Dim sum specialist comes to Harrogate
Chopsticks at the ready! Chinese New Year is on February 8th, so how better to spend it than eating dim sum? This Cantonese cuisine is prepared as small bite-sized portions of food usually served in small steamer baskets or on small plates. The choice of dishes seems endless, prepared steamed, fried or baked, savoury or sweet and served with tea. Choose from dumplings, buns, wraps and noodle rolls filled with fresh seafood, meat and vegetables to puffs, tarts and puddings.
Harrogate’s Royal Baths Chinese Restaurant has managed to lure a top Chinese chef from a Michelin Star restaurant in London who specialises in dim sum. Guo Xioug Zhad, 46, has cooked for the royal family of Brunei, Brad Pitt and Chelsea football team among many others at London’s Hakkasan Cantonese Restaurant in Mayfair.
He has joined the Harrogate restaurant to head up its dim sum department and create a tantalising selection of healthy, steamed Chinese-style dumplings. The owner of The Royal Baths Chinese Restaurant, Hak Ng, said they were proud Guo decided to work with them. ‘His culinary skills are exceptional, as you would expect from a chef who has come straight from a Michelin Star restaurant,’ said Hak.
‘At Hakkasan, Guo was in charge of the dim sum department which was very popular with the restaurant’s celebrity clientele because it’s a very healthy option on a Chinese menu - they are steamed and contain no oils or fat. Dim sum are made from a rice base and filled with a selection of meat, fish, seafood and vegetables, served with soy and chilli dipping sauce.
‘We hope our diners will give them a try because Guo has created a great selection of different types of dim sum that look great and are delicious and a healthy alternative for lunch or dinner,’ added Hak
Dim sum etiquette
There are some dos and don’t when it comes to dipping into your dim sum
What to do
• Do eat each dim sum dumpling in one go to get the full flavour of the components in your mouth. It is also less messy!
• Do drink tea with dim sum and never order other hot drinks such as coffee as it can overpower the taste of the dim sum. Tea is the most important factor when eating dim sum - try Jasmine or Chrysanthemum tea. It is best to drink the tea with fried or baked dim sum to wash it down and cleanse the digestion system of the oils.
• Do always pour other’s tea before your own as this is tradition in China.
• Do tap your index finger on the table to thank the person pouring the tea. This is a recognised symbol of ‘bowing’ in China.
• Do order a lot of different dishes and share for a variety of flavours. When eating dim sum order rice as a good way to cleanse your palate.
What not to do
• Don’t use your own chopsticks to serve yourself from the communal bowls.
• Don’t save dessert until last. It is acceptable to request a dessert dish in the middle of the meal such as egg custard tarts. Freshen your palate with tea as you mix sweet and savoury dishes.
• Don’t eat dim sum cold, it needs to be eaten hot. It should not be left to cool and it should be eaten within 15 minutes of being served. Start with fried dim sum then steamed as the fried dim sum cools quicker.
