Dim Sum is an experience. It’s about as close as we get to hunting in our urbanized environment. There’s nothing like the satisfaction I feel when I finally catch that elusive dumpling that kept whirring by on the trolley, always just out of reach. It is for this reason that I have found that going out for a Dim Sum lunch can often be a stressful affair.
At Kirin Restaurant in Vancouver, the most stress you are likely to encounter is at the moment you try to decide which steaming morsel to eat first.
Gone are the days of desperately trying to catch the trolley-driver’s eye. No more do you suspect, after finally flagging down a dumpling that was on the tepid side of warm, that your particular dumpling had been driven to its death.
Kirin’s Dim Sum is à la carte. I realise that this seems like it would detract from the whole experience. It doesn’t. In fact, it is the better for it.
All the usual Dim Sum are there: the Har Gow (prawn dumplings) are plump and lightly seasoned with ginger. The rice paper is paper-thin. The steamed BBQ pork buns (Char Siu Bao) are small, deliciously fluffy and filled with a just the right amount of BBQ pork.
One of my personal favourites is the Chee Fak: a sticky rice roll filled with Chinese donut, preserved vegetable and ‘pork fluff’, otherwise known as Rousong. Kirin steams the sticky rice to perfection and the crunch of the donut followed by the salty sweetness of the pork fluff always leaves me coming back for more.
And all this is complimented by the best XO sauce I have ever tried. It is not too hot and is a vast improvement chili and mustard sauce duo.
There are also monthly dim sum specials that really are quite, well, special. Recently, the stand-out dish was a slice of steamed sole, minced prawns and enoki mushrooms encased in paper-thin bean curd roll and then steamed in a light broth.
But just when you think you’re as stuffed as a steamed dumpling, it’s time for dessert.
I always have the mango pudding with carnation milk. And, if the kitchen has happened to bake some fresh egg tarts then they are a must too. The unbelievably flaky pastry is always buttery, light and the perfect case for its warm egg custard filling.
Kirin Restaurant Locations
Downtown Vancouver
#102 - 1166 Alberni Street, Vancouver Phone: 604.682.8833
12th & Cambie
2nd Floor, City Square, 555 West 12th Avenue, Vancouver Phone: 604.879.8038
Richmond
2nd Floor, Three West Centre, 7900 Westminster Highway (& No. 3 Road), Richmond Phone: 604.303.8833
Coquitlam
2nd Floor, Henderson Place 1163 Pinetree Way (& Lincoln Avenue), Coquitlam Phone: 604.303.8833
I love dim sum! I was planning on going for new years but haven't had time yet. I am drooling over that pastry though. great colors!
Posted by: amanda | 18 February 2008 at 04:29 PM
Dim Sum is an experience...you are right. I have been thinking to make home-made har gow, saw some ready made skin flour at the market, but I will have no idea how to pleat those...LOL.
Posted by: Rasa Malaysia | 19 February 2008 at 04:31 PM
Thanks for dropping by Amanda. Hope you get some dumplings soon.
Hi Bee. I tried making Sui Mai once. They were delicious but they didn't look as good as the restaurant ones. My fingers are no where near as nimble as they should be to make those mini pleats. I look forward to seeing your Har Gow.
Posted by: Syrie | 22 February 2008 at 05:46 AM
This post makes me drool! Dim sum is one of the things I miss most since going gluten-free/allergen-free.
Posted by: Sally Parrott Ashbrook | 22 February 2008 at 07:54 AM