DIM sum can be described as any of the many appetisers that accompany pot after pot of steaming green tea made so famous by Cantonese tea houses. While most associate them with dumplings and other rice paper wrapped nibbles, the loose definition is increasingly being used by restaurants to redefine the popular starter. Harkening to this sentiment, Chef Anas Qureshi at Molecule Air Bar notes, “Dim sum is a very fun dish as it gives us creative freedom wherein we can play with a variety of ingredients.
For instance, we have a really innovative Naked Chicken Dim Sum that came into existence while brainstorming, which led to doing a dim sum without a skin. So we steamed the chicken in small bowls, not allowing the juices to boil or flow away, and that’s how we managed to get Naked Chicken Dim Sums with a flavourful broth as its base.”
Aakash Nakra, Executive chef at Viet:nom in Gurugram says that diners’ sense of adventure are growing, making them hungry for more and more options, explaining “We have had requests like ‘Chef, what is something you can do differently with dim sum for our table? As a result, we have introduced several innovative dim sum, and one of our hot-sellers is the White Rose, which is a cold crystal tapioca dumpling filled with mung bean and chilli, served with Vietnamese dipping sauces.”
Other dim sum highlight is their Prawn & Herbs dim sums, a blend of fresh prawns and Vietnamese herbs like basil, shiso (Japanese mint), topped with Tobiko (flying fish roe) and served with a garlic chives dip. “The best part about dim sum is that it is widely accepted and really versatile. We have a variety of innovations like the skinless Quinoa Chicken and Cherry Bird Eye Chilli Chicken dumpling. Quinoa is gluten-free, high in protein and one of the few plant foods that contain sufficient amounts of essential amino acids.
When paired with boiled chicken makes for a complete rich and healthy meal,” says Chef Sagar Bajaj, Culinary Head at Plum By Bentchair, adding, “Also, we have vegan options like Spicy Mock Duck Dumpling, a gluten-based vegetarian food made of wheat gluten, oil, sugar, soy sauce, and salt. And it is finished with our signature Plum Chilli Oil.”
Avantika Sinha Bahl, owner at Kampai and Mai Bao says that at Kampai, dim sums are one of the highest selling dishes. “Mai Bao also has a very unique dumpling menu, including items like Xiao long baos (soupy dim sums), Sheng (pan fried stuffed buns), chilli oil wontons, and so on.” The restaurant even
incorporates main course items into its dim sum with dishes like Rendang Curry Chicken Dim Sum Singapore chilli crab Dim Sum, and asparagus and water chestnut with creamy coconut curry Basically, dim sums are lit.
In a nutshell
Restaurants are redefining the rice paper wrapped nibbles that we fondly call dim sums