As we settle into our table, our guide, food writer and Chinese food expert Stephanie Yuen, explains that the Cantonese expression dim sum (called dian xin in Mandarin) actually has nothing to do with food. It means “touching your heart,” which is what the artfully crafted dumplings, pastries, and other dishes that make up a dim sum meal should do. While non-Asians might suggest, “Let’s go for dim sum,” Yuen says that the Cantonese invite family and friends to yum cha—“drink tea.”

Our dim sum experience begins with tea—a smoky green tea called “Iron Buddha.” Outlining Chinese tea-drinking etiquette, Yuen explains that the host typically begins by pouring tea for the guests. Then younger guests refill tea cups for older guests.

Like many Vancouver dim sum restaurants, Jade Dynasty does not have carts of goodies circling the room. Instead, you order from the menu. Yuen tells us that she prefers this system, since dishes come piping hot from the kitchen.

These rice cakes, or niangao, turn out to be one of my favorite dishes. The English menu calls them “stir fry rice dough with XO sauce.” I love the chewy rice “coins” paired with the briny, slightly spicy sauce that’s really more like a spice paste.

My other favorite is the stuffed eggplant with shrimp paste (pictured at the top of this post). I’ve sampled this dish in lots of dim sum eateries, and this version is a fresh and flavorful one.

These deep-fried taro dumplings are nicely crunchy, a type of pastry that’s definitely better served hot from the kitchen, not riding around on a dim sum cart.

I’ve often had pan-fried radish cakes, but this stew-like version, “steamed radish cake with smoked meat,” resembles a thick radish porridge. I like the vegetal flavors, though I prefer the crispness and slight char of the pan-fried version.

“Will anyone try the chicken feet?” Yuen asks. She says that on her food tours, she usually orders a mix of more familiar fare, like shui mai, and dishes that her guests may not know or regularly eat.

And the dishes just keep coming: beef meatballs, spareribs in black bean sauce, rice flour rolls with dried shrimp, and “pan-fried crispy bean curd wraps,” tofu sheets filled with assorted mushrooms and fried.

The chef sent out an extra dish, since our visit coincides with the start of the Chinese New Year. These Thai-style fish cakes taste like a crispier, milder version of Thai tod mun pla. Note the tomato carved into the shape of a bird!

We wrap up our lunch with another New Year’s special, brown sugar cakes, also called niangao. These sticky little bites are made with rice flour and steamed—a sweet finish to our tasty tour!

If you go…
Edible Canada offers tours of Chinatown most Saturdays, departing from the Dr. Sun Yat Sen Classical Chinese Garden. You can choose from a two-hour neighborhood tour ($40) or a tour plus a dim sum lunch ($65). Make reservations, which are required, on the Edible Canada website.

Jade Dynasty Restaurant (137 E. Pender St., Vancouver, 604-683-8816) serves dim sum daily.

Tasty Travels!

Carolyn

Did you know that olives grow in Arizona? California, yes. Greece, for sure. But Arizona?

I recently learned about Arizona’s olives when I visited the Queen Creek Olive Mill, an olive grower, olive oil producer, and agri-tourism destination just outside of Phoenix. They serve up lots of olive goodies, too.

While olives are not native to Arizona, Queen Creek General Manager Rob Holmes explained that olives have been growing in the region since the 1800s. The “mission” variety arrived with the 19th-century Spanish missionaries.

Queen Creek grows 16 varieties of olives on their more than 2,000 trees. Nine of those varieties are mature enough to harvest.

According to Holmes, Queen Creek makes its olive oils by blending the oils from several different varieties. They bottle fresh oils about every six weeks.

They infuse some of their oils with natural flavors, ranging from vanilla to lemon to chili (even chocolate!), which you can sample in their market. If you’re really keen on olives, take their 30-minute Olive Oil 101 tour, where you can learn more about olive growing and oil production, with samples of their products, of course.

In Queen Creek’s del Piero cafe, many of the dishes are made with olives or olive products, from bruschetta to sandwiches to baked goods. They use olive oil in their cakes, brownies, and their deservedly popular olive oil waffles. (Check out their website for tips on baking with olive oil).

If you’d like to try making these delicious olive oil waffles at home, here’s the Queen Creek recipe:

Olive Oil Waffles
Adapted from del Piero at the Mill

At Queen Creek Olive Mill’s del Piero restaurant, they make these waffles with their vanilla bean-infused olive oil. You could substitute a mild fruity olive oil and add a small amount of vanilla extract.

Ingredients:
2 eggs, separated
2 cups all-purpose flour
4 tsp. baking powder
1 tsp. salt
2 tsp. brown sugar
2 cups milk
1/2 cup vanilla bean olive oil (or 1/2 olive oil, plus 1 tsp. vanilla extract)

Method:

1. Beat the egg whites until soft peaks form. Set aside.


2. In a separate bowl, mix all dry ingredients. Add milk, olive oil, and egg yolks to dry ingredients and mix until smooth. Gently fold in the egg whites.


3. Preheat waffle iron. Oil lightly or spray with non-stick cooking spray.


4. Pour approximately 1/2 cup of waffle batter into iron and cook to desired crispness. Repeat with each additional waffle.

Yield: Six servings

If you go…
The Queen Creek Olive Mill (25062 S. Meridian Road, Queen Creek, AZ, 480-888-9290) is just east of Mesa, Arizona, in the Phoenix metropolitan area. You can get travel information about the region from the Greater Phoenix Convention & Visitors Bureau or from the Mesa Convention and Visitors Bureau.

Have you tried baking with olive oil? Do you have a favorite olive oil recipe? Please leave a comment and let us know. And if you have a food post – on any culinary topic – that you’d like to share, link to that post here, using the handy-dandy Mr. Linky widget below:

Tasty Travels!

Carolyn

Is meat an essential ingredient in pancakes? I never thought so.

But that was before I met up with pulled pork pancakes.

Here’s the scene: It’s noontime on a Saturday at The Red Wagon, a grunge-hip storefront in a former pho joint, on a jaggedly gentrifying, East Vancouver grunge-hip block.

An eclectic mix of diners has braved the line-up that snakes around the corner. There’s a tweedy greying couple, a trio of tough-looking black-clad women, and young parents with a toddler who’s made Dad a multicolored necklace of blocks that he’s unashamedly strung around his neck.

Inside, the coffee is hot, the vibe is laid-back, and plate after plate of pancakes comes out of the bustling kitchen.

You can get your pancakes without meat, and they’re a worthy choice, puffy and tender with a slight buttermilk tang.

But layer those fluffy pancakes with chili-scented pulled pork and drench them in real maple syrup punched up with a healthy dollop of Jack Daniels, and you’ll wonder why you haven’t been slathering pork on your pancakes your whole life.

If you go…
The Red Wagon is at 2296 East Hastings Street, Vancouver, BC, 604-568-4565.

From downtown Vancouver, hop on an eastbound bus #14, 16, or 135 and get off at the corner of Hastings and Nanaimo. It’s about a 20-minute ride.

If you’re not a meat-eater, the Red Wagon also makes an excellent tofu scramble, sauteed with spinach, tomatoes, mushrooms, and fresh basil—a well-composed dish, not a haphazard vegetarian afterthought.

This weekend is a great time to explore East Vancouver, when the neighborhood hosts the 15th annual Eastside Culture Crawl, and nearly 350 local artists open their studios to the public.

The Culture Crawl runs Friday, November 18 from 5 to 10pm, and Saturday-Sunday, November 19-20 from 11am to 6pm.

Now it’s your turn to dish on a neighborhood joint. Please leave a comment and tell us about a favorite local eatery or unexpectedly excellent local plate. Thanks!

Tasty Travels!

Carolyn