Food.is.love #5: Eating dim sum in Rotterdam

in #food7 years ago (edited)

Rotterdam has the largest Chinese community in The Netherlands.

So, after spending our afternoon exploring the Windmills at Kinderdijk under the hot midday sun, we drove to Rotterdam city centre to eat some dim sum. I know some of you may not be familiar with dim sum.

I like to describe the dining concept as ‘Chinese-style tapas’. Little dishes of bite-sized braised, fried, baked, or steamed snacks are enjoyed as intermediate servings during a meal. The steamed ones are typically served in bamboo baskets.
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Dim sum is traditionally a cantonese custom linked to tea drinking and can be literally translated as "to touch the heart." There’s some truth in that. My heart does a little skip for joy each time the waitress walks to our table bearing some of these little treats. :)

After 30 minutes of driving, we reached the restaurant! I thought the logo had a catastrophic spelling mistake, but found out later that Parel is the Dutch word for Pearl ;)
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The restaurant is on the 3rd level. You can take an elevator up or use the stairs.
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At 15:00, the lunch crowd was definitely dispersed, so we were able to easily get a table by the window.
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The chopsticks were wrapped in paper packaging with tips on how to use them ;)
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The dim sum menu had a pretty large range and helpful pictures on them.
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The Mann ordered 12 dim sum items, and we added on a couple items from the main menu to fill our rumbling bellies. We also got two pots of chrysanthemum tea (€2.00 per pot). They were brought to the table and Ying helped to pour tea for everyone.

The first two dishes to be brought out were the chicken ones!

Fried Wings with Pepper and Salt (€8.00).
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These wings were juicy and well-seasoned, and the chopped chilis gave them a spicy kick! However, the bones were darkened with blood, indicating that the restaurant uses frozen chicken, not fresh ones.

Soya Sauce Chicken (€13.50).
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The half chicken was well-marinated and there was a pile of vegetables under the chicken which soaked up the sauce.

Steamed White Rice (complimentary with order of a main dish). The steamed white rice came in a stainless steel pot.
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Stir-fried Morning Glory with garlic (€14.50).
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The vegetables were just done and beautifully fragranced with browned garlic pieces. My favourite part was eating the garlic bits with the rice.

Other dim sum items started to come in a rush. First, the ones that tasted Good.

Steamed Roasted Pork Bun (€4.00).
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The roasted pork was tasty and the bun was fluffy enough. Not the best I’ve had in Europe, but decent.

Shrimps in Deep-fried Beancurd Skin (€5.10).
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This is my all-time favourite dim sum item!! This restaurant did it fairly well. Juicy shrimps made up the most of the filling, and the beancurd skin was fried to a crisp and not too oily. My tongue was happy and satisfied :)

Braised Chicken Feet (€4.00).
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Chicken feet may sound a little scary, but they are rich in collagen and taste pretty awesome! Orient Pearl’s braised chicken feet had a rather strong star anise aroma, but it was more pleasant than over-powering to me.

Steamed Spare Ribs in Black Bean Sauce (€3.60).
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Succulent and lots more meat than bones. The gravy was rich and delicious on the steamed rice.

Steamed Rice Roll with Roasted Pork (€4.00).
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The rice roll was a little bit thick but still tender, and the roasted pork was decent. When drenched in the accompanying sauce, the rice roll made a good base for the blended flavours and textures.

Now for the Fails, in descending order from not so pleasant to pretty unpalatable.

Pan-fried Radish Cake (€3.60).
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The cakes looked satisfyingly browned, but lacked flavour. The texture was also not done very well. Though I could pick out bits of radish, the cake itself was not tender and starchy-gooey enough.

Steamed Custard Bun (€3.80).
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The filling was dry and did not come with salted egg yolk. The dough? Thick, bready, and chewy! We had ordered a double portion of this, but I could not eat a second bun, which is a rather rare occurrence for my sweet tooth.

Har Gow (€5.00). Har Gow is probably the “King of Dim Sum”. It is that popular and well-loved. Har Gow is basically a delicate steamed shrimp dumpling. When done well, its skin is translucent, thin, moist, tender, slightly chewy, and encases a plump, crunchy, juicy shrimp.
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Either the chef had a terrible day, or Orient Parel does not make a good Har Gow. The skin was dry, chewy, and thick. The prawn deserves no mention.

Siew Mai (€4.50). If Har Gow is the King of dim sum, Siew Mai is the Queen! A minced pork-shrimp-and-mushroom ball is wrapped in a wonton skin, topped with a dusting of fish eggs, and steamed. The best Siew Mai to have should look regal and taste so good that you want to fight over any leftovers in the bamboo basket with your chopsticks.
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Orient Parel failed here again. Look at the Siew Mai. One bite of it, and I gave the rest of mine to The Mann to finish off. That’s how little it touched my heart. :(

Pork in Steamed Beancurd Skin (€4.30).
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This one’s at the bottom of the list, so yes, it was the worst order of the day. I felt that there was an unpleasantly porky odour in the filling.

Don’t worry, there was no wastage of food! I admit that I may come across as ‘arrogant or highly opinionated’, especially when it comes to Chinese dishes. That is likely because I grew up in Asia eating Asian delights where they are made best and authentically — in their respective home nations!. So while I found some dishes rather unpalatable (based on my memory of how the dim sum in Hong Kong, Singapore, China, etc. taste), my European-born and bred Chinese family found them decent and polished off any leftovers. :)

Address:
Kruiskade 72-76
3012 EH Rotterdam, The Netherlands

Thanks for reading my post! If you liked what you read, please leave a comment, upvote, or resteem. If you'd like to see more, follow @foodie.warrior. There's lots more where that came from :)

Your support is a great encouragement to me. Here's a big THANK YOU from me! <3

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Wow, surprised they have dimsum over there.

And it's funny that you mentioned har gow as the "king of dimsum", because it's totally my favorite. Especially with the really spicy Chinese mustard OMG SO GOOD OMNOMNOM

Hehe yes, it's so addictive when it's made well...I've never actually had this 'really spicy Chinese mustard'?! Sounds interesting :)

Yea, it bites HARD--if you like wasabi, you'll love it. You can actually make it by crushing dried, powdered mustard seeds and mixing with water. The fresher, the spicier XD

You sure do know your Asian sauces! :))

Wasabi makes me tear up..but it's not bad in the teeniest tiniest soy-sauce drenched dollops :)

so hungry after seeing this great post! ...hard to find good food like that around here unless i make it myself lol keep more like this coming @foodie.warrior :)

Wow, can you cook Chinese dishes @cryptofrygirl? :)

Sorry if the hunger inconvenienced you!

Yes i can cook just about anything, kind of a bummer not being near a store with quality ingredients though, have to go kinda far to get that. I grew up around alot of great cooks and learned alot from some great chefs. my daughter is also in culinary studying to be a chef. no inconvenience at all @foodie.warrior... like you said food is love! :)

Whoa is there nothing you can do, gurl! ;)

Would love to see your cooking sometime @cryptofrygirl! Btw, is that what the 'fry' in your nickname stands for?

yes i had planned on maybe doing a some cooking articles too, the fry in cryptofrygirl was for Steven, his used to be frenchfry when we were on the old poloniex trollbox lol

hahaha you two are so cute :) I now know what the 's' in @sflaherty stands for :))

OMG, it looks so yummy and exactly like in my home, even the menu hahaha (I come from Khon Kaen Thailand, a town where many chinease moved to like my grandparents). Thanks for sharing. Upvote and follow!

Haha that's so cool that you guys get decent dim sum in your hometown :) Checked out your page and saw that you live in Munich..Is there good dim sum there too?

Sadly no, at least I didnt find some yet. Just overprized and not delicious.

Yes, all the dim sum I've found here are at least 150% more expensive when I compare with what I get in Singapore (and I'm sure the same goes for other Asian countries) .. Fortunately in Düsseldorf and in nearby Holland, there are a couple Chinese restaurants that make pretty yummy dim sum :) You could ask your husband to drive you out here to settle some cravings ;)

I guess it wont be so hard to get him for holidays in the Netherlands :P

Wow, you earn my upvote already!
These dishes are superb and are just tempting to devour. Look at that fried wings, soy sauce chicken and even the white rice - - - Yum Yum Yum!

I love rice and can eat rice everyday. If you are also a rice lover, there is a group of fellow steemians that have indicated they enjoy eating and we have a fun going on via https://steemit.com/food/@globalfoodbook/please-identify-yourself-if-you-are-a-rice-lover

Please feel free to join in the conversation about #ricepeople if you like rice dishes. Many thanks

It's so cute that you gush over the rice the most. With all the other more colourful pictures of food, I thought that my rice photo would 'drown' in the psot.

But I agree, rice is one of the most versatile staples. With sauce, curries, gravies, it can really be out-of-this-world good :))

I joined your conversation and identified myself! Thanks for letting me in on the fun!! <3

Am blushing already 😄

No, your rice photo didn't get drowned, infact it was the 2nd picture that caught my attention after those yummy wings.

I am glad you appreciate my invitation and many many thanks for joining in the conversation.
Let us keep rocking it here on steemit!
Best regards!

Hehe, I'm glad! You've got a great eye! That's one of the more popular dishes of the restaurant. See you on the stage! :))

Oh my goodness, all those gorgeous photos made me hungry for dim sum. Now to find a place in Texas...

Did you manage to find one?

Still looking. It might require a trip into Dallas...

Well done blog!

Thank you, Coquiunlimited! :)

Just looking at your pictures makes me hungry. Thanks for opening my world up to new types of food. It's one of my favorite qualities of your story posts.

Is there a good cantonese/hong kong style Chinese restaurant in Tennessee in the vicinity of your home? They should have dim sum on the menu..You should bring your family to try some! :)

I don't know. But your comment just made it into my favorites folder so I know what to look for because it's happening. I will be looking up ratings to find good reviews. Even if it's an hour's drive away I am going to make it happen. I am looking forward to tomorrow because it's grocery shopping day and we are picking up the items to make your sweet potato recipe. I am going to have to start running again being a follower of yours.

hehe if you can't find any good dim sum within an hour's drive, drop by Düsseldorf with your family someday and I'll take you to a good dim sum place in town! :))

Keeping my fingers crossed and waiting for @curly-q's review of the recipe ;)

Looks delicious. At a fraction of the price you, you can get tastier dim sum in Hong Kong, China, Malaysia, and Singapore. I wonder why there's such a huge price difference.

Dim sum economics. :D

hehe yeah it must be the supply-demand ratio that influences the price...

and the difference in ingredient profile and quality used that influences the taste :)

Thanks for your comment, @dali.soh! Have a great day!

I found a dim sum restaurant in munich and was so happy till i tried ... 13€ for a mixed 3 bun dish and taste was horrible ... Just to compare...

I replied your other comment, then I saw this..That's a real pity :( I can imagine the disappointment!!

yep :(
I have to say it didnt seriously looking for a good one around here but what Ive explored yet i didnt see any real chinease food. Just those restaurant who serve all the same "german chinease" stuff...

Yeah 'German Chinese' is really not my taste too ;)

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