When a formal meal is too heavy, but snack food not enough, noshing on dim sums are the perfect way to hit the spot. Just think of the crunchy shell of an egg custard tart, the fresh and juicy shrimp in a steamed dumpling, or the slippery, fragrant sensation of steamed pork ribs. With dim sums, you can have it all, but less -- with each delicious filling wrapped up in bite-size portions, and served with tea.
Huang Ting, a traditionally decorated Cantonese restaurant, is this month offering 40 different types of dims sums, including 18 nostalgic items created from old Hong Kong recipes.
"It took us some time to comb our memory and make up a menu of some traditional dim sums from the old times," said Yuen Yiu-fat, executive chef. "Many of these are what Hongkongers ate when they were kids. Some are no longer available in other restaurants in Beijing."
Yuen named sweetened sesame rolls, bean curd sheet filled with duck and taro, and shrimp and pork Siew Mai with quail egg as some very traditional choices that may make Hongkongers misty-eyed.
Dim sum is at the heart of Cantonese culinary arts. It can vary from steamed dumplings and steamed dishes, to fried or baked items such as the famous egg custard tart. These are similar to sweet delicacies served hot or cold in French restaurants.
Originally a Cantonese custom, dim sum is closely linked to the South Chinese tradition of yum cha, which means to drink tea. Travelers along the famous Silk Road needed a place to rest, as did exhausted farmers. Tea houses were set up along the roads, to provide a place to rest, drink tea, and have a relaxing conversation.
It took centuries for dim sum culture to develop. It was once considered unhealthy to eat dim sums between meals, because it would lead to weight gain. But this concern was alleviated somewhat with knowledge that tea could aid digestion, and teahouses began adding dim sums to their menus.
Morning tea, midday tea, and afternoon tea have become customs in Guangdong and Hong Kong. In Hong Kong, at 6am, restaurants are already open for morning tea. In Guangdong, restaurants offering morning tea are already packed by this time.
At Huang Ting, waitresses will show you a box of tea samples, so you can see the tea before you order. There is also an emphasis on health, which means the chefs do not use MSG, or coloring, instead choosing the freshest possible ingredients.
The decor is very Chinese, and the wooden tables and chairs comfortable to sit in. It is a nice, quiet place to sip tea and savor some of the best dim sums you can get in Beijing.
Delightful dim sums include: crispy walnut and red bean paste dumplings, curry flavored chicken puffs, steamed egg yolk sponge cake, steamed scallop and vegetable dumplings, sweetened black sesame rolls, shrimp and pork Siew Mai with fish roe.
Huang Ting
Location: B2, The Peninsula Beijing, 8 Goldfish Lane, Wangfujing
Opening hours: 11:30am-2:30pm
