Dim Sum At Crystal Jade Kitchen (翡翠小厨) Tampines Mall

The Char Siu we had is from the belly which is not the usual cut used in making char siu. This one had more fat ratio and to me that was yummier.

Chinese Spinach with 3 Assorted Eggs (上汤苋菜三色蛋).

Chee Chap Jook (豬什粥) is pig’s offal (innards) congee.
Again you get to choose the specific pork items/offals you like.
I had the small intestines, liver and pork balls.

Lor Mai Kai (糯米鸡) where lor mai 糯米 = glutinous rice and kai/gai 鸡 = chicken, in Cantonese.
Most, if not all, people speak Cantonese in Hong Kong, therefore, we are accustomed to ordering Hong Kong dim sum in Cantonese.

Chee Cheong Fun (猪肠粉) is loosely translated as Chee Cheong = “Pig’s Intestine” Fun = “Noodle” or simply put, Rice Noodle Roll.
The name comes from its cylindrical shape that looks like pig’s intestine but there’s no intestine in these.
They can be served plain, with vegetables, fish, youtiao, char siu, etc…
We already had a roast platter so this succulent prawn filling seemed ideal.

Siu Mai (烧卖) is pork and shrimp dumplings although there’s more pork than shrimp.
Siu Mai and Har Kow used to be a must-have at every dim sum diners’ table.
These days with more varieties of dim sum and smaller number of diners per table, some of these oldies must-have have to go.
We had to choose between Siu Mai or Har Gow and since we had Chee Cheong Fun with Shrimp, this was the uncontested decision between Jerry and I.

Char Siu Sou (叉燒酥) is one of Jerry’s favourites and is a must-order flaky pastry when eating dim sum with him.

叉燒酥 Char Siu Sou’s filling is of course, char siu!
The filling is savoury sweet BBQ Pork but in some halal establishments, you can get chicken char siu (not in Crystal Jade though).
The light flaky texture of the puff pastry is achieved by folding two types of dough together – the oil dough and the water dough.
The oil used in the past was lard. I often wondered if Chinese pastry chefs, in general, still use lard or have turned to using shortening.
The high heat produced during baking puffed up the layers (same theory as croissant making) thus the flakiness of this very delicious snackMy family started dining at Crystal Jade in 1991 at the now defunct Cairnhill Hotel. We were regulars eating there about 4 times a week for many years before they became a restaurant-chain. Throughout the 20 odd years, I have always enjoyed my meals at most of Crystal Jade’s outlets except for the Korean food experience at NEX Serangoon. The food was so so but the service at that outlet was terrible! I haven’t been back since. I know better places for Korean BBQ.