dim sum anyone?

When you crave something, they say you should give it to yourself, otherwise you won't be happy. I dig this philosophy and fully embraced it over the weekend. I've been craving dim sum. Luckily back in Los Angeles, I had the pleasure of going out for dim sum on a regular basis, being that I worked downtown. Empress Pavilion, baby!! Dim sum is definitely a different style of eating. When you go out for dim sum, usually you're sitting in a big banguet hall and servers are pushing carts filled with all sorts of delectable treats. You kinda hail then down, like getting a taxi in NYC, and order what you want. Think of it as the Chinese version of tapas. One of my favorite dim sum treats is Sew Mai, steamed dumplings of ground pork and chopped shrimp. Dipped in a mixture of garlic chili sauce, hot mustard and soy sauce, I could easily drown in these delectable treats. I conveniently own a bamboo steamer, which is a cost effective steamer, not only for dim sum, but for veggies or meat too. I got this recipe from the New School of Cooking in Culver City, California, where I took a dim sum class a couple of years ago. Another reason I love making these is that they are a breeze to freeze, in fact last night I just popped a bunch back into the steamer until they were heated through and enjoyed.