Chinese Broccoli - Gai Lan / Kai Lan

Known to me simply as Chinese Broccoli, this is apparently called Kai-lan or Gai Lan.
This is the only all-vegi dish I frequently order.  It's usually topped with some sort of thick brown sauce, the contents of which I'm unsure of at present (and which may not be vegetarian!?).

Chinese names (per wikipedia): 芥蘭 (traditional) or 芥兰 (simplified).

Haam Sui Gaau

I need to confirm the name on these; I've seen it as the above, or "ham sui gok", or others.

These are salty and savory deep-fried dumplings of pork filling in a rice flour wrapping.  Another favorite of mine.

American nickname: "Footballs"


Chinese name (per wikipedia): 鹹水餃

Har Gau / Har Gow

Har Gau (rhymes with the laughing sound and a cow, respectively), frequently known as "shrimp balls" are steamed dumplings of rice flour filled with shrimp.  Not much else to them, except yummyness!

Chinese name (per wikipedia): 蝦餃

Siu Mai

One of my favorite types of Dim Sum, for a long time, has been Siu Mai ("Shoe My").  With variations sometimes found, especially in grocery stores, the main item as I generally understand it is a cylindrical dumpling of pork and shrimp with a yellowish wrapper that covers the sides (crimped) and bottom (flat), often topped with crab roe or mushrooms as a garnish.  Yum!

Chinese name (per wikipedia): 燒賣

About "Dim Sum Reference"

This blog is intended to be a reference to the myriad types of dim sum items one can purchase, in that exquisite experience: Dim Sum.  My hope is that this will be a useful reference to people eventually, though I'm sure it'll start out slow.  If you'd like to contribute, feel free to comment.  If you'd like to be a main/regular contributor/editor, drop me a line... I think it would make sense for this to have several editors, perhaps in different geographies.

My goals for this blog:

• Have a reference for Chinese names for different items, so that you can order what you want, if you're not seeing it coming around often enough.
• Have pictures of each item so that you can maybe figure out what's what, if you're new to Dim Sum (or any particular item).
• List ingredients in different items, so you can find items you might want (or avoid those you don't want).
• List common English/American names for items, for additional reference.
• Make it easy to get between any of the above pieces of information and any of the others.
  

And maybe someday, I'll create an iPhone app or something, based on data gathered here.

So, each blog post will be about a different type of item.  Blog posts will be edited over time, especially at the start, as I'm starting this thing before posting.  As such, it's not so much of a "blog" as a reference guide.  Using a blog format because... well, it's easy.

I hope you find it useful!