I've never bothered to make Dim sum because when I have Dim sum I don't just want one or two or even three items, I want more variety. When we lived in Toronto and again in Vancouver we had Dim Sum at least once a week.

We now get into Victoria often enough to have Dim Sum at least once a month.

The only thing I don't care for is the steamed buns. I don't like the dough, or the fillings. Plus they are more filling and I'd rather fill up on other things.

Ann

I am lucky to have a few great Chinese teachers to educate me in the little interesting customs and habits of dim sum eating.

Ann is correct that those steamed buns are filling. It is impolite when you invite Chinese friends for dim sum and order steam buns first. They will think you are cheap and don't want them to eat more by filling them up quickly.

Also, one of the reasons for steamed buns is that in accordance to Chinese medicine, baked food is not the best for good health. It has too much yang in the yin/yang balance relationship

I will be going to Vancouver in one or two months to enjoy all those wonderful dim sum places.

dcarch

I miss Althetrainer, I know she made dim sum. She hasn't posted in quite a while.

San Francisco is my destination for dim sum. I think I need an outing. Who will join me?

I tried searching the Internet and I guess there is just one place anywhere near me (Lehigh Valley) that serves dim sum, and it has mixed reviews. I will have to try it though! I did find out about a couple of highly rated Chinese restaurants not too far from me though!

Posted by barnmom" I miss Althetrainer, I know she made dim sum. She hasn't posted in quite a while.
San Francisco is my destination for dim sum. I think I need an outing. Who will join me?"

She is not going to like you. Calgary does not have dim sum places as good as San Francisco. :-).

I heard from her sometime ago. Hoping she will come back soon also.
dcarch

I think dim sum is as much a social experience as anything. The crowd, the conversation, the cart-spotting, the treasure hunt is all part of the ideal dim sum meal, to me. Imagine dining in an empty tapas bar, it wouldn't feel right.

You don't absolutely have to go to a restaurant. I remember dinners when my grandmother, aunts, uncles, and father made trays of pork buns, dumplings, pancakes, little spare ribs, and we had a feast that had something of the spirit of a dim sum meal.

Without a family full of people who know how to pleat a dumpling, you can still do this. An Asian grocer will have freezer cases full of frozen dim sum items. Just bring them home and steam, fry, boil away. It isn't terribly expensive - a bag of frozen gyoza might cost $3 and a few such will be plenty. Get some sauces too, they are important for the right flavour.

Lucky for me, because my pleating skills are laughable. One of my favorite things is ''xiao long bao'', which are little dumplings filled with savory broth and a bit of meat. You make a gelatin-rich broth, chill it to set, drop a bit of the brothy jello in the dumpling along with the filling, and seal the dumpling with a skillful pleat. Which the pros do with one hand, I'm told. I can't do it with three hands.

There is another fun way to have a convivial meal, which is to host a hot pot dinner. You have a portable burner on the dining table (butane - no electric cord to trip on - every Asian grocer has these for cheap) with a (heavy, stable) pot of simmering broth, and plates of thinly sliced meat, noodles, bite-sized veg, fish balls, wontons, shrimp, clams, tofu, etc. Everyone lowers whatever they want into the boiling broth and fishes it out a minute later. Chopstick skills are helpful but so is a slotted spoon. We do this sometimes. SWMBO gets all the food - she knows what to get so I just surrender control. Everyone has a great time, especially if you're good at sneaking off with your neighbor's fish ball.

I've seen the grilling equivalent, those restaurants with small braziers in the center of each table. A bit harder to do at home, but maybe outdoors would work?

Barnmom, Dynasty restaurant on Coffee & Sylvan in Modesto serves dim sum. It is really very good. They get theirs from the dim sum shop in Oakland Chinatown where I used to get mine.

I have made dim sum items in the past, but really, the whole experience of dim sum is a restaurant thing. The idea is to sip tea, chat, eat a bite of this or that, sip more tea, chat some more, eat another few bites.

When I was living with the Chinese family (I was about 18) we used to go to Oakland Chinatown for dim sum, and I'd be the only white person there. Now of course, that wouldn't be the case, but after all, that was 30 years ago. The restaurants we went to were always packed, and the items brought by on carts for you to wave down and point at what you wanted. And didn't the servers stare when I hailed them and ordered in Chinese!

You always wanted to make sure and get a table near the beginning of the cart route, so as to get dibs on your favorites. Other restaurants had check-off menu sheets, but I didn't like that as well, because you'd often end up with too many plates on the table at once and when you took time to sip tea and chat, the food would be getting cold. Nowadays, I'm aggressive enough to order just a few items, and tell the waiter I'll be ordering more later.

My one complaint about Dim Sum is that so much of it is starch and meat. I've gotta have my veggies! Luckily, most places will dish you up a platter of Chinese broccoli in oyster sauce or pea sprouts or something if you ask.

Rachelellen, I have eaten at Dynasty once. Frankly I am not that fond of Chinese food as presented in Modesto and I tend to avoid it. Dynasty was better than the rest of the places in town. I'll have to try the dim sum. But I'd rather be in San Francisco!

We found a good dim sum restaraunt near Ann Arbor last spring. It was right next to an excellant Asian grocery store. It got me started on making my own since driving over four hours for some dim sum is not going to happen very often. Love it!

Nancy

I just got this book out at the library which you might enjoy: Asian appetizers: starters and finger foods for every occasion by Vicki Liley. Lots of dim sum type of dishes with lovely pictures to show you what it's supposed to look like!

Jon, the more I thought about it, the more I realized that I feel the same way you do about dim sum! Actually, there are lots of kinds of meals I experience only rarely, living alone with few friends or family around. I love to get together with friends or my students for a big, lavish meal. Folks always tease me about "making too much food" when I entertain, but to me, that's the idea--eat a little, chat a little, drink a little, eat a little more . . . etc. I truly truly wish I had a set of friends who appreciated the art of a convivial social meal. Growing up I experienced some of it (my folks were fairly big on entertaining guests, mostly due to my dad being a very social person) and there was Sunday dinner at Bubbe's for a while. I used to live and work at a camp and host big get togethers at my house for staff. Then as a college professor, gatherings of colleagues and students. But it seems like it is getting harder and harder to find convivial dinner mates on more than just a few occasions. Neighbors on both sides of me still get together with their extended families on Sundays for good food and good times. At 50, with no kids of my own, and few relatives period, let alone any who are interested in this kind of thing, I feel a little bit like a lone wolf. I wish some clan would adopt me, lol! Actually I do have my adopted families but they are not local. I'm heading up to Ithaca to see one of them this weekend and I'm going to suggest we go out for dim sum, if there is such a place in Ithaca. It has every other imaginable type of restaurant! Might be tricky though, as my friends are strict vegetarians.

I loved your description Jon of dim sum with your family and hiding out under that tables. My brother and cousin did the same thing at big family wedding parties!

I'll have to seek out a Chines grocery in the Lehigh Valley. I don't know of one off hand, but I could maybe ask around at some of the Chinese restaurants I frequent. I think I could actually manage to put together some of my own dumpling concoctions with wonton dough, and freeze for later. What are the types of doughs for the dumplings besides won ton type dough. Rice paper?

I'm with Ann, I'm not a fan of those rich steamed buns though

Check out the video below to see the amazing skill of forming these dumplings, where the chef explains some things about dim sum, and I also liked the one from "Ping Pong" which sounds like and AWESOME restaurant, which I'll bet is on the west coast, lol!

Here is a link that might be useful: Dim Sum Cantonese Tradition

I must be the only person in the world that dim sum does not appeal to. I've never tried it because of that "social" piece that John talks about. I don't like crowded restaurants or the thought of having to hurry and make a decision on what I want when I don't know any of the dishes. And I certainly do NOT want to sit with someone I don't know, thanks anyway.

Then again, I never went to sushi places either, until the California Contingent took me out for sushi. I didn't have to do any ordering, it was all done for me, and I found things I wouldn't have tried on my own and liked them. Of course, I liked the tempura battered and deep fried sushi best, LOL, but many of them were very good.

A Cooking Forum group of us has done tapas in Grand Rapids and it was good, but we got menus, decided what to order and just shared around the table.

Maybe I'll have to get Elery to take me to Ann Arbor for dim dum and make him deal with what we get, because if I have to do it, I'll never try dim sum. I'd end up with a plate full of sea urchin and soggy dumplings....

Annie

Honestly Annie, I can't imagine any place in Michigan where you would find the kind of experience I described, which was in Chinatown in New York City. There are no dim sum places that I know of in Grand Rapids. Ann Arbor maybe or perhaps Detroit. Due to the large number of unkowledgable patrons likely to frequent such places in suburban MI, I would imagine they don't do the style of dim sum with carts and menus all in Chinese, lol! I'm sure they have menus and wait staff that speak English and can explain the dishes. I even saw a little chart outside of that "Ping Pong" restaurant that explained the various dumplings. As for being seated with other diners, again, I can only imagine that happening in a very crowded place if you were by yourself or only with one other person and you wanted to get seated right away. Also, with the trend of more single diners, I'm sure even the family-style dim sum places have probably added more smaller tables. But obviously if the place is so crowded you can't get a seat, that's usually a sign of good food . . . but it does take a lot of restraunteur skill to manage a place like that so it offers a smooth dining experience for the patrons.

L, Nancy says there's a good dim sum place in Ann Arbor, which is only about an hour from Elery's, so I could go there, if it appealed to me at all.

I'll check with Nancy when I see her and see how it is, then maybe..

Annie

All Dim Sum is not created equal. Great Dim Sum is exquisite. Bad dim sum is just that - Bad. You need to find an authentic Chinese restaurant rather than one serving American/Canadian style Chinese food.

Annie, you might want to wait to enjoy your first Dim Sum experience until you are in a major city with a large Chinese population.

Ann

Annie, you are not alone!! I have only eaten dim sum a couple of times in my life and only when I was with people who knew what they were doing. It's great fun and the experience is different than just eating a regular meal. But like you, if I tried to figure it out on my own, I'd end up with a plate full of sea urchin and soggy dumplings....

We do have a very large Chinatown area here in Houston, or maybe it should be called Asiatown as there are multiple Asian cultures in the area including Korean and Vietnamese among others. So there are definitely places to get dim sum here. But I haven't been. I need to gain some "in the know" friends to go with!! LOL

"Annie, you might want to wait to enjoy your first Dim Sum experience until you are in a major city with a large Chinese population."

AnnT, if I wait until then, I'll never eat dim sum, I'm afraid. I try to avoid large cities and only go when dragged kicking and screaming, then I get to heck out as soon as I can. I'm told Detroit actually has really good sushi and dim sum, as there are so many Asian car executives there, but I'm not going to Detroit for anything. If it's crowded and noisy and competetive, I'm not going to enjoy it, no matter how good the food, I'm afraid.

I did walk through China town in Toronto but didn't see anything I cared to eat. I've also walked through Chinatown in Chicago, same thing. I must not be walking where the restaurants are.

Annie

Dim sum is best with a large group, IMO. A large variety of dishes can be consumed and it makes for congeniality. I, and most of those I eat with, love the steamed buns. I do agree with the idea of holding off on them until late in the meal. I also like to hold off on ordering too many dishes at once in the first round to set a reasonable pace. But, with a large group, I have no influence over that and, with irresistible cartloads passing when we have barely gotten seated, we start off immediately with a tableful of things to taste.

That's my ideal, and usual, dim sum experience. But, like John, I find some of the frozen dumplings to be excellent and fun to have at home with an assortment of small items. It's totally different from going out but good in it's own way.

Jim

You should consider this:

Tea drinking is a very elaborate tradition in China. (Not the same as tea in Japan). It is like wine appreciation in the West. There are hundreds of varieties. Some very expensive, and some not.

The first thing you will be asked when you go in for Dim Sum is," What knid of tea are you drinking?"

dcarch

Actually I prefer to have Dim Sum with just Moe. We tend to like the same things with a few exceptions. We have been enjoying Dim Sum for so many years we know what to turn down and what to wait for.

I've always been disappointed when I have eaten Dim Sum with a group.

Ann

Pinky:
I thought you were going to Reading Terminal in Philly.
You could visit China Town.
I could find out which are the best Restaurants, to try.
Lou

Miscellaneous:

1. Tipping is minimal, not the 15% tradition.

2. They like cash.

3. When your friend pours you some tea, you just tap your index finger on the table. That is saying "thank you"

dcarch

Made dim sum for dinner. Posted in WFD.

dcarch

I do not agree about the tipping not being the 15% tradition. I have heard people say that about Chinese restaurants as well, and I don't understand the mindset. Chinese waiters don't get paid any more per hour than other waiters...ie, minimum wage (and less than minimum wage in some states, due to the expectation that a waiter is 'tipped personel', and therefore in a different class than regular wage earners) and they are as responsible to claim 8 percent of their total sales as income on their tax returns as any other waiter, regardless of whether or not they are actually tipped.

The eight percent, by the way, is the figure a waiter is assumed to have taken home, after tipping out other employees, such as bartenders, hostesses, busboys and sometimes kitchen staff. Each restaurant is different in what is required.

I love good dim sum but Clive isn't crazy about it so I make sui mai and pot stickers,and shrimp wrapped in noodles. I tried to make pork buns once but they didn't turn out well.

I have a mess of both in the freezer and intended to serve them as appy's this weekend. Now I'm wondering if they will last that long!

rachelellen, I agree with you.
I am not sure about this; possibly that's the way tipping is done in Hong Kong and China in any class restaurant. So the habit is carried over to here and Canada. I didn't mean to imply that the Chinese is cheap.

I was chatting with my Chinese friend, here is something culturally interesting, speaking of creative menus in another thread:

Often, there is no way you can know what you are eating if you don't know the tradition. For instance, on the menu, "Prosperity And Wealth" is a dish of clams and seaweed, "The Phoenix Nesting In Jade Tree" is chicken with Broccoli, and in the old days, "Bombs Droping In Tokio" was sunny-side-up fried eggs.

dcarch

dcarch and other accomplished dumpling pleaters, could you be persuaded to bleat about your pleats? Meaning, any tips on how to do it? I'm awful at pleating.

My one attempt at a shaped dough food item:

Gosh...I'm pretty good at pleating, but that's because I worked at a Japanese restaurant and had to prep Gyoza when it was slow. I don't know how I would explain the technique? I know if I just DO it, they look great, but if I think about it too much my fingers seem to get clumsy, so taking pictures would be problematical. I'll have to think about this.

lpinkmountain, I am serious and not kidding. There is something nice about not making things professional looking. Even the picture you are showing, I can think of many way to plate it, and it will be very attractive.

Johnliu, I am surprised that you ask that question.:-) I am very good in pleating, as a matter of fact, I have to make the pleats less regular just so that people will know the dumplings are home made.

Basically I work with machine tools in my little shop (of horror) I am too lazy to lay thing out I mostly eyeball measurements, so I have become good at it. I have a feeling you are very good with machine tooling. When you are pleating a dumpling, imagine you are making a gear.

There are many youtube videos you can get some ideas also.

One thing, I believe the meat used should be hand chopped and not ground by machine, for better texture. I do use a scoop so that size would be uniform.

If I have time, I will do a video to show how I chop meat by hand.

dcarch

I LOVE dim sum! My favorite place to get it in the US is in San Francisco -- my brother and brother-in-law know a GREAT place, carts and all, that we just love. But I can get decent dim sum right here in Columbus (no carts, though), so, Annie, when you come here, as you keep promising to do, we'll go for dim sum if you like.

I was in heaven in China. The kind with the broth inside are Shanghai style. Amazingly good. The soup inside was a mystery until we learned the gelatin trick.

I make a few different dim sum dumplings myself, and even though I am not good at dough, I can pleat okay. But long ago my mom gave me a little plastic gizmo with a hinge (see link below to buy one cheap at "Blood Bath and Beyond") that works great and is MUCH faster.

On the ship on the Yangtze, there was a dim sum cooking lesson one day. We all made a mess. I will never bother to make my own wrappers again -- they cost something like $1 for 100 in a frozen stack at any Asian market.

I make a bunch at once and freeze them, so that I have 2-3 varieties in the freezer, then supplement with other ones from the freezer case at the Asian market, so I get variety.

But it is the most fun with the carts. And we have never had to sit at a communal table. The dishes usually have 3 of each thing, so I don't see what the advantage to a large group would be. I agree about getting the broccoli to round out the meal -- and it's YUMMY, too.

Here is a link that might be useful: dumpling press

Posted by gellchom "-------I was in heaven in China. The kind with the broth inside are Shanghai style. Amazingly good. The soup inside was a mystery until we learned the gelatin trick. ----"

So lucky! There are so many interesting things to learn and enjoy, foodwise. I saw on TV, they have restaurants thagt can seat 4,000 customers, good restarants not fastfood.

Anyway, for the most complete dim sum experience:

Get up very early in the morning, at the crack of dawn, go to a park near Chinatown. Columbus Park in New York City for instance. You will see something very interesting going on.

Many people, old, young, male, and female doing their morning exercises in martial arts, tai chi, chi gong etc. Martial art in many styles, include the use of weapons. Once in a while you may even see someone doing it in full traditional costume. Some of them are really masters of the art, and most are just there to exercise. Also there are many who would just move their hips and arms, kick their feet, making funny faces to tone their faces.

Interestingly, no matter what you do, and how ridiculous you look, no one ever pays attention or laugh at you. You are in your own private world.

You will see beautiful and peaceful group exercises in tai chi style, it is so transcendental. You will see show-offs doing their incredible flips and kicks, it is so exciting.

What is wonderful is that if you see someone is doing something you like, you can actually go and imitate, and that is perfectly acceptable. No one would mind. So if you decide to go, bring your video camera to record how silly you look, doing martial art in the Shaolin Quan style.

Then, after the mornign excersices, many will stroll to a near by dim sum place to have their tea, dim sum and and friendship.

dcarch

dim sum 3

gellchom, I will come to visit, I promise. Life just has to slow down a little bit. When I get past this two wedding, three family members hospitalized and stepmom is a pain" year, Maybe I can breathe again....

And I have one of those presses! I use it to make those homemade hot pocket sandwiches that Grandma called "calzone". In fact, I have it in two different sizes, came as a set!

Hmmm, I can see dumplings in my future, I think. So wonton skins aren't the same as dumpling wrappers?

Annie

That's a great observation about exercises in the park prior to dim sum, dcarch. I saw that once in a San Diego park. It's soothes the soul just to see it.

BTW, I took Tai Chi classes twice in the past and just recently started again. I find it beneficial. I need to remember to do Tai Chi before going to dim sum next time. ;-)

Jim

Jim, how interesting that you are a disciple of the art of Tai Chi.

My Chinese friends have taught me some elements of this completely novel concept of, I say, body/soul art form. It basically does not have much to do with fighting or boxing as we know them.

Tai Chi means extreme calmness. Martial art it is, but never meant for combative use. The practice is mainly for the consolidation of a healthy mind and body.

However, should you encounter hostile force, the basic principle and technique is not to resist and confront, but to leverage and take advantage of your opponentâÂÂs aggressions, and making it convenient for them to self-destruct.

dcarch

Annie

wonton skins = dumpling wrappers = PASTA

bwahahahahaha

darfc

EJâ¢

(hugs)

Nope, sorry, Jessica, I disagree. I think the wonton skins are more like pastry than like pasta. Of course, I don't usually steam them, I bake or fry them, so maybe steamed would be more like paste....I mean pasta.

So steamed dumplings are like boiled ravioli, the oriental version? If so, never mind, LOL. I understand that dim sum, though, is a lot of different things, not just dumplings?

Annie

Annie - if you ever get to a dim sum restaurant order the turnip cake. It's daikon shredded like hashbrowns, Chinese sausage and tiny dried shrimp. Sounds awful......tastes delicious!

dcarch, you've described Tai Chi well, especially a couple of key principles. I often wonder how effective Tai Chi would be as defense against a mugger in case the mugger had not learned Tai Chi and didn't know about "push hands". I haven't studied long enough to know the answer to that.

It may interest you that my lovely, feminine daughter has practiced martial arts for a number of years, starting with Karate and moving to kick boxing. No gentle push hands for her.

Teresa, you and I feel the same about turnip cake. It's impossible to choose a favorite dim sum but that one is high on my list. It's not a satisfactory dim sum outing without it. Much of the fall crop of daikon I'm growing is destined for turnip cake.

Jim

Annie - I agree that wonton skins are much closer to pasta than pastry. I use them regularly when I make Butternut Ravioli and they are a perfect substitute and can be sued for any filling that is then steamed or boiled. I think of pastry having little layers where the chilled fat separates the dough..... that is definitely not a won ton skin since there is no fat in the dough.

Dumpling wrappers are just round won ton wrappers I think.

"Typical wonton skins are made with a dough which closely resembles the dough used for pasta, with flour, eggs, a small amount of salt, and sometimes a pinch of oil. The ingredients are mixed and then the dough is rolled out very thin before being cut into wonton skins. Depending on the end-use, wonton skins may be square, round, or even rectangular, and the thickness of the dough varies, although thin is usually better.

Very thin wonton skins will cook to transparency, while thicker skins will develop a more opaque, almost bready consistency. The dough is usually slightly chewy in texture, with a bland flavor which offsets the sometimes complex flavors of the filling and any dipping sauces which might be used. When fried, wonton skins are usually very crispy and they brown nicely.

There are a number of different ways to use wonton skins. They can be used to make wontons, small dumplings which are cooked and served in broth, and they can also be used for potstickers, egg rolls, and other wrapped foods. Wonton skins can be steamed, fried, or boiled, and they are usually very sturdy, which means that they withstand reheating very well. Wonton skins can also be used plain; twisted and fried wonton skins, for example, are a popular snack in some parts of the world."

Alexa

Here is a link that might be useful: What are Won Ton skins?

Not sure how you make your pasta...but noodles to me are pretty well flour, salt and egg....wonton wrappers are the same but with some water added.
Not really pastry at all, no fat in them...until you fry them!
If they are similar to anything it's strudle or phyllo....which is another non short dough.
Linda C

Here is a link that might be useful: Wonton skin recipe

Thanks Alexa, thats perfect.

Annie, 'dim sum', as a collection of little plates, have a variety of wrappers available, or sometimes not. The closest thing I've come to expect for a pastry product are the egg tarts with custard fillings. I bet you would try, but maybe not like one of my favorites, steamed rice noodle rolls , which my sister and I call 'slime rolls', LOL.

Los Angeles has good dim sum; maybe next time you come out we can try to pull the LA contingent together.

Yup, I'd try, Jessica, but I do not like rice noodles at all, the texture is just too....well....slimy, LOL.

I've only used wonton wrappers baked or fried, never boiled or steamed, so I probably wouldn't like that either.

I don't like the rice paper kind of wrappers either that they use for spring rolls, I like all the stuff in the middle but the wrappers you can keep, I'd rather have them wrapped in lettuce or something.

OK, egg tarts and turnip cakes, those I could eat. Yup, definitely have to get the LA contingent together. If I could get a year without weddings, sheesh, Elery and I would go to California and visit his son and grandkids!

Annie

Had lunch with my Chinese friends (in a pizza joint LOL)
Got another lesson in dim sum culture:

1. Dim Sum does not really mean âÂÂa little bit of heartâÂÂ, âÂÂsmall heartâÂÂ, etc. it is a common misinterpretation of the essence of the concept. Dim means to point, or to focus. In other words, itâÂÂs all about the heart.

2. Dim sum is not about eating originally. Even today, a Chinese will not invite you to eat dim sum, instead, he/she will say,â LetâÂÂs go sip teaâÂÂ.

3. WiKi is inacurate in saying that:

â At first, it was considered inappropriate to combine tea with food, because people believed it would lead to excessive weight gain. People later discovered that tea can aid in digestion, so teahouse owners began adding various snacksâÂÂ.

It was a common greeting in China, â Hey, congratulations, looks like you have gained a few pounds.â Fat was considered a very good thing, because you would be looking like Buddha.

4. Not too long ago in China, dim sum eating was a different thing. In the morning thatâÂÂs where scholars would meet, with their pet canary birds in exquisitely crafted bamboo cages to compete to see whose bird could sing better and they would exchange poetry and artwork. Commoners would bring their pet cricks in highly decorated boxes to have cricket fights with each other. Much like dog fights elsewhere, a lot of money would be involved, and the well known lineage of crickets could be very expensive. Little kids would bring their per spiders in match boxes, a special kind of spiders known as âÂÂGolden hair catsâÂÂ. They would have spider fights also. House wives and concubines would walk around the room to chat with relatives and friends they knew. Matchmakers would also be around to drum up business in arranged marriages.

Cricket fights

Such picturesque imagery. I asked him to recommend a few movies which would depict China in the old days. Hopefully with subtitles of course.

dcarch

Jessica I would be all over those rice noodle blintzes! ;)

We've lived in the San Francisco Bay Area for decades and my DH's family is from Hong Kong (he was 12 when they came over). Be aware that wealthy Chinese have long since moved away from Chinatown so although there are still some good dim sum restaurants there (relying on the hordes of tourists and hungry lunch-hour white-collar workers), the best one left in SF isn't in Chinatown at all, but in the Embarcadero/Financial district - Yank Sing. Very expensive but very good.

However, in the East Bay, our friends discovered a great dim sum restaurant in Contra Costa County - Pleasanton, of all places. Packed with the many Chinese who have, like many others, moved out to the suburbs. As good (if not as fancy) as Yank Sing, at half the price. So you might be surprised at where you can find great ethnic foods these days....

Pleasanton is an easy trip for me, what is the name of the restaurant?

Sort of a last-minute Halloween gathering here tonight. Not really a dinner party, just adults hanging around while the kids go trick or treating, but you need some eats anyway.

I was packed off the Asian grocery this morning and am rushing around trying to get a quasi dim sum nibble table together.

Shao mai, shrimp dumplings, braised spareribs, broiled glazed pork, lotus leaf sticky rice (alas, minus the lotus leaf), fried spring rolls, congee, maybe some fried noodles or stir-fried random nameless meat (very traditional Chinese dish, that), and whatever else I can come up with by sundown.