Let me do a post about this really fun little Cantonese restaurant I ate lunch in today. I guess it would more properly be called a 'delicious' little Cantonese restaurant.
I've also talked about how I like 'hole in the wall' places. This place had six tables. That certainly qualifies. Now, it's not quite as impressive as the Thai place right next door that has only three tables, (and small ones at that) but I wanted to try this one today.
Okay, to be accurate, there are two booths and four tables; my kind of place.
Sitting at my table looking out at the street.
I had salt and pepper chicken, cooked in onion, cold seaweed, and hot black tea. The apple slice is my free desert. Yes, they served the hot tea in a milk bottle with a straw. I was surprised to see it presented that way, but it worked.
I noticed these little rice dumpling things on a shelf next to the order counter. They were labeled 'alkaline.' They were $2.50 each. I couldn't imagine what the alkaline description meant, but I thought I'd have to buy just one to find out. When I ordered one, the kid working the counter told me that they were sweet and that I needed some syrup to put on them. "Well", I said, "if they're sweet, give me two of them."
Here is the first one unwrapped and drizzled with the syrup. The rice is very, very sticky and the syrup is good, but I couldn't think of what sort of syrup it might be. It had a rather unique, mild sweetness.
I looked them up when I got home and got the low-down of what I had found.
Duan Wu Jie (Dragon Boat Festival) happens each May or June, and these rice dumplings are made to celebrate this event. The rice is treated with lye, hence the name. They are called Gan Sui Jong. The rice is wrapped in bamboo leaves and steamed. Palm sugar syrup is commonly served with them, or, they can be dipped into the raw palm sugar and eaten that way. This is a popular breakfast item.
I love to keep learning. -djf
Nice little restaurant you found Doug. How was your chicken and cold seaweed? I thought the seaweed looked like greens I'm more familiar with but how did they taste?
ReplyDeleteIt's interesting that the rice in the dumplings were treated with lye - reminds me of hominy which is corn treated with lye though the similarities in those 2 end there I think.
Thanks for taking us all to another new restaurant!
The seaweed was crunchy and had an interesting sauce on it.
DeleteI think it looks great. I love seaweed so I would have loved this place. The chicken looked delicious. Did it have a coating on it besides salt and pepper? The rice dumplings looked like something I would love. I love carbs as you know. The mixture of carbs from the rice would be delightful to me. It looks like just enough to satisfy a sweet tooth but not overwhelmingly sweet. McKenzie
ReplyDeleteYes, the chicken I think was coated with corn starch or very fine corn meal. It reminded me of the coating Jeanne puts on firm tofu when she fries it.
ReplyDeleteYou are right on the money about the level of sweetness. The rice itself is not sweet at all, despite what the kid working the counter told me. It becomes sweet when the syrup is poured over it. And the syrup is a very-light to a light syrup.
One of the other reasons I loved these dumplings was that they came wrapped in bamboo leaves. Before coming here, I had never even seen natural bamboo. Now, I'm eating stuff wrapped in its fresh leaves. Amazing.
So bamboo grows here or is imported?
ReplyDeleteIt grows here and is widespread. Considered a weed I think, but obviously, it does have its uses.
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