Dim sum ain’t just dumplings.
Dishes like shumai and pork buns have become commonplace at Chinese eateries around the United States, but traditional Cantonese brunch spots around Brooklyn also boast a number of less-well-known treats.
In order to prepare GO Brooklyn readers for a full dim sum experience, I investigated some of the more unusual offerings at the borough’s finest parlors. Here’s my iron-stomached guide:
Woo Gok(taro croquettes)
This tiny treat might look like a deep-fried hairball, but it tastes like deep-fried mashed potatoes. The dish starts with a mushy mass of taro — a purplish root vegetable with a slightly sweet taste. Chefs drop that mash into bubbling deep fat, leaving the taro surrounded in a crunchy, greasy layer of fried goodness that almost looks furry. Bite through the crispy exterior and you’ll find a tiny pocket of savory meat nested in the middle of the taro, like a beefy Russian nesting doll.
Fèngzhu(chicken feet)
If you’re not a dim sum expert, eating a chicken foot isn’t easy — but the reward makes it worthwhile. Picking up the slippery four-toed appendage with chopsticks is struggle in itself, and actually nibbling between each digit is a long and arduous process. But each bit of lumpy flesh that falls free of the bone offers a delectable combination of chicken skin, cartilage and marrow! Start with the toes and work your way to the ball of the foot, spitting out any bones that are too hard to chew. Once you reach the ball — which takes some time, considering that each joint requires harder chomping than the previous knuckle — you’ll find a fatty lump of pure joy. Luckily for you first timers, many Brooklyn dim sum parlors remove the talons so you won’t have to worry about biting chicken toenails.
Lau Sah Bao(egg custard bun)
This fluffy bun looks so light it might float away, but it’s actually one of the heaviest dishes you’ll find on the dim sum cart. This dessert bun boasts a slightly solid, slightly runny — and cloyingly sweet — egg custard made from yolks. The filling in this bread-coated treat actually contains so much sugar that it takes on a grainy, sandy texture — a dessert desert, if you will.
Ngau pak yip(steamed beef tripe)
This chewy dish of thinly sliced cow stomach lining is one of the tastiest items. Each rubbery morsel gives off a rich flavor that’s meaty, but not gamey. It takes a while to gnaw through a single piece of these pungent offal, but each bite rewards the diner with a juicy burst of beefy perfection.
