Chinabites

Posted: Apr. 10, 2009

Although dim sum is arguably Hong Kong's most famous culinary export, I've actually only had a few dim sum meals while I've been here.

This past weekend was one of those rare occasions when I did partake of the dim sums while visiting some friends in Kennedy Town. Kennedy Town is located in the far northwest corner of Hong Kong Island. Its relatively remote location and lack of a subway stop have created a pocket with slightly lower rent than the rest of the island, but that should all change in a couple of years when a planned subway stop will be completed.

The name of the restaurant in Mandarin is Jingyuan Jinge. The meal was fairly standard dim sum with only one surprise: the turnip cake.

Turnip cake, or luóbō gāo (萝卜糕), is a staple of Chinese food that I have seen in restaurants all over China, but in my mind has become particularly associated with dim sum. It's generally served in plain, brownie sized chunks on a platter with a side of salty chili paste. This turnip cake is a refreshing take on what is generally a very standard recipe: they stir fried some cilantro in the with turnip cake. The texture of the cake was tender with chunks of ever-so-slightly bitter turnip, suggesting that it was homemade. Even if it wasn't it was certainly one of the best turnip cakes I've ever had in China.