Makin & tastin Tea-infused Dim Sum @ Li Yen, Ritz Carlton KL
I love Dim Sum. Love it to the point that I could eat those little dumplings everyday! Siu Mai, Har Gau, Loh Mai Kai little steamed balls of joy! And the fried dumplings? Heaven.
The award-winning Cantonese restaurant, Li Yen, is introducing a series of tea-infused Dim Sum to accompany its usual lunch-time servings. Chef Tan, the restaurants dedicated Dim Sum chef, has married a range of Chinese teas with traditional ingredients, ranging from dark and bitter Pu Erh to lighter Cha Wang, to create seven unique and interesting dishes.
Somehow, our dear friend Oliver Ellerton (PR, Ritz Carlton KL) zoned in on my adoration for Dim Sum, and invited us over for a slightly unorthodox tasting. The tea infused creations sounded irresistible!
CHEF TAN CREATES TEA-INFUSED DIM SUM AT LI YEN,
THE RITZ-CARLTON, KUALA LUMPUR
Chrysanthemum Bean Curd Puff with Shredded Lotus (): Chrysanthemum flower, Chrysanthemum sauce, bean curd puff, shrimp dumpling, fish dumpling, salted egg, shredded lotus. RM18++.
Longjing Sesame Sandwich with Shrimp Dumpling (): Mint sauce, sesame seeds, shrimp dumpling, Longjing. RM18++.
Pu Erh Soup with Siu Mai (): Superior broth, ginger, Pu Erh, glutinous rice skin, pork, shrimp, water chestnut, scallop, onion. RM18++.
Crispy Shui Xian Spring Roll with Fresh Fruits (): Onion ring, spring roll skin, honeydew, rockmelon, papaya, parmesan cheese, Shui ! Xian. RM 18++.
Chee Cheong Fun with Tie Kuan Yin (): Rice flower, scallops, choy san, light soy sauce, Tie Kuan Yin. RM18++
Green Tea Durian Spring Roll (): Lemon, sesame seeds, spring roll skin, durian, Green Tea. RM18++.
Cha Wang Pear with Snow Frog Oil (): Sugar crystal, pear, Cha Wang, Snow Frog oil. RM25++.
Chef Tan Tiong Guan is truly a master of Dim Sum, and Fatboybakes, Wackybecky and I were privileged to have him for an intimate, hands-on session that included us wrapping, rolling, tying and tasting, all within the space of a couple of hours.
Unfortunately, due to time constraints we didnt get to do any actual cooking. I mean, the first dish we made was a bonus dish, and takes 6 hours to cook! We did get to bring the ones we made home though, and those babies fed an army of hungry family members.
Ko Ching Chung Steamed Glutinous rice dumpling with split yellow peas. RM 32++
The concept of this is pretty simple actually. Take a bunch of tasty ingredients, wrap em in leaves and cook for hours until theyre extremely tasty.
The method is also quite straightforward. First, lay lotus leaves and bamboo leaves as the base. Put a layer of glutinous rice, a layer of split yellow peas, and pile on other ingredients.
Roast Pork
Chestnuts
Dried shrimps, and more
Basically, take one of each ingredient and pile it on. A piece of pork, pork fat, duck, salted egg yolk, dried scallop, dried shrimps and chestnut arranged to your liking.
Cover with more split yellow peas, then rice, and finally another layer of bamboo leave.
Wrap it all nice and tight, secure with string (this is the tricky part!) and steam for 6 hours.
The result is stunning! Moist, sticky rice infused with the flavours of all the meats, whose juices had slowly seeped into every grain of rice. I wasnt sure about the grainy, slightly powdery texture of the yellow peas, but tastewise, fantastic.
If I want to recreate it at home, I could probably do all but the tying up of the parcel. Chef Tan made it look so easy! I tried, and failed, several times, so he had to come in and save the day!
It does take a lot of practice, but I guess once you nail it, you never forget.
We moved on to the next 2 dishes, which proved to be far easier!
It is best to try the tea first, especially if you have not tried it before, then eat the Dim Sum. That way you will be able to taste and recognise the subtle flavours of that particular tea within the dish whereas you may not be able to otherwise. said Chef Tan, adding the main challenge was finding a tea or ingredient that complemented one-another, rather than dominating and overpowering each other.
*My camera battery dies at this point, so the rest of the pictures are from my phone camera, and courtesy of Ritz Carlton KL.
Longjing Sesame Sandwich with Shrimp Dumpling ()
Blend up fresh shrimp into a chunky paste. Season well with salt and pepper, and add the Longjing tea leaves. Grab a spatula or knife, and spread it over bread thats been cut into triangles. Gardenia can ah, chef? I asked. Apparently, you can make this with any bread! Roll the prawn pate side in sesame seeds, until fully coated, then deep fry to a golden brown.
Photo Courtesy of Ritz Carlton KL
I really liked this one, because the flavour of the tea provided such a subtle bittersweet taste to the shrimp. And the sesame seeds meant that! one sid e was extra crispy, and extra nutty. The trick, Chef Tan tells us, is getting the oil hot enough that it cooks evenly throughout, but not so hot that it burns.
Served with mint sauce which was lovely on its own, or had it been served with lamb, A little odd to eat with the shrimp toast, but maybe youll like it.
Crispy Shui Xian Spring Roll with Fresh Fruits (): Onion ring, spring roll skin, RM18++.
Here is a classic example of fusion gone right! I think all three of us were a bit wary of a springroll that was filled with honeydew, rockmelon, papaya, parmesan cheese, and the all important Shui Xian, a very popular variety of Oolong tea. You can actually buy readymade springroll skins at your local supermarket, if you dont want to make it yourself like they do at Li Yen. Rolling is pretty easy, then you have to gently twist the wrapper into the desired ring shape, and secure with premixed flour and water. Deep fry to a golden brown.
Photo courtesy of Ritz Carlton Kl
One bite and I wanted more. I loved the delicate, crisp skin, the sweet and mellow chunks of fruit within, and the flavor of the mild parmesan cheese. It just worked. The best part was the floral aftertaste that came from the tea. Superb.
If youre feeling brave enough to try these at home, please do. But if youre like me and thinking, hey, theyre making it already at Li Yen, so why go through the trouble?
To many Cantonese speakers yum cha means Going for Dim Sum whereas the literal translation is Going to dr! ink tea. Such is the inextricable link between the small dishes of Dim Sum and Chinese tea drinking culture. Tea was incorporated into the early morning ritual of Dim Sum due to the belief that it would aid digestion and is now as ubiquitous in early morning Dim Sum restaurants as the old man in the corner reading a Chinese newspaper.
The tea-infused Dim Sum is definitely worth a try!
Thanks Mr. Ellerton for the kind invitation, and Chef Tan for the yummy food!
Dim Sum is served from 12.00pm until 2.30pm from Monday to Saturday and 10.30am until 2.30pm on Sundays and Public Holidays. Li Yen is situated on Level Two of The Ritz-Carlton, Kuala Lumpur. For more information and reservations, kindly call Li Yen at begin_of_the_skype_highlighting 03-2142-8000 end_of_the_skype_highlighting03-2142-8000. Please note, Li Yen is non-halal.
CONTACT
LI YEN
(NON-HALAL)
168 Jalan Imbi, 55100 Kuala Lumpur
T: begin_of_the_skype_highlighting 03-2142-8000 end_of_the_skype_highlighting
