Each plate is coded by a number and noted by portion size, with prices ranging from $2.85 for a small dish to $6.25 for extra large.
The thing we learned about dim sum is that you can eat “with adventure,’’ and it won’t cost much if you regret a choice. With room for dessert, Pauline ordered light, sweet desserts: dou fu fa (silky tofu served with a sweet jasmine flavored syrup) and daan taat (flaky puff pastry-type dough with an egg custard). They were OK, but seemed to be too much work.ĭespite the quantity of plates, we were filled but not stuffed.
Dim sum boston skin#
They’re mostly marinated skin and bones, with a little meat. Most of my family thought the tripe was like unfried calamari my teen announced, “I don’t like the texture,’’ but added, “it’s not bad.’’Īs for the chicken feet (fung jeow), a true test of a dim sum restaurant’s authenticity, we chalked that up as part of our adventure. “Order us chicken feet and steamed beef tripe,’’ I told Pauline. “Well then, how would someone like me order?’’Īsk your server for suggestions, she told us, “or explore! Say, ‘I want to eat with adventure!’ ’’Īnd so, like any good travelers in a foreign country would, we did. (I did find one, however, when I went back later, with all of the dim sum options listed in English.) With each order, our waitress stamped a bill, like a Bingo card. “It’s young shrimp,’’ she said, “and I like to eat it to get all the spice.’’Įvery dish Pauline selected was a big hit, eaten quickly with chopsticks, forks, and fingers. We also ordered a crisp shrimp that Pauline directed us to eat whole. Within minutes, our table was filled with small plates for us to sample, and “to delight the heart’’ (a loose translation of dim sum), including ham sui gok (stuffed meat dumplings, covered in a pastry made with sweet rice, then deep-fried) har gau (shiny, translucent shrimp dumplings) lo bak goh (cakes made from mashed daikon radish, mixed with bits of dried shrimp and pork sausage, steamed, then cut into slices and pan-fried) char siu bao (steamed buns stuffed with barbecued pork) char siu sou (pastry stuffed with barbecued pork) and cheung fan (wide rice noodles, steamed, then rolled, plain or filled with different types of meat or vegetables). As pushcarts layered with plates and bamboo steamer baskets showcasing a multitude of choices circled the crowded room, Pauline and the waitresses spoke quickly to each other - pointing to the cart, to our table, back to the cart - while an enchanting atmosphere of clamor and commotion enveloped us. We placed our faith, and appetites, into Pauline’s hands. “Every family orders their own pot,’’ my friend Pauline said as she poured fragrant, sweetened chrysanthemum tea into small white cups for everyone. “Yum cha’’ (drink tea) is the Cantonese phrase to describe brunch-like dim sum. Malden is one of the state’s most diverse cities, and about 20 percent of its population is of Asian heritage.
My family of four felt like we were crashing a Chinese family’s celebration for the Lunar New Year, which happens to be Sunday. How busy could it be at 11 a.m.?Įvery table was filled, mostly with multigenerational Chinese families speaking Cantonese, and waves and waves of families, and groups of young friends, continued pouring into the two-room, 120-seat restaurant. On a recent Saturday, we visited Sun Kong with a Chinese friend and her family, who seemed worried about getting a table for eight.
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