On the Menu | The 7 worst dim sum dishes to order. How many do you agree with?
- Giant soup dumplings, dace fish balls and steamed beef balls all made a Hong Kong food group’s unofficial list of the worst dim sum dishes to order
- While I agree with some – and could add several more – I think that the problem is often in the execution and not the dish itself
A few weeks ago the Post published a feature, video and podcast about Hong Kong’s disappearing dim sum, where my colleagues and I extolled the virtues of quail’s egg siu mai, old-school ma lai go, and giant soup dumplings.
Barely a week later, a fevered discussion on the “Hong Kong Dim Sum Concern Group” – one of many social media forums dedicated to the appreciation of a single food – came up with a list of the seven worst dim sum to order.
On the list were both ma lai go and giant soup dumplings.
The former is outrageously maligned, given that people only included it because they complained about how they’re always too full to finish the soft, fluffy cake at the end of a meal.
While simple on the surface, a quality ma lai go requires know-how when it comes to how long to ferment the dough starter so that the cake has a lovely aroma and light-as-air texture with telltale air bubbles. In this sense, a quality ma lai go is more akin to sourdough bread than a typical steamed or baked cake.
