Dim sum with my mom

Some might think that five dishes
between two people is a lot, others too few
-- but for us, it's just right!

As I write this blog entry, my mother's lying in a Singaporean hospital where tomorrow morning, she'll undergo pretty major surgery. To state the obvious: it's hard not to think of her -- and worry about her. But when we spoke on the phone about half an hour ago, she was pretty cheery and actually sounded a lot less worried than I know that the rest of the family currently are.

To psychologically boost and cheer me up somewhat, I'm going to recall some memories of when she visited me in Hong Kong a couple of months ago, during which we sampled quite a few of the Big Lychee's culinary delights. Among the dining highlights of that week was dim sum brunch at the peculiarly named Sportful Garden in Causeway Bay.

Not being huge eaters, we decided to share just five dishes -- along with a pot of tea -- between the two of us; with our choices being a mix of basic and more exotic eats. Because we wanted some variety, however, we only ordered two of the staple dim sum triumvirate of har gau (shrimp dumplings called "kau chee" in Hokkien), siu mai (pork and mushroom dumplings) and char siew pau (roast pork buns).

A word (or, actually paragraph!) re Sportful Garden's char siew pau: I have to say that they are among the best I've ever eaten -- made special because they are cooked with a special abalone sauce! In other words: their char siew pau actually is pretty extraordinary!

Because I was with my mother (who, like me, loves eating what can be described as "spare parts"), I could happily order two dishes to share that would freak out some other people I know: i.e., stewed chicken feet (and should you wonder, chicken feet is good at soaking up sauces!), and a plate of cold jellyfish and hot ducks' tongues (both of whose textures are what contribute to making them good eating as far as the initiated are concerned!)!

Lastly, there were steamed sweet custard buns for dessert. And again, I have to say that the ones at Sportful Garden really do seem especially good -- because, my mother suspected, they used richer duck eggs rather than regular chicken eggs in making the custard.

So... does our meal sound decadent or weird to you? To be honest, it was neither to us -- and, instead, was just plain delicious! So much so that I hope to be able to repeat the experience with my mother again before too long...