hahaha…just kidding…
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Dim sum (é»?å¿?) is a Chinese light meal or brunch served with Chinese tea. It is eaten sometimes from morning-to-early afternoon with family or friends. Dim sum consists of a wide spectrum of choices, from sweet to salty. It has combinations of meat, vegetables, seafood, and fruit. It is usually served in a small basket or on a small dish, depending on the type of dim sum. Dim Sum is a Cantonese term, literally translated as dot heart or order heart, meaning order to one’s heart’s content. It is also translated as touch the heart, dotted heart, or snack; or it may be derived from yat dim sum yi, meaning a “little token”. Though the English word “dim sum” refers to the Cantonese variety, the idea of a wide variety of small dishes for lunch also holds for other regions of China. [wiki]
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6/30/06 – Dim sum at Amerasia (301 Cornell Dr Se, Albuquerque, NM)
So how does Amerasia’s dim sum compare to Fu Yuang? Lessee…
When we first got there, I was surprised how small and plain the restaurant looked:
Oh well, at least we found two tables to seat all 7 of us…
Anyway, here’s a glimpse of what they served (we pretty much got whatever they rolled out):
Where are all the steamed dishes????
But out of all of them, I thought the most traditional and authentic dish was the sesame ball with red bean paste (I guess you can’t screw up on that!):
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To judge Amerasia fairly, one needs to know what ‘real’ dim sum is…
SIGNS OF AUTHENTICITY [via]
Here are things to watch for to know that you are eating at an authentic (good prices and good food) dim sum restaurant:
- The food is pushed around on carts as opposed to ordered from a list given to you. The exception to this would be high-end Chinese restaurants where they sometimes give you a list to order from.
- The majority of the patrons are Chinese (minimum of 95%).
- The restaurant is huge and noisy.
- Pineapple chicken balls and sweet and sour anything are nowhere to be seen.
- There are at least 40 tables in the restaurant and they are arranged in rows.
- All of the tables are round.
The tables are covered in disposable plastic tablecloths.- The bathroom is not very clean.
- There’s a huge mob of people waiting to get in.
LOL! disposable plastic tablecloth? I disagree!
Anyway, while the dim sum at Amerasia was not as ‘Americanized’ as Fu Yuangs (yuk yuk!), they did not have my favorite yellow milk bun (lai wong bao)…BOOoooOOOOoooooOOOOoooooOOOO! This is what I want:
and of course, my other dim sum desires:
Ha gao: (a very common dish – wonderful shrimp dumplings with the translucent skin)
and shu mai (the other very common dish..in fact, ha gao and shu mai usually are ordered together – It is a pork dumpling with an egg/wonton skin. If the restaurant knows what theyâEUR(TM)re doing, theyâEUR(TM)ll also garnish each with a slice of sweet pork sausage or maybe hide a piece of shrimp inside)
Hmmmmmm…more more more!
ARE YOU HUNGRY LOOKING AT THEM ALREADY? Hmmmmm…And oh wait…I MISS the tea pot too! GOSH!
So what grade do I give Amerasia?
Hungry Cactus’ final verdict: B-
Reason: not having the common dishes (which so happen to be my favorite dim sum dishes!)
Hopefully I can try Ming Dynasty (another dim sum place) in the near future. But for now, Dim sum >> Amerasia >> Fu Yuang.
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On the way back…this is what we saw on the road (now I’m scared driving on Central):
Don’t ask me what happened…I don’t know. All I know is…weird things happen here!!!