Hello to all my Gfreers out there on the web! I hope the day is treating you well!
I am happy to say that I have officially defeated my jet lag enemy and am back to a [relatively] normal sleep pattern since coming back to the States.
One thing that I mentioned in my previous blog posts, "Gluten Free in Hong Kong", was that I frequently ate at many dim sum restaurants while I was there. Since I assumed that many Chinese are not aware of celiac disease, let alone severe allergic reactions to wheat/gluten (and not in the form of anaphylactic shock), I had to eat smartly and cautiously in order to avoid cross contamination and other hidden forms of wheat in dim sum.
Dim sum, if you don't already know about it's wonderful existence, is a traditional Cantonese tea time meal in which you are served a plethora of bite sized or individually portioned food served in steamers or small plates. In Cantonese Chinese, it is pronounced,
yum cha, which quite literally means to 'drink tea'. It is called this because you drink tea throughout the meal while eating. Dim sum is now popularized in the States so you don't need to fly all the way to Hong Kong to get a taste (although the dim sum in the States really can't compare to authentic fresh ingredients from HK)!
Unfortunately for gfreers, much of the food in dim sum is off limits since many of the dishes are fried and covered with batter, drenched in soy sauce, or are originally made of wheat like buns and pastries.
BUT, never fear because there are foods that are safe to eat in dim sum and still offer lots of authentic flavor and yummy goodness! And now I present to you this all-intensive guide to safe gfree dim sum eatery!
SAFE MAIN DISHES
Har Gow (shrimp dumplings)- a clear, translucent wheat starch skin with shrimp filling*. A dim sum meal is not complete without har gow!
*Har Gow is not entirely gluten free because of the wheat starch skin. Highly sensitive gfreers should not consume har gow but those with low sensitivity should be okay (I never really have any adverse reactions after I eat har gow) because wheat starch is the powder left over after most of the gluten has been removed.
Fun guo -a clear dumpling with peanuts, dried shrimp, garlic, chives, pork, and shiitake mushrooms wrapped in a glutinous rice flour wrapper.
Haam Seoi Gaau (salt water stuffed dumpling)- deep fried oval shaped dumpling made of rice flour and filled with pork and vegetables. The outside is sweet and sticky while the inside in salty (a delicious combo)!
Gip jap (steamed meatball)- beef with tofu skin on bottom bathed in worcestershire sauce. For the meat lovers out there! ;)
Paigu (steamed spareribs)- pork ribs with black bean sauce*
*some black bean sauce may have soy sauce so be wary!
Lo Mai gai (
lotus leaf wrap)- glutinous rice filled with chicken, Chinese mushrooms, Chinese sausage, scallions, and dried shrimp wrapped in a lotus leaf and steamed*. OMG so so so so so good. The lotus leaf flavor gets imprinted in the rice and it's delicious!
*often times contains some soy sauce in the Chinese sausage or in the rice as flavoring
Congee (rice porridge)- thick, sticky rice porridge. Most common is "Duck Egg and Pork" or
Pei Daan Sou Yuk Juk. Always a safe selection.
Coeng fun (steamed rice rolls)- wide rice noodles that are steamed and rolled. They usually contain shrimp or cha sui.* My go-to dim sum choice!
*The rice rolls are gluten free but ask for the server to not put soy sauce or to put the soy sauce in a separate dish if the other guests are not gluten free. The cha sui also has a small amount of soy sauce so those highly sensitive should stick to plain, chives and onions, or shrimp.
Fu Pei Gyun (
tofu skin roll)- this dish is absolutely DELISH if you're a tofu lover. Can be served steamed or crispy and the typical fillings include shrimp, leeks, chicken, bamboo shoots, carrots, tofu, scallions, sesame oil and bean sprouts
Lo Baak Gou (
turnip cake)- pan fried cakes made of mashed daikon radish mixed with dried shrimp and pork sausage.* Made with rice flour.
*Chinese sausage may contain soy sauce
Wu Tau Gou (taro cake)- similar to the turnip cake except with taro!
SWEETS
Nian Gao (Chinese New Year cake)- made of glutinous rice flour
Bak Tong Gou (whtie honeycomb cake)- a light, somewhat chewy and textured cake made of white sugar, yeast, rice flour, and wheat starch* Has a slight, but not unpleasant, sour taste.
*I am not positive every recipe of bak tong gou has wheat starch but, again, I emphasize, if you're highly sensitive, just don't add this to your bill.
Jian Dui- a type of fried Chinese pastry that is made of glutinous rice flour and sesame seeds. It may contain filling such as sweet red, black, or lotus bean paste. Very yummy indeed! :)
Dou fu fa- silky tofu in sweet broth (usually ginger or jasmine flavored)
Mong Guo Bou Din (mango pudding)- this brings back memories of childhood for me! I have such a sweet tooth and I absolutely adore mango. This is a sweet, mango flavored pudding that is the perfect dessert to top off a great meal!
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| A slice of the 8 Treasures rice. This one is pan-fried! |
Ba Bao Fan (8 Treasures Rice)- traditional Chinese New Year dessert made of glutinous rice and the '8 treasures' including glazed cherries, raisins, apricots, lotus seeds, and bean paste. Remember this one? I blogged about it in my HK adventures Part 2. Check it out if you haven't seen all the photos! :)
Tong Yun (sticky rice balls)- rice balls usually with filling like red bean paste, sesame, or peanut. Usually bathes in a sweet syrup broth or in red bean paste porridge.
Blogging about all this food makes me miss all the dim sum I had in HK. Hopefully, I'll get to visit again soon! Until then, enjoy the food pictures and safe eating!
-Kris
**All photo credits belong to their respective owners. Pictures supplied by wikipedia and other blogsites powered by Google image search as well as from yours truly.
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