As immigrants from his generation who were part of the 1970s and '80s wave began to retire, they didn’t have anyone to inherit their stores and restaurants. What he rarely said, but his tone always implied, was that it was changing for the worse, that gentrification was taking away the Chinese mom-and-pops he knew and loved. Over the years, my dad-himself an immigrant restaurant worker-would often remark that Chinatown was changing. It’s sad to know that when we’re on the other side of the pandemic, there will be fewer dim sum halls for all of this to happen in. Dim sum isn’t really dim sum without the organized chaos and rituals-the jostling with strangers over the last steamer basket of chicken feet, the futile act of making eye contact with a server for your tea refill, or the bumping into an auntie you haven’t seen in years only to be peppered with increasingly invasive personal questions (Did you find a new job? When are you getting married? You’re definitely having a second baby, right?). While New Yorkers can continue to order the restaurant’s food for pickup and delivery (Jing Fong’s Upper West Side offshoot will also remain open), the experience will be lacking. With red-paneled walls, soaring chandeliered ceilings, and rows of giant round tables, the bustling restaurants are not only venues for countless celebrations-birthdays, weddings, and babies’ 100-day milestones-but act as a community hub, a place where news and gossip are shared, where introductions between recent and longtime immigrants are made, and where first-generation Chinese-American kids like myself try to maintain the oft-tenuous ties to our roots. It’s not an exaggeration to say I grew up in those Chinese banquet halls. Depending on where this friend lived, we’d meet on a nearby corner and meander our way to the week’s massive restaurant of choice-usually to what’s currently known as Pacificana, but occasionally to Park Asia or the now closed East Harbor. Every Sunday, I’d eagerly wait for my mom to wake up and dial the number of a family friend to confirm a time and a place.
One or more of the parts is deep-fried in a light batterĬontents will differ, but it will have some kind of topping that makes it looks like the roll is exploding.Growing up in Brooklyn’s Sunset Park-one of NYC’s largest Chinese communities-dim sum was as much a part of my weekly routine as school and Saturday morning cartoons. Shrimp tempura, avocado, tempura flakes, eel sauceĬucumber, fish cake/imitation crab, beef, carrot, tuna, salmon, avocado Soft-shell crab tempura, cucumber, avocado, spicy mayoĬucumber, fresh carrot, scallion, avocado, asparagus, cream cheese You like eel (cooked and warm) and avocado You love eel - which is warm, buttery, and a little sweetĬrab or imitation crab, avocado, cucumber, sesame seeds Shrimp tempura, yellowtail, bean sprouts, carrots, avocado, cucumber, chili, spicy mayoįish cake/imitation crab, avocado, cucumber, tuna, avocado, salmon, shrimp, yellowtailĮel, crab, cucumber / avocado outside, eel sauce You can always ask what is in a roll at a particular restaurant Roll NameĪvocado, shrimp tempura, cucumber, tobiko (flying fish roe - fish eggs) Sushi rolls vary fairly significantly from one restaurant to the next, even though the names might be the same. Most of these are uramaki - the kind where the rice is on the outside.
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