by ONEZA TABISH
It’s always a great idea to have dim sums, and at Shanghai Kitchen they have a festival dedicated to this Cantonese delicacy, here in the heart of Muscat.
With an interior that boasts a lovely oriental theme and cuisine, the menu has been selected from a never-ending list of exotic Chinese classics that offer a taste of authentic Yue Cai (Cantonese dishes).
Cantonese cuisine is famous for its highly adventurous approach to using ingredients, technicolour flavours, generous amounts of chillies and Sichuan pepper. It’s also known for its virtuoso knife work and sophisticated gastronomic culture.
Shanghai Kitchen in Muscat has garnered some of the most talented culinary experts to create exotic Chinese delicacies using the finest and fresh ingredients so that it leaves an indelible impression on your tongue.
I visited their impressive Dim Sum Festival currently running throughout September and I was amazed by the lip-smacking dim sums that were handpicked to tantalise taste buds.
The dim sums featured included a variety of potstickers and dumplings such as vegetable potsticker, crystal vegetables, seasonal vegetables with cottage cheese, chicken with basil, chicken with cilantro and green chilli, prawns with Thai ginger, prawns with chilli basil, prawns with celery and chives, and prawns with tail dumplings.
Each of the dim sums was a surprise package. The vegetable potsticker dim sum was a melt-in-the-mouth dumpling stuffed with stir-fried broccoli, baby corn, Chinese cabbage, drizzled in sesame oil and wrapped in tapioca flour. This was beautifully presented.
The seasonal vegetable with cottage cheese resembled delicate green roses. A stellar vegetarian dim sum. The green colour of this dim sum was attained by mixing bokchoy puree to the dim sum dough.
Prawns with Thai ginger dumpling was not only beautiful to look at but also scrumptious at every bite. These dim sums were stuffed with prawns and Thai ginger sauteed in garlic and light soya sauce and wrapped in the shape of red stars. Perfection.
The chicken with cilantro and green chilli dumpling was a medley of chicken, ginger, garlic and cilantro tossed in green chilli and sesame oil.
These were my favourite picks but all the dim sums are worth a try. There is no use of artificial colours; carrot, bokchoy and beetroot purees were used to enhance the look of these lovely treats.
Try Some Dim Sums at Shanghai Kitchen
+968 2450 2344
