Dim Sum Dynasty-Christmas Dinner

We don't cook the big family feast for Christmas much anymore ever since we began enjoying the "special menu" dinners at this tasty establishment. For Christmas, they had some special menus to choose from and this is some of what we decided to eat. Yum! We were completely stuffed!

We started off with fresh shrimps, shell on, in two ways. One portion (bottom half of plate) was sauteed with green onions and shallots and maybe some ginger. The other was simply boiled but served with a soy sauce mix. The shrimp were fresh tasting, but the size was not uniform which meant some were the tiniest shrimp. Overall, it was a nice contrast between heavy and light on the palate.


More shrimp, except I don't know the variety. The translated "name" is something like peeing (urinating) shrimp. The story behind that is something like they pee when bothered as a defense mechanism. They have very large clubbed, front appendages and a flat, hammer-like head. These were fried with a light coating of flavored batter. Nicely crisp, though the flesh was a bit on the chewy side. I found the best way to eat them was to really yank 'em out of their shells. Once you got the hang of it, you could rip the entire length of meat in one shot.



A bland soup of a very simple seafood concoction for those who were afraid to drink the "real" soup. Basically, it was for the kids and the less daring. It was nasty.


The real soup! I was told it's a kind of fish, but I think it was a turtle. =( It was very meaty tasting and oh so slightly herbally (as in chinese medicine herbal) because of some of the ingredients that was put in. It's supposedly very healthy for you.


My bowl of the "fish" soup. The skin was very thick and the meat was not fish like at all but more like an amphibian...like a....turtle??? And doesn't this look like a turtle to you? Sorta flat like those soft bodied ones? Poor turtle. =( I even had articulated bones too like that of a turtle...NOT fish.


Here's a pork dish that is very good and tasty. We love getting this dish because they do a good job of it but I don't know it's name. I can't tell you how it tastes because I've never eaten it. =P


Er...beef dish that was also good but again, I didn't eat it. =P


Oyster casserole with ginger and green onions. Yum!!! The oysters are melt-in-your mouth awesome and huge. Perfectly cooked so it's wonderfully soft and heavenly. The flavor combination of ginger and green onions just tied it all together! Plus, the green onions were nicely soft (not chewy) so you could eat it all up. Mmmm...it wouldn't be complete without the sauce either. It was great over rice.


Sticky rice cooked with crabs. The rice was supposed to have been infused with the crab flavor, but it didn't quite work right. It was not particularly flavorful (bland really) and the crabs were overcooked. What a waste of crab. It was a nice idea though.

Sweet potato leaves sauteed with roasted garlic. It's very similar to pea shoots yet different enough. I found that the leaves were silky soft while the stems had a slight crunch. It was an nice contrast and tasted pretty good too. I also thought they were more delicate than pea shoots.


Save room for dessert! Sweet red bean soup with sesame rice dumplings. Yum!!! They make great red bean soup here where the red beans are cooked just right so they fall apart, yet aren't completely obliterated. With the addition of quality rice dumplings, it was just great!!! To super indulge us, they should have plopped a dollop of vanilla ice cream in to make it creamy. Ha! Now that's how i eat it at home! =9~