Iknoor Kaur learnt the intricacies of making the Chinese delicacy at a master class by chef Basant Rana
While chef Basant Rana was laying the set up with his bag of goodies and cooking equipment at the Foodhall in DlF Promenade, eager and enthusiastic bunch of people surrounded him. Making way to get closer to the sous chef of The Park and get the glimpse of what he was doing, was rather difficult. But I jostled my way to the front and found a variety of ingredients placed at the counter. There was different varieties of flour, ten different kind of spices, veggies, meat and rolling pins.
Dim sums, often considered a fancy version of street side momos, are difficult to make. This was the first lesson learnt at the dim sum making master class.
The escapade began with the chef making four different kinds for dough. Surprisingly no one from the crowd was familiar with their names.
The first kind was the red lotus flour which chef Rana managed to blend like normal dough. What came as a challenge was the potato starch which needed slow fermentation with regular additions of hot water eventually turning into a gooey mix. This was powdered with regular wheat flour. The chef prepared two other kinds of dough — tang ming flour and potato starch mix and a potato starch and spinach puree mix. All the four varieties of dough were foiled up to strengthen.
The chef shared that the true aroma of a dim sum comes out only when the dough is in sync with the filling. The variety of dough prepared was meant to give the person eating the dish a different experience with each filling.
Rana had a lot in store for the eager learners. The menu he prepared for the master class boasted of the following delicacies — chicken sumani, scallop and spring onion, pockchoy and mushroom, spinach golden garlic and black fungus and asparagus dim sums. He went turn by turn and left the dishes to marinate while he returned to dough-play.
I tracked the process and reached the part where the chef muddled up the red lotus flour dough and broke it into small pieces. He took a rolling pin and swiftly flattened them out. Marking his precision and timing, the roti-like base was thinner than a strand of hair.
The chef was also using a butcher’s knife. However, nothing was being butchered here. It was being used to flatten out the tang ming and potato starch dough which due to its sticky nature couldn’t be rolled.
I have often heard of street dim sums which usually consist of dumpling steamed in a large container and served on a bamboo skewer. However, the dim sums at the master class were steamed in the bamboo skewer which added a woody flavour to the dumpling.
Unique styles of wrapping the dough were interesting too. While one dim sum had its dough shaped like a flower, another looked like a pot. The chef was appreciated for making his preparations pleasing to the eye and tummy.
The chef also interacted with the guests and enlightened them with interesting facts about dim sums. Some of the facts he shared involved that the chicken, scallops and prawns must be marinated for at least 45 minutes before being stuffed into the dough. He also said that the steaming time should not cross seven to ten minutes otherwise the softness and freshness of the dim sums is not well-retained.
The chef’s rare compositions created magic at the luxury gourmet store. He went on for two hours presenting an array of dumpling.