‘YUM CHA’ IN JOHOR BARU
For a leisurely meal of sweet and savoury fare, Peggy Loh heads for Tasixi Hong Kong Dim Sum restaurant
AS my brother and his family want dim sum for breakfast, we arrange to meet bright and early at Tasixi Hong Kong Dim Sum restaurant in Taman Perling.
A dim sum meal, or to yum cha, is best enjoyed at leisure. And to have the pleasure of a fuss-free meal, we try to get there early or we have to join a queue to wait for a table.
Tasixi is our regular restaurant for oldschool Hong Kong dim sum where traditional dim sum is served in a boisterous and bustling ambience, typical of good dim sum places.
Opened in 1994, Tasixi is one of the oldest modern dim sum restaurants in Johor Baru that continues to serve a wide range of Cantonese dim sum reminiscent of Hong Kong yum cha restaurants but without the pushcarts.
Here, a variety of sweet and savoury dim sum are served on big trays by staff who let diners pick their preferred portions. With an experienced team skilled in creating a wide range of handmade dim sum, customers are kept satisfied with the taste, quality and portions of freshlymade and efficiently served dim sum.
As I approach the restaurant, I spot a queue but breathe a sigh of relief when I see my brother and his wife at the front of the queue. This means our group is next in line for a table.
When Tasixi moved to its present premises, regulars like us, followed it to the new shop which has dining spaces both indoors and outdoors with an upstairs banquet hall for private groups.
On busy mornings, we often spot coowner and executive chef, Chong Chee Peng, helping to seat customers or having a chat with regulars. While the business expanded with a branch at Taman Johor Jaya, Chong is mostly at this flagship outlet which is also its central kitchen.
Chong leads us to a table and makes sure there is an order list on the table for serving staff to mark order quantities so that the total may be tallied up for payment at the end of our meal.
NO RULES
My brother decides on an order of Chinese tea from popular brands like pu erh (black tea) and tieguanyin (amber tea) to complement our dim sum meal while we help ourselves to the sauce plates and pour out bottled garlic chilli sauce as a spicy dip to savour our dim sum.
There are really no rules to enjoying dim sum but I like to begin with choices of savoury items — steamed and deep-fried — before ending with the sweet dumplings and desserts.
I pick small plates of my favourite stuffed brinjals (RM4.40) topped with a delicious black-bean sauce and steamed siew mai garnished with ikura fish roe (RM4.90). Chong gets a staff to snip the two pieces of brinjals into halves.
From the tray of fried items, I select slices of yam cake (RM4.90) and a mini yam ring (RM8).
While most of the dim sum are readyto-eat items, we have to place orders for freshly made items like bowls of congee (RM3.50), chee cheong fun or rice rolls (RM5.50) and steamed xiao loong pau (RM9.50) or (Cantonese) siew loong pau.
Xiao loong pau are delicate dumplings filled with minced meat and soup which get their name from the small bamboo baskets they are steamed in. There is not only an art to creating these dumplings but also an art to eating them without scalding your mouth!
Served with six dumplings in each steaming basket, we agree that Tasixi has got the pastry just right to keep the soup from bursting through when the plump dumpling is gently held with a pair of chopsticks.
The Cantonese way of preparing rice porridge is boiling it into a smooth congee and this favourite comfort food is served in small bowls flavoured with chopped century eggs.
Each serving of Hong Kong style chee cheong fun comes in three rolls on an oval plate with a side of spicy sambal dip. The soft and smooth rice rolls are filled with prawns or chicken.
The best part of a leisurely dim sum meal is to eat as much or as little as you wish.
By this time, I’m ready for dessert. I beckon a staff bearing tray of sweet items and pick Gui Ling Gao (RM4.40) for my sister-in-law while the fruit tartlets (RM8) just look irresistible. Gui Ling Gao is an acquired taste because it’s a herb jelly with a slight bitter aftertaste.
Steamed Lau Sar Pau (RM5.50) or salted egg yolk custard bun, is another favourite, served warm in a set of three. It’s a satisfying sweet ending to our dim sum meal and the best part of this dessert is there’s more egg yolk than custard in the filling.