really researched or studied it. I think that the term 'dim-sum' translates into something like "short-lunch" or "small-meal"...at least that's what I remember hearing once. For those of you who don't know much about dim-sum, I'll have you know that it is NOT just a set of 6 steamed dumplings that you get as an appetizer at your local Chinese restaurant. It is however a sort of brunch that consists of many, many different types of small plates each with it's own delectable item(s). And yes, many of the items are steamed dumplings, but there is a great variety such as: pork, shrimp, vegetable etc, and they each have a different dough and type of filling. If you have never had dim-sum at a restaurant then there's only one way to get a good description, and that's to go and experience it on your own (and preferably with someone who knows what to order).
When I first moved to New York, of course I was on the prowl for the bomb-diggity dim-sum and I knew there were other places besides the 'Chinatown' in Manhattan that had the dim-sum I was in search of. It so happened that the weekend I moved up to Brooklyn, all of my best friends from around this great nation convened in New York City to have a good ol' fashioned "Stag-Do" for our good ol' friend Webb (whom I hope everyone has the privilege of meeting at some point or another).
Where am I going with this? Well a three-day "Stag-Do" means early trips to bars...which means I run into a Chinese bar-owner in Williamsburg who is covering for the no-show, deadbeat hipster bartender at 11AM. After our first pitcher (which was $2 for a recession special) and after he disclosed his Chinese background I asked him where I could get the best and freshest dim-sum in the city...he said "Go anywhere in Flushing". He also said "Don't go to anywhere in Manhattan because all of their meat is old and not fresh like it is in Flushing."
I had no idea, but Flushing has a large and rocking Chinese community.
The name says it all. It's pretty damn serious.
After we saw this place, I think one of us said "Man, this place has to have dim-sum...let's go check it out." And so it was. It was checked out and we decided "Yes. Let us eat your succulent lunch-time fare."
The Flying Saucer style columns are sweet and you know it.
I know not everyone cares for it, but it's one of my favs: beef tripe. I think it's a "texture thing" for most who don't care for it, but I love it and the flavor is usually really good in my opinion. But hey, I'm not mad at ya' if cow-stomach ain't your jam!
Another dim-sum classic: Char-Siu-Bao; also known as "steamed-bun". It's filled with a delicious barbecue style pork. Nothing like Memphis barbecue, but tasty nonetheless.
This was one of the items introduced to me by Noah after he returned from his trip to China. I don't know the formal name for them, but wherever I go they have always been labeled as "tarot-puffs". They are are basically mashed and fried tarot (purple yams) filled with apork/chicken/shrimp mixture in a garlic/onion/soy sauce. Seriously epic.
I order these every time I go out for dim-sum and I swear I'm the only one at the table that eats em'. They are pork spare-ribs (bone-in) cooked in a blackeyed pea sauce. Chris's dad would order these for us when we were kids, so I've always had a soft-spot for the lil' riblets. They are kind of a pain-in-the-a to eat if you're not into chewing around a bone, but I dig em'!
Lo-mai-gai, or "sticky-rice" was another item introduced to me by Noah upon his return from Asia. I always wanted to know what was inside of these steamed leaves.
Lo and behold the great sticky rice! A ball of rice filled with a pork sausage and chicken mixture and then steamed inside of the lotus-leaf to give it that amazing sweet, sticky texture.
Truly amazing flavor as well.
The seemingly typical egg-roll is filled with a unique beef flavored purée. I liked it.
Seriously. Shrimp dumplings are another one of my favorites, and Jade does them absolutely flawlessly. These dumplings have portions of shrimp that are so large you can clearly define the filling as shrimp when you bite into these perfect balls of goodness. Dip em' in a pepper/soy sauce combo and then tell me what you think goodness is supposed to taste like.
The Shrimp Cheung-Fun roll!!! Another original from the days of Chris "Santi" and family. This long dumpling is a steamed /slimy textured/ flattened rice-dough filled with whole shrimp and then covered in a sweet, plum sauce. Yuuuuuuuh-me.
Now these guys are fairly new to me and were first introduced at my most recent dim-sum outing prior to Jade. On that occasion, I went to another favorite NYC dim-sum spot in Manhattan with my good friend, fellow foodie, and favorite former flame. She swiped a plate of those deep-fried shrimp that were fried so crispy that you could eat-em' whole! And that got me hooked. I will say that Jade did not meet the crispy expectation I developed after my initial meeting with the seasoned and fried crustaceans. Either the shrimp at Jade had too much "armor" to eat through or they just weren't fried enough. This dilemma was remedied by using the tried and true "peel-em-and-eat-em" technique. With that aside, "crispy shrimp" will always have the potential to be an amazing item during any dim-sum outing for this guy!
In Memphis, the few Chinese restaurants that do serve dim-sum only serve it on the weekends and they never advertise the fact that it is available there. One of the places (New Nam King) is an all-you-can-eat buffet and on Saturdays if you go in for dim-sum, you will notice how the restaurant is segregated between large, obese individuals and large (in number) Chinese families enjoying their dim-sum. I never noticed the segregation until late high-school when my good friend Noah and I began our weekly dim-sum visits. We would usually meet after I got out of an AM Mass on Sunday and then gorge on all of the yummy dumpling goodness. One summer, Noah took off to China for a month and came back with all sorts of good dim-sum dishes to introduce me to.
I can honestly say that everything I know about dim-sum is from personal experience. I have never really researched or studied it. I think that the term 'dim-sum' translates into something like "short-lunch" or "small-meal"...at least that's what I remember hearing once. For those of you who don't know much about dim-sum, I'll have you know that it is NOT just a set of 6 steamed dumplings that you get as an appetizer at your local Chinese restaurant. It is however a sort of brunch that consists of many, many different types of small plates each with it's own delectable item(s). And yes, many of the items are steamed dumplings, but there is a great variety such as: pork, shrimp, vegetable etc, and they each have a different dough and type of filling. If you have never had dim-sum at a restaurant then there's only one way to get a good description, and that's to go and experience it on your own (and preferably with someone who knows what to order).
When I first moved to New York, of course I was on the prowl for the bomb-diggity dim-sum and I knew there were other places besides the 'Chinatown' in Manhattan that had the dim-sum I was in search of. It so happened that the weekend I moved up to Brooklyn, all of my best friends from around this great nation convened in New York City to have a good ol' fashioned "Stag-Do" for our good ol' friend Webb (whom I hope everyone has the privilege of meeting at some point or another).
Where am I going with this? Well a three-day "Stag-Do" means early trips to bars...which means I run into a Chinese bar-owner in Williamsburg who is covering for the no-show, deadbeat hipster bartender at 11AM. After our first pitcher (which was $2 for a recession special) and after he disclosed his Chinese background I asked him where I could get the best and freshest dim-sum in the city...he said "Go anywhere in Flushing". He also said "Don't go to anywhere in Manhattan because all of their meat is old and not fresh like it is in Flushing."
I had no idea, but Flushing has a large and rocking Chinese community.When I told Noah (who had also recently moved to New York) about the Flushing potential, we hesitated not and immediately made our initial dim-sum mission to Flushing. We walked around searching for a good amount of time....and the streets started to look the same after a while. But soon enough, the most amazing restaurant would reveal itself to us...
The name says it all. It's pretty damn serious.After we saw this place, I think one of us said "Man, this place has to have dim-sum...let's go check it out." And so it was. It was checked out and we decided "Yes. Let us eat your succulent lunch-time fare."
The Flying Saucer style columns are sweet and you know it.Now I've been to my fair share of dim-sum joints, but this place takes the cake in my opinion. There is hardly ever a wait, the atmosphere is fantastic, the servers are friendly (and funny), and the food is F-R-E-S-H. So good. Don't know how else to describe it. My old-friend and roommate Joe says he's had fresher in San Francisco, and I'll bet that's valid. But for me, Jade is certainly numero uno.
Within 5 minutes of sitting, this is how our table looked. Record timing- period.
They do it fast AND fresh.
First things first: the classic dim-sum dish known as siu-mai (and pronounced 'shoe-my') consists of a juicy-pork ball wrapped in a dumpling dough and is then steamed.
Truly succulent.
Within 5 minutes of sitting, this is how our table looked. Record timing- period.They do it fast AND fresh.
First things first: the classic dim-sum dish known as siu-mai (and pronounced 'shoe-my') consists of a juicy-pork ball wrapped in a dumpling dough and is then steamed.
Truly succulent.
I know not everyone cares for it, but it's one of my favs: beef tripe. I think it's a "texture thing" for most who don't care for it, but I love it and the flavor is usually really good in my opinion. But hey, I'm not mad at ya' if cow-stomach ain't your jam!
Another dim-sum classic: Char-Siu-Bao; also known as "steamed-bun". It's filled with a delicious barbecue style pork. Nothing like Memphis barbecue, but tasty nonetheless.
This was one of the items introduced to me by Noah after he returned from his trip to China. I don't know the formal name for them, but wherever I go they have always been labeled as "tarot-puffs". They are are basically mashed and fried tarot (purple yams) filled with apork/chicken/shrimp mixture in a garlic/onion/soy sauce. Seriously epic.
I order these every time I go out for dim-sum and I swear I'm the only one at the table that eats em'. They are pork spare-ribs (bone-in) cooked in a blackeyed pea sauce. Chris's dad would order these for us when we were kids, so I've always had a soft-spot for the lil' riblets. They are kind of a pain-in-the-a to eat if you're not into chewing around a bone, but I dig em'!
Lo-mai-gai, or "sticky-rice" was another item introduced to me by Noah upon his return from Asia. I always wanted to know what was inside of these steamed leaves.
Lo and behold the great sticky rice! A ball of rice filled with a pork sausage and chicken mixture and then steamed inside of the lotus-leaf to give it that amazing sweet, sticky texture.Truly amazing flavor as well.
The seemingly typical egg-roll is filled with a unique beef flavored purée. I liked it.
Seriously. Shrimp dumplings are another one of my favorites, and Jade does them absolutely flawlessly. These dumplings have portions of shrimp that are so large you can clearly define the filling as shrimp when you bite into these perfect balls of goodness. Dip em' in a pepper/soy sauce combo and then tell me what you think goodness is supposed to taste like.
The Shrimp Cheung-Fun roll!!! Another original from the days of Chris "Santi" and family. This long dumpling is a steamed /slimy textured/ flattened rice-dough filled with whole shrimp and then covered in a sweet, plum sauce. Yuuuuuuuh-me.
Now these guys are fairly new to me and were first introduced at my most recent dim-sum outing prior to Jade. On that occasion, I went to another favorite NYC dim-sum spot in Manhattan with my good friend, fellow foodie, and favorite former flame. She swiped a plate of those deep-fried shrimp that were fried so crispy that you could eat-em' whole! And that got me hooked. I will say that Jade did not meet the crispy expectation I developed after my initial meeting with the seasoned and fried crustaceans. Either the shrimp at Jade had too much "armor" to eat through or they just weren't fried enough. This dilemma was remedied by using the tried and true "peel-em-and-eat-em" technique. With that aside, "crispy shrimp" will always have the potential to be an amazing item during any dim-sum outing for this guy!For me, it is after an epic dim-sum experience with good company (from oldies to newbies) that I really get that warm and fuzzy "feel-good" feeling....and then I just want to curl up in my down bed and sleep for hours, which usually ends up happening.
So if you're in NYC, hit up Jade Asian Restaurant in Flushing Queens. You won't regret it.
- Boatner
So if you're in NYC, hit up Jade Asian Restaurant in Flushing Queens. You won't regret it.
- Boatner
hey john-boy! this is looking good. you know that the trip that you and scott took to queens makes me envious. promise that you'll take me the next time we visit.
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