Scribbles in Hong Kong - 1 Michelin Starred Dim Sum

How often do I get to dine in a Michelin starred restaurant?  Not very often!  Actually, I've never dined in one until I went to Hong Kong a couple of months ago.  I've been to Hong Kong several times before so this visit was quite short and I wasn't planning to do much sight-seeing.  Instead, there were a few places I wanted to check out - the 1 Michelin Star Dim Sum restaurant "Tim Ho Wan" was one.

I'm not one to really be caught up on Michelin Stars but I've enjoyed dim sum my whole life and wanted to see what all the fuss was about, so I had to go and taste for myself.

Tim Ho Wan, the Dim-Sum Specialists 添好運點心專門店

Shop 12A, Hong Kong Station (Podium Level 1, IFC Mall) Central
中環香港站12A鋪(IFC地庫一層)

There are several locations, we just happen to choose this one since I wanted to go shopping in Central afterwards.  But, the location is a bit hard to find since it is near the airport express train and doesn't really have that "dim sum" atmosphere.

The menu is not very large and prices are decent for Hong Kong, however we found prices in Toronto could be better for some dishes.

Here is what we had:

Glutinous Rice and Chicken Wrapped in Lotus Leaf

Savoury chicken and shitake mushroom filling inside, meat was abundant, and glutinous rice was soft but held it's shape.  One of my favourite dishes.

Abalone Chicken Feet - Flavour was subtle but the texture of the skin was more "qq" or has a bite to it which is not the normal texture we're accustomed to in Toronto.

Siu Mai or Pork dumplings - Flavour was subtle, not much going on here though.

Vegetarian Bean Curd Roll - Savoury and had enough sauce.  Filling was fresh but wasn't outstanding.

Haw Gow or Shrimp Dumplings - Skin was thin and filling was fresh and sweet but it's not the best that we've had.

BBQ Pork Buns - What a lot of people rave about when they come here.

Baked BBQ Pork Bun - Inside the filling was saucy, did not have excessive red food colouring, good balance of salt and sugar.  Amount of filling was just right.  If you like sweet and savoury, this will also be a hit as the sweet crumbly crust on the top complemented the meat inside.  Tops in my opinion!

Steamed rice roll - Skin was thin and held together well, there was enough filling but it didn't "wow" me.  Well made but maybe I was expecting too much. 

Overall, the dim sum was very good.  There were some exceptional dishes (like the chicken and glutinous rice wrapped in a lotus leaf) but also some that were so-so in my opinion.  Ambiance, unfortunately because of the locale that I chose, didn't have any...really like a food court but with servers.  Am I glad I went, of course!!

Worth a try, but I would go to a different location unless you are just getting off the airport express train or going to board it to catch a flight.

Minced Pork Stuffed Shitake Mushrooms - a simple old-fashioned recipe

Weekday meals are always hard to prepare. We get home from work, maybe had a long commute and still have work ahead of us...making dinner.

Recently, I made minced pork stuffed in shitake mushrooms. This dish just reminds me of simple home cooking and is one that I remember my mom making every so often. For special occasions she would top it with carrots cut into the shape of old Chinese coins or modify it using black moss seaweed. Usually there is no written recipe so I had to experiment and come up with my own proportions. This dish does require some planning as the dried shitake mushrooms have to be soaked either the night before or early in the morning. But, the recipe is fairly quick and can be modified to make it a little more simplier or more detailed depending on how much time you have.

The final dish took a little more time than I'd like (just over 1 hour) because I added the carrots and peeled extra waterchestnuts, but here is the recipe and I'll make notes of where time saving can occur.

Minced Pork Stuffed Shitake Mushrooms
Makes 24 stuffed mushrooms

Ingredients

12- 24 Shitake mushrooms (small to medium sized)
1.5 lbs Ground pork
80g or 6 Water chestnuts
1 1/4 tsp Salt
1 1/4 tsp Sugar
1 1/2 tbsp Soy sauce
4 dashes White pepper (ground)
1-2 stalks Green (spring) onion
2 tsp Sesame oil
1 1/2 tsp Corn starch
1/2 - 1 Egg white

For the sauce afterwards

3/4 cup Reserved mushroom water
Liquid drained after steaming stuffed mushrooms
2-3 tsp Oyster sauce (depending on how salty you prefer the dish)
2-3 tsp Corn starch
2 tbsp Water

Instructions

1. Soak the shitake mushrooms overnight or at least 8 hrs in cold water. If you want to make every meatball with mushroom, use 24. I only decided to stuff 12 so didn't soak as many. TIME SAVING: stuff less mushrooms, remaining meat can be rolled into a ball which is faster.
2. If using fresh water chestnuts, peel water chestnuts. TIME SAVING: use canned. Mince the water chestnuts and add to pork.
3. Add salt, sugar, soy sauce, pepper to the pork and chestnut mixture.
4. Chop the spring onion and add to the pork mixture.
5. Add sesame oil, corn starch and egg white.
6. Let pork marinate.
7. Squeeze out the water from the shitake mushrooms and cut off the stems. Reserve some of the liquid for the sauce.
8. Dust the inside of the mushroom cap with some all-purpose flour.
9. Fill each mushroom cap with the pork mixture and shape into a ball.
10. Steam in steamer on high for 15-20 mins depending on the size of your stuffed mushrooms. TIME SAVING: Use this time to make a side dish of vegetables or wash dishes.
11. Drain the juices from the steamed stuffed mushrooms and add to a small saucepan. Add the reserved mushroom liquid (about 3/4 cup). TIME SAVING: Omit making the sauce (steps 11-14). The stuffed mushrooms should have a enough flavour on it's own but the dish looks less polished without a thickened sauce.
12. Heat liquids and oyster sauce until boiling.
13. Mix the cornstarch and water.
14. Add cornstarch mixture to mushroom liquid until sauce is thickened. You might not need all the cornstarch mixture. Once thickened, pour over stuffed mushrooms and serve with a side of rice and your choice of vegetables.

Ingredients

Modifications

I had a carrot in the fridge so I decided to "pretty up" the dish by cutting out some flower carrots to add to each stuffed mushroom.

How to:1. Peel the carrot.
2. Microwave for 1 minute (to slightly soften).
3. Cut into coins (thin slices).
4. Use cutter to cut each slice or several slices at a time. If you're skilled in vegetable carving, you can carve the carrot into desired shape and then cut into slices.
5. Top each stuffed mushroom with a carrot slice before steaming.