Foh San Dim Sum Restaurant, Jalan Leong Sin Nam, Ipoh

Friday, 27 December 2013

Foh San Dim Sum Restaurant, Jalan Leong Sin Nam, Ipoh

The maddening rush is over especially during the weekdays mid-morning. What a relief! Within a week I got to eat twice in my favourite dim sum restaurant without much fuss. Revamped and expanded Foh San will be here to stay. Barring any major disaster it will remain as a hugely successful food business and crowd-pleaser.

The cavernous 2-storey space was culled out from 5 shoplots. The modern and brand new feel departs from the old pre-war building where it was once based. Surely this site will stand for another 50 years cementing its culinary hold over the dim sum loving Cantonese in Ipoh.

I was glad to be there and be part of Foh San success like many of the braver floggers that went earlier, waited long and were rewarded. Cheers and thanks to Foh San for perpetuating their dim sum art as an enduring and valid culture among us.

I can be picky when it comes to dim sum. Siew Mai, Har Kau and Yee Mai will be put to the taste test. These trio are the dim sum trinity. If they turn out well the rest of the same kind will be well.

Yee Mai - springy, smooth and replete with the taste of fresh fish. Exactly what I was looking for. The texture pointed to the lack of flour within. Balancing a value for money price while using quality ingredients will separate the man from the boys. FH has done well here.

The Siew Mai is of average quality as it was quite salty. The texture and taste did not gel well with my palate. I do hope the salt was not used to mask lack of quality in the ingredients or the lack of freshness. It seems these were made for export/distribution rather than the made and consume the same day types - a one way trip from the kitchen to table. The experience kept me from ordering the second time round. I will try again but later.

The Har Kau must be made from 2-3 fresh prawns and seasoned to perfection with some cornstarch fillers to bind and to give body to the texture. The skin must be thin enough to melt in the mouth and without breaking and spilling out the contents when picked up by the chopsticks. Tall order but can be done. FH has done well with the fillings but the skin can be thinner.

Another plate of fresh, succulent and unique dim sum with century eggs. Ginger slices complement the taste well.

Sui Kau - A dash of sesame seed oil will do wonders. Overall the ingredients were fresh.

The best Loh Mai Kai I have eaten for a long-time. Glutinous rice steamed with a right amount of moistness but dry enough to hold its shape and devoid of the oily and sticky look. The ingredients included were so generous. I will have it each time I am there!

Wu Kok (Yam pastry) the king of the savoury pastry. It was a big disappointment as I used to have the best Wu Kok in Ipoh. The contents were blended to a dry gluey formless paste. It should be chunky, moist and oozing sauce. The yam was less than crisp and it was another letdown.