Authentic Hong Kong Dim Sum - Tak Po at 42 Smith Street, Chinatown

If you are an early bird, and wonder where to find  a good place to catch some Dim Dum flavored worms, here's one of the favorite Dim Sum haunts that Bob & I go to - Tak Po at 42, Smith Street, Chinatown. 

This is a small outfit with about ten tables in an air-con section, and another 5 tables in al fresco area. Despite its limited space, Tak Po is always teeming with hungry patrons who think nothing of waiting 20 minutes just to get a seat, purely because they know that the Dim Sum here are made by hand, using fresh ingredients daily, by a team of experienced chefs who love their craft.  

I love it that Tak Po use an ordering Form where diners tick their order and submit to the service staff to process their order.

Bob ordered his century egg porridge. The ideal porridge should be gluey and thick, with all the rice grains totally dissolve in the soup stock, as seen here at Tak Po.

I ordered my chicken claws braised in spicy sweet sauce. The ideal chicken claw should be nicely soaked in spicy sweet sauce stewed over medium low heat for hours till the skin fully infused with the spicy sweet sauce, teases off the bones and melts in your mouth.

The Har Gau (Prawn Dumplings) at Tak Po has juicy fresh prawns wrap up in translucent skin, each unevenly shaped as they are hand made. When you bite into the Har Gau, you can hear the crunch in the prawn meat, as fresh prawns used here gives it that firm texture once cooked. 

This is the kind of authentic Hong Kong style Dim Dum standard I was looking at - bite size pork ribs marinated and steamed over medium low heat slowly over time to give the meat a melt in your mouth texture. 

For the Prawn Siew Mai below to get that crunchy bite, the defty Dim Sum chef must go to great lengths to knead the prawn paste thoroughly, with the occasional knocking back or punching down to ensure they have the springy texture. The result : crunchy yet firm Siew Mai oozes out the flavors of prawn, seasoned by Shaoxing wine, water chestnut, sesame oil, soy sauce, chicken stock, ginger, scallion, pepper.