Ding How
A few weekends ago we revisited Ding How for another round of dim sum. First time around was good if slightly frantic in terms of service, which was understandable considering it was their first weekend of serving dim sum. The manager was so frazzled after that first weekend she considered abandoning the menu system and going to dim sum carts, which I was glad to discover they didn’t end up doing after all. With a large, high-traffic restaurant the cart system works great, but not so much with a cozier layout like Ding How where food might sit on the carts for a long time after cooking. They did, however, trim the menu a bit to make it more manageable, and items are now ordered by relative portion size and price. It’s a lot easier to sift through.
Pork Bao
We wanted to try a favorite that they didn’t have available on that first trip–Char Siu Bao. Char Siu is “twice-cooked pork”. If you’ve ever had pork fried rice at a local Chinese joint you’ve had a poor man’s version of it. The real deal is succulent and flavorful, not dry and bland like what you get in your fried rice around here. Char Siu Bao was one of our family favorites from our Indonesia-Singapore trip, and has been a favorite of mine from childhood. Unfortunately once again they didn’t have it, but this time at least they had 2 varieties of Bao–Steamed Pork Bao and Teriyaki Chicken Bao. No, the latter isn’t strictly Chinese, but Ding How do bill themselves as an “Asian Bistro” now so I guess I should let that slide. We picked the Steamed Pork Bao.
Paper wrap underneath
Consider this a mini how-to on eating Bao. Everywhere I’ve had it, they always have this thin sheet of paper (wax paper?) underneath. It helps the Bao to not stick to the steamer while cooking. Make sure to peel it off the bottom before biting into the Bao. After removing the paper the eating technique is up to you. Biting directly into a whole Bao, breaking it in half, pulling off small pieces–they all work.
Inside the Bao
I broke ours in half to share with Denise, so the result was a flattened half of a Bao. You can see the pork inside with some scallions mixed in. It was exactly what I thought we would get, and the flavor was as good as I remember from childhood. The dough had a good sweet flavor (Not sugary/dessert sweet, but I guess sweet-dough sweet. Does that even make sense? I’m not sure how else to describe it.) and the filling was nice as well. I much prefer the Char Siu variant to the Steamed Pork, but Bao is Bao and it’s better than nothing. Maybe next time they’ll have Char Siu Bao.
Also, we ordered this as an off-menu item. I feel like I’ve finally arrived as a foodie having ordered off-menu. I am so cool now. In fairness we only ordered it after seeing a table next to us have Bao there, otherwise it wouldn’t have occurred to me that they’d still have it despite it not being on the dim sum menu. So, not nearly as cool.
Fried dumplings
Had to get some fried dumplings. Sofia is a gyoza nut, and this is the Chinese equivalent. A bit dark there chief, but still a good flavor to them.
Shrimp rice roll
The waitstaff poured the sauce onto our shrimp-filled rice crepes this time around instead of leaving it on the side, giving it a more traditional presentation. Still as good as last time with perfectly cooked rice noodle crepes and whole shrimp inside.
Sesame balls
Had to get some sesame balls for Denise. Forgot to take pictures of this the first time we went because I was too busy eating. Didn’t make the same mistake this time. These are deep-fried with a sweet (dessert-sweet) bean paste filling. Tasty! Again, slightly dark with the frying action. Might need to fetch stuff out of the wok a bit quicker with these fried and deep-fried dishes.
Seasonal greens
Not sure what vegetable this is exactly, but it’s got a nice clean flavor if a bit bland on its own. It served well in its role as palette cleanser between the various heavier and stronger-flavored meat-based dishes.
Sticky rice lotus chicken
Having wised up from last time, I knew to flip the wrapped rice dish over first, then unwrap the lotus leaf wrap from where the wrap comes together. Last time I tore into it instead, making a huge mess in the process. Haha! I’ve mastered you now.
Lotus rice broken up
Here you can see the filling, and quite a bit of it. I still think it’s a bit small for the price, but I can’t fault the flavor or the ratio of rice to filling.
Har Gao ("Shrimp Dumpling"?)
Last but not least was some Har Gao. Looking at the menu I think it’s called “Shrimp Dumpling” on there, but since I can’t read Chinese and I just asked for Har Gao I don’t know for sure. Looks the likeliest candidate though. Same as last time–good but not as satisfying to me as Har Gao I’ve had elsewhere with whole shrimp. Slightly too chewy on the wrapper too.
As you can see, there were a lot of repeats this time. That’s because those are our favorites, and it helped to establish consistency between visits. The quality of the dishes is at the same level as before, the service was much more even although that didn’t bother me the first time, and the streamlined menu was much easier to choose from for me. Some portions are still slightly on the small side for my liking, but overall it’s still a decent value and just as fun to eat. We’ll be coming back for sure. And why wouldn’t we? I still need to try the chicken feet and the beef tripe, right?
Aha, they have a website now!
You have no idea how much I appreciate this post. After growing up on legit dim sum in San Francisco (try Hang Ah Tearoom in Chinatown if you’re ever out west), I really, really miss it. The green vegetable in question is bok choy, Chinese cabbage. And I hope that Ding How has Char Siu Bao eventually; I agree that it’s much better than any of the other bao. But some bao is better than no bao.
I also miss Mexican food a whole lot, and I see that you’ve discovered La Morena, which is the best taqueria I’ve found here so far. Let me know if you find good Thai. I was disappointed with Thai House the one time I ate there; Pan Asia is awesome but a bit pricey.
I’ll be reading!
Melia,
In the same something-is-better-than-nothing vein, Ding How’s dim sum overall is certainly better than nothing. Not a knock on Ding How, but it’s not on par with the best I’ve had, which is fine by me and hasn’t deterred me from coming back so far but definitely worth noting for people who are spoiled by having had the best. One day my family and I will make it out to San Francisco, and without a doubt we’ll be hitting up Chinatown more than once while we’re there. Thanks for the restaurant recommendation. Got a favorite Szechuan restaurant out there? That’s one thing I really wish we had down here.
My wife says she’ll take a crack at making her own char siu bao one of these days. She’s an excellent cook, so I’m sure that once we get that ball rolling we’ll have excellent bao in the house in no time. Just needs to try it the first time is all (hint, hint, nudge, nudge, Denise!).
Mexican food–I’m sure it’s much better in California too. I used to just like Mexican ok but wasn’t crazy about it (didn’t eat it growing up), but it’s slowly growing on me especially with the proliferation of more authentic Mexican in Jackson. My wife and I actually prefer Omonia over La Morena, but the more I talk to people who have tried both the more it seems it just boils down to personal preference there. Both places serve up a good taco. I’m partial to the empanadas at Omonia though.