Lotus & Ming (dim sum)

I'm currently writing a story about niche businesses and one of my interviewees was the lovely Karen Lavecky from Lotus & Ming. She was kind enough to send me some of her product (frozen dim sum) to try and I promised to send her some feedback.

The taste test involved:
Peking duck spring rolls
Shiitake & leek spring rolls
Pork & bok choy dumplings
Scallop & shiitake har gow (dumplings)
Soy fusion dipper
Spicy plum dipper

I should preface this by saying I prepared two rounds of dim sum in different ways. I’m terrible at frying so the first method I tried was baking, as per the back of all four packets. This worked well for the spring rolls but gave the dumplings an unusual crispiness (which wasn’t bad, just unorthodox).

My second attempt was experimental, baking the spring rolls in a sandwich press, which worked and took less time to cook and, since I don’t have any steaming implements, steaming the dumplings using a lettuce leaf on a wire cooling rack perched above a saucepan with boiling water in it, covered by the pan lid. This was more successful than baking the dumplings and it deserves to be said that the scallop dumplings tasted exactly like they do in a yum cha restaurant with the added texture of the shiitake.

Both the Peking duck spring rolls and the shiitake & leek spring rolls under both baking methods maintained their crispiness and went well with both dipping sauces. The triumph here is the balance of the heavier favours – the duck and the leek – with the more delicate ‘top notes’ of the bean sprouts and shiitake respectively. The best combination was the peking duck with the plum sauce and the shiitake/leek with the soy fusion.

My favourite of the lot was the flavoursome pork & bok choy dumplings, which exploited the right balance with the simplicity of the combination, a ‘why didn’t anyone do this before?’ type flavour. It married equally well with both sauces and, like the har gow, worked better steamed than baked.

Overall, the range seemed lighter, fresher and healthier than what you would get at standard yum cha. The option ‘to fry or not to fry’ means that consumers can control the amount of oil in the meal, which means you can walk away, belly full, without feeling greasy but still have your fill of tasty dim sum. I like tasting what’s in the dim sum as opposed to the additives (oil, fat, MSG) so it is great that the true flavours are more prominent in this take-home range.

Yeah, I'll be buying some to keep in the freezer in case guests drop by.

Food rating: 8/10
Enjoyment rating: 7/10 (a personal thing - not that fond of Chinese vege)