Dim Sum Cookbooks

[Tepee]

Since we're doing the dim-sum cook-off, I'll compile a list of dim sum books...extracted from the larger chinese cook-books thread. Please add to the list if you know of any good ones. I'm sure I missed some along the way.

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Florence Lin's Complete Book of Chinese Noodles, Dumplings and Breads

Chinese Dim Sum (part of a series published by Wei-Chuan Publishing)

Chinese DimSum Recipes by Madame Tuan-Hsi Shou

Dim Sum and Other Chinese Street Food by Mai Leung

Dim Sum by Ellen Leong Blonder

Yin THE DIM SUM BOOK

Rhoda Yee's "Dim Sum" book

Kenneth Lo's Encyclopaedia of Chinese Cooking

[jackal10]

I have Florence Lin and its wonderful. I wish they would reprint it, as the secondhand price is something awful.

I also have just got the Blonder book, and I'm not so impressed. Very westernised, a bit basic, and drawings not photos.

I have other ones of Kenneth Lo's books, and also not that impressed. OK for a western TV chef I suppose.

Anyone care to comment on the others? If I want to buy just one or two others, which should they be?

Edited April 26, 2005 by jackal10 (log)

[Tepee]

7 top dim sum books recommended by chinesefood.about.com.

1) "Chinese Dim Sum"

By the Wei-Chuan School, 1990. For the cook who has mastered the basics of dim sum and wants to go to the next stage. Just be prepared to do a bit of conversion work with the recipes.

2) "Dim Sum: The Art of Chinese Tea Lunch"

By Ellen Blonder, 2002. Designed for newcomers to dim sum. Provide easy to make recipes for all the dim sum classics, from Potstickers to Shu Mai.

3) "Dim Sum" (The Essential Kitchen Series)

By Vicki Liley, 2000. Basic, easy to follow dim sum recipes, from Crisp-fried gow gee to Shrimp Balls, with lots of cooking tips and photo instructions. An excellent resource for the novice.

4) "Dim Sum: Delicious Asian Finger Food"

By Fiona Smith, 2001. Innovative twists on traditional dim sum dishes, like Bok Choy Rolls with Spicy Chicken – an interesting variation on Lettuce Wraps. Also not to be missed are the Pearl Balls made with black and white glutinous rice.

5) "Asian Wraps: Deliciously Easy Hand-held Bundles"

By Nina Simonds, 2000. Quick and easy recipes that make use of a wide variety of wrappers, from nori (seaweed) to spring roll wrappers, lettuce and pita bread. Includes lots of traditional Chinese dishes, such as Szechuan won tons and steamed dumplings, but there are other Asian snacks as well.

6) "Have Some Dim Sum"

By Evelyn Chau, 1999. Besides easy to make recipes, Evelyn Chau has included the Cantonese names for each dish, making it a useful guide when dining out at a dim sum restaurant.

7) Dim Sum: A Pocket Guide (Kit Shan Li)

Not actually a cookbook, an excellent guide for the novice or inexperienced dim sum diner. The book includes western and Cantonese names, photographs, and descriptions of nearly fifty items commmonly served at a dim sum brunch. An added plus is the book's compact size - perfect to take with you to the dim sum restaurant.

[SuzySushi]

A few more....

Dim Sum - Fast and Festive Chinese Cooking, by Ruth Law (Contemporary Books, 1982)

Asian Appetizers, by Joyce Jue (Harlow & Ratner, 1991) [Not strictly Chinese; includes dishes from other Asian countries as well.]

[Edited for terrible typing!]

Edited April 26, 2005 by SuzySushi (log)

[browniebaker]

7 top dim sum books recommended by chinesefood.about.com.

1) "Chinese Dim Sum"

By the Wei-Chuan School, 1990. For the cook who has mastered the basics of dim sum and wants to go to the next stage. Just be prepared to do a bit of conversion work with the recipes.

I live by that book, and by the other dim sum book published by Wei-Chuan, Chinese Snacks (Revised edition).

[sheetz]

Chinese Dessert, Dim Sum & Snack Cookbook, Winona Chang (1986)

I know Eileen Yin Fei Lo has an out of print dim sum cookbook. Her book The Chinese Kitchen has a fair number of dim sum recipes, too.

[mudbug]

Thanks for the suggestions everyone! Great list!

[jo-mel]

Hong Kong Dim Sum ---A small book I bought somewhere. I'm too lazy to translate the characters of the source, but It was sold at the Ginn Wall Co. in SanFrancisco. It has some of the usual dim sum tidbits, but also has some interesting items ---- steamed then deep/fried meat pies; and a savory pancake with pork/shrimp/leeks/carrots and a batter with shrimp paste.

Chinese Food and Cooking - (Chang/ Kutscher) has a chapter on Dim Sum. 25 pages packed with recipes. A lot of the usual, but also things like Sweet Potato Balls and Lotus Cakes. No pictures. All business.

[Shiewie]

A new one I got recently is

Dim Sum: Traditional Favourites and Innovative Creations, Chan Chen Hei (March 2005).

There's a ginger juice (geong jaap) dan tart recipe in it - anyone wanna experiment with it for the dan tart cook-off?

[Tepee]

There's a ginger juice (geong jaap) dan tart recipe in it - anyone wanna experiment with it for the dan tart cook-off?

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Hey, never thought of adding ginger juice although we do make steamed ginger juice custard for rainy nights. Tks, Shiewie.

[hzrt8w]

In the subject of Dim Sum, I just want to mention this webpage: (Mudbug: are you ready for more drooling pictures?)

http://www.koipalace.com/menu/dimmenu_gallery.html

It's by "Koi Palace" Restaurant in Daly City, California (a bit south of San Francisco). I went to that restaurant once on a Saturday afternoon. Unfrotunately the waiting was way too long (which is an indication of good quality typically). Mostly Asian patrons. I did not have the patience to wait and therefore have not tried their dim sum. I did hear good reviews about them.

This web page presented some pictures of the dim sum they offer. Quite authentic - speaking from a Hong Konger...

[Dejah]

A new one I got recently is

Dim Sum: Traditional Favourites and Innovative Creations, Chan Chen Hei (March 2005).

There's a ginger juice (geong jaap) dan tart recipe in it - anyone wanna experiment with it for the dan tart cook-off?

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Yes! Could you post the recipe? AND your secret recipe for the thousand layers tart shell.

[yakiniku]

Great web page!

Koi Palace is definitely good!

[Shiewie]

Hi Dejah and Tepee

Here's the Keong Zap Dan Tat recipe from Dim Sum - traditional favourites and innovative creations by Chan Chen Hei:

Ingredients

First dough (soei pei)

300g medium-gluten flour (zong-garn fan)

40ml cooking oil

40g sugar

1 egg, beaten

115ml water

Second dough (yao sum)

300g low-gluten flour (dai-garn fan)

60g butter

600g lard

Custard filling

4 eggs

300ml water

Sugar - to taste

Ginger juice - to taste (squeeze juice from freshly grated ginger, discard the pulp)

Method

- Mix first dough ingredients till dough is formed.

- Mix second dough ingredients till dough is formed.

- Roll first dough on floured surface. Make sure that rolled first dough is large enough to wrap second dough. Place second dough on top of first dough (in the middle) and bring the sides of first dough to wrap second dough. Roll combined dough mixture out, fold in the sides and roll out again. Repeat this process several times. Chill the dough for 1 hour.

- Roll the rested dough until it is 2-mm thick. Cut the dough into 6-cm rounds and press into greased tart cases.

- Beat eggs with water, sugar and ginger juice. Strain the egg mixture and pour into prepared tart cases.

- Bake in a pre-heated oven for 8 - 10 minutes at 250C.

- Remove the tarts from the oven when the custard is still moist to touch. Cover the tarts so that the custard will finish cooking with the residual heat - this way the custard will be coked yet soft.

Makes 25 tarts

(Rephrased instructions)

Am looking forward to food porn from Dejah and Tepee

The custard looks kind of dark from the picture in the book - due to the ginger juice perhaps?

Edited July 27, 2005 by Shiewie (log)

[sheetz]

Thanks for the recipe, Shiewie. I'll have to try it.

A couple of comments/questions:

1. Can someone help me convert ml of oil to something I can measure? I don't have anything to measure ml, but I do have a scale that measures in grams. I know 1 ml of water is 1 gram, but I don't know what 1 ml of oil would be in grams.

2. 250C is a VERY high oven temperature. I've heard that dan tarts are best baked low and slow, but I suppose I'm willing to try it this way just to experiment.

Edited July 27, 2005 by sheetz (log)

[SuzySushi]

Thanks for the recipe, Shiewie. I'll have to try it.

A couple of comments/questions:

1. Can someone help me convert ml of oil to something I can measure? I don't have anything to measure ml, but I do have a scale that measures in grams. I know 1 ml of water is 1 gram, but I don't know what 1 ml of oil would be in grams.

2. 250C is a VERY high oven temperature. I've heard that dan tarts are best baked low and slow, but I suppose I'm willing to try it this way just to experiment.

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40ml oil is 2 tablespoons + 2 teaspoons.

115ml water is about 1/2 cup

300ml water is 1-1/4 cups

I can't comment on whether the baking temperature is correct or a typo.

[Dejah]

Thanks for the recipe, Shiewie. I'll have to try it.

A couple of comments/questions:

2. 250C is a VERY high oven temperature. I've heard that dan tarts are best baked low and slow,

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I can't comment on whether the baking temperature is correct or a typo.

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It's a typo. It's supposed to be 250F

That's what the recipes I've tried say. Slow oven so the custard sets properly without bubbling all over the place, leaving little in the shell.

[sheetz]

Looking at the recipe, I think 250C isn't a typo at all. It would have to be that high if you're baking it for only 8-10 min.

[Shiewie]

Err...don't have the book with me at the mo, will go home this evening to check if it's 250F or 250C ... could be a typo as I may have assumed it's centigrade since it's a non-US book. 250F is kinda low though...no?

[hzrt8w]

it's a non-US book. 250F is kinda low though...no?

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I agree. 250C = 420F roughly. Doesn't seem overly high.

[Dejah]

it's a non-US book. 250F is kinda low though...no?

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I agree. 250C = 420F roughly. Doesn't seem overly high.

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Just checked two of my books. The ingredients are similar, but the method of baking is different, along with the temperature.

Wei Chuan = 360F (180C) Bake until the egg at the edges turn yellow. THEN, turn OFF the heat, cover the tarts with a cookie sheet and leave them in the oven until the custard is firm

Pei Mei = 250F for 20 minutes.

I bake my fruit pies at 425F for the first 10 minutes to set the raw fruit cooking, then I turn it down to 350F. I think if you bake the custard tarts at 420F for the entire time required, the custard would boil over and the pastry would burn. However, I am still practising my dan tarts... So, if someone is baking them at 420F, please take pictures.

Edited July 28, 2005 by Dejah (log)

[mudbug]

250C = 420F roughly.  Doesn't seem overly high.

250C = 482F

celsius fahrenheit calculators:

http://www.google.com/search?num=100&hl=en...tor&btnG=Search

[Dejah]

250C = 420F roughly.  Doesn't seem overly high.

250C = 482F

celsius fahrenheit calculators:

http://www.google.com/search?num=100&hl=en...tor&btnG=Search

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Roughly, eh?

I don't think there'd be much pf a tart left at those temps!

[sheetz]

The only thing I ever bake at 482F are pizzas. But as I said before, I wouldn't dismiss this recipe out of hand (although it does seem odd). I've learned it's always good to be able to think outside the box.

[hzrt8w]

250C = 420F roughly.   Doesn't seem overly high.

250C = 482F

Roughly, eh?

I don't think there'd be much pf a tart left at those temps!

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Oops! I subtracted 32F instead of adding! I am sorry.

Well... NASA's rocket engineers made mistakes too with their Mars spaceships... not converting metric/English... mega oops.

Edited July 29, 2005 by hzrt8w (log)