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Zen and the art of dim sum
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The dim sum food festival at The Leela is as authentic as it gets
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LITTLE TOKENS Perfectly cooked, super healthy and tasty, dim sum lunches are just what the doctor ordered
If you cannot go to China, then China will come to you — at least that is the operating philosophy at the Zen (The Leela Palace).
With the introduction of dim sum lunches that you could wash down with exotic Chinese teas in tranquil surroundings with fountains burbling and bees buzzing around contentedly, you would not be blamed for imagining you are in the Shanghai rather than namma traffic-clogged Airport Road. A strong case can be made for wish fulfilment as well.
For the etymologically-inclined, dim sum has its origins in Cantonese and translates to "little token", "dot heart" or "order heart" which literally means order to your heart's content.
And that is precisely what you could do at the lunch menu, which offers gazillion options and 18 varieties of Chinese tea.
Dim Sum can be steamed, fried or baked. Zen offers all three as well as sweet and savoury options.
Served in little wicker baskets, the dim sums are eaten with a glorious selection of sauces and dips.
Xia jiao (prawns, bamboo shoot) xiao mai (prawns, chicken and mushroom), lao mi ji (glutinous rice and chicken wrapped in lotus leaves) and bai gai jiao are the steamed dim sums.
The Chinese bun is also steamed and is an absolute darling when eaten with condensed milk.
You also have the steamed rice roll where the cover is so transparent that you could see the filling.
Jian bao (vegetable bun), jian duai (glutinous rice dumpling with lotus seed paste) and yu jiao (taro with chicken pastry) are some of the fried and baked options you could choose from. Then there is congee, is a kind of rice gruel, which is wholesome and healthy and quite contrarily very tasty!
For dessert you could have the sweet, crisp fried dim sums or the regulations banana toffee, date pancakes or mang guo buding (mango pudding).
Tea treat
In the good old days food was not served with tea, as the Chinese believed that they would put on weight with the combination. But once it was figured out that tea aids digestion, teahouses began serving a variety of snacks and that is how the whole dim sum and tea tradition was born.
The teas on offer include Lion's Peak Dragon Well. The green tea from the Zhe Jiang province has a sharp taste and is stuffed with anti-cholesterol agents and anti-oxidants.
Snow Flakes is jasmine tea from Sichuan while the Heavenly Red Robe has a 300-year-old history.
And then there is pu er, the black tea from the Yunnan area. Pu er, like wine gets better with age, and is tea of choice for the elderly and weight watchers.
For the people who sniffily speak of the authentic dim sum they had in Shanghai, rest assured the fare here is authentic as it gets with chef Huang Zhiwen at the helm of affairs. Chef Zhiwen has worked with the best of the best in China before coming to Leela dazzle us with his expertise.
Perfectly cooked, super healthy and tasty, do you need any more reasons to indulge in a little heart?
Zen is at Leela Palace, 23, Airport Road. For reservations, call 30571520.
Mini Anthikad-Chhibber
Ambience: Oriental
Service: Efficient and unobtrusive
Specialities: Man to, congee
Wallet factor: Rs. 1,000
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