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2009-01-16
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I was half-convinced that a place like this one still exists, despite recent urban development in the surroundings. Tall buildings risen from the ground in matter of days, changing the lives of the city, alongside their eating habits. You can now see fast food joints being setting up in strip malls, while noodle stalls, or old-time eateries gradually forgotten. I was lucky enough to have someone show me the other side of urban development -- a weekend morning of rediscovering the gem of this are
A rush of noise greeted us as we went into 龍城. We managed to get a table at the bright corner and squeezed in. The clinking of chopsticks against porcelain bowls and cups, steam arising from the dim sum carts, and overlapping conversations flying across the room and bouncing back...Friends gathering around tightly around the round table, then the onslaught of dimsum descended. The duck leg wrap -- were exactly how I remembered it. Fried webbed feet and a square of taro root loosely wrapped with bean sheets. I realized that the taro was really the star here -- absorbing all the juices from the duck, moist and starchy at the same time. "Chicken wrap" was a similar form, but with more scrumptious fillings including fried fish maws and dried shiitake mushrooms. The fish maws were soft, spongy and flavorful.
Shrimp Dumplings(Ha Gau) and Chiuchow vegetable dumplings (Fen Guo) were of similar textures. The wrappers were super thick and translucent. You can partly see the filling from inside. The shrimp dumpling was a little fragile to handle, and the filling, despite the lack of bamboo shoots, were satisfactory with a delightful crunch to the shrimp itself. The ChiuChow kin was more complicated with the filling -- finely chopped waterchestnuts provided this immense rush of sweetness accompanied by salted pickles and carrots and a strong punch of coriander leaves to yield the harmony of flavours inside the thick-wrapper dumpling. Shao Mai were ok, if leaner meat could be used instead.
Chicken Feet were sticky sweet. As Chinese we never had the problem gnawing on the bones and breaking them into bits before spitting them out. Steamed rice came in small metal bowls. The Chicken one was the most popular, as sweet blend of soy sauce went into the moist white accompanied by strips of chicken tenders and a few good tender mushrooms. Rice with Riblets were good as well -- the riblets were marinated through and not overcooked in any way. Steamed beef meatballs were softer than I anticipated. With this big of a meatball to taste less than meaty was seriously strange to begin with. The chopped up coriander leaves and dried tangerine peel were both so strong it masked the true taste of beef in here. Pea-tendril Dumplings were round and looked very much like shrimp dumplings. The filling was soft but oily. Shrimp-filled rice rolls were on par, as the noodles were too sticky but surprisingly light to the palate. Barbecue Pork Buns were soft and steamy, and the filling was sweet and savoury at the same time, as diced pork's firmness shared a contrast in texture with the soft bun. Radish Cake (蘿蔔糕) was an enlarged square with mashed radishes blended within.
The meal came to a satisfying end with the bill of $25 for each person. The dimsums weren't exactly excellent, but realizing that I have just witnessed a local treasure that could've been lost due to recent urban developments, I couldn't hesitate to think that I was in much luck to be a part of this. For the very first time the meal wasn't just about food, it was also about history, and the stories behind every table, chair, and the people who have sat on and before them.
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