Indulge in HK Culinary Delights
The following four dim sum dishes are called the ‘four heavenly kings’, which means they simply must not be missed. Whether you’re ordering from a paper menu or at one of the few remaining trolley-service restaurants around town, you cannot go wrong starting with these four classic dim sum dishes.
Siu Mai - The most famous of all dim sum, this pork, shrimp and mushroom dumpling also comes in a fish variety that is commonly sold as street food. In Hong Kong, we recognise siu mai by its yellow skin and orange adornments of either fish eggs or diced carrot, but this dumpling has many incarnations.
Barbecued pork buns (Char siu bao) - Char siu bao can be steamed or baked, but this bun always contains pork in a dark, sweet barbecue sauce. The dough in the more famous steamed version uses both yeast and baking powder as the leavening agents, giving it the texture of fine, soft bread, whilst the baked version is usually darker and glazed.
Shrimp dumplings (Har gow) - Har gow is the crown jewel of dim sum, and many restaurants choose to perfect this as their signature offering. The delicate, translucent pastry of har gow hides a generous filling of prawn, but the dumpling must always be small enough to be eaten in a single bite.
Egg tarts (Dan taat) - The Cantonese cousin of the English custard tart, dan taat comes in a few variations. The tart base is made either with shortcrust pastry (more commonly found at bakeries) or puff pastry (often seen at dim sum restaurants), and the long-standing debate on which tart base is superior remains unresolved.
