What’s the one thing that we’ve been seeing popping up all over the city faster than you can say foraged bitters? Hipster bars? No, not that. Random unfounded Montreal “Best of” lists researched via Yelp? No, but yes, that too. What I’m talking about is one of the marquee dishes that put Montreal’s gastronomy scene on the map, no, not terroir or market cuisine inspired by locally sourced produce and seasonal ingredients; guess again. If you said dumplings, you’re absolutely correct! The heart, soul and epicentre of traditional Chinese cuisine is rivalling the timely casse-croute and bidding to redefine the term “steam-mei“.
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Dumplings
Do you like dim sum? Of course you do, what kind of monster doesn’t like dim sum; the ritual of lining up on Sunday mornings at your favourite dim sum house, listening to aunties sing the contents of their steamers in a memorized song as their push their carts along a predetermined carpet-worn circuit. If waking up early on a Sunday morning isn’t your thing, but dumplings are, I’ve got a recipe for pork and shrimp shu mai that’s going to knock your groggy weekend socks off and scare the Sunday morning breath of out your mouth.
As you may or may not know, I’m a big fan of dim sum. Not just the small little dumplings stacked high in billowing steamers and other savoury delights, but it’s the dim sum experience as a whole. Getting to the restaurant at prime time when the lady on a loud speaker is calling out table numbers in more than the Quebec standard languages as people clammer to the front to try and sneak their way in is just part of the weekend brunch routine. If you’re new to the dim sum scene and aren’t sure of what to order, I have a section of the blog dedicated to the meal – Dim Sum for Dummies, where I profile some of the less common dishes. It’s a work in progress, as I’m always adding to it – there are hundreds of different items! We are not always fortunate enough to head down to Chinatown or get to a restaurant that serves dim sum and will ultimately have to rely on the frozen counterparts. I realize this I took it upon myself to take on the responsibility to test different kinds of FROZEN dim sum.