Dim Sum at Starlight Kirin

My sister's family is visiting from HK and against her objections, we managed to convince her to try one of our favourite dim sum places, the Kirin at Starlight. Their dim sum here has always been a little bit more special than your run of the mill places. I fell in love with them after trying their fish and green onion rice noodle rolls. You'll see why later...

We started off with the Goon Tong Gau, also known as the Dumpling in Soup. It's usually a soft dumpling filled with a bit of meat and veggies, steamed and served in its own broth. There were even some shark's fin shreds inside, certainly a rarity at most dim sum places. 

The next thing to come were the Deep Fried Chicken Knees. Once you get over the fact that it's knees, you'll learn to appreciate it. Afterall, it's deep fried! The coating is light, with a hint of salt and pepper. I think it would pair really well with beer, not that I'm a beer drinker myself. Oh, and the portion size? Shockingly huge! It actually seemed endless... 

For a little bit of carby goodness, we got the miniature Sticky Rice in Wrapped in Lotus Leaf. It was pretty average...in terms of portion, filling and taste. With a bit of minced meat, chinese sausage and a salted egg yolk, it was exactly what you would expect.

Then came the rice noodle roll. Filled with fish paste and green onion, the rolls was really different from the usual Shrimp, Beef or BBQ Pork filled rice noodle rolls. Not only because it tasted delicious and was innovative, the presentation was stunning. Arriving on a long plate, it seems custom made for the roll. Delicious!



We also got the Turnip Cake, usually pan-fried at most dim sum places, Kirin serves theirs steamed. Good thing too, because my niece likes hers steamed. When it came though, we were all in for a surprise...it was steamed and individually portioned! Too cute and very tea-party! I loved it.

One last dish before dessert...a pot of Cow Offal...not the most appealing name for a dish of beef organs...but then again, they are beef organs. There was stomach, pancreas, spleen, and other unmentionables, as well as some turnips. It's a lot when there are only two people having dimsum, but since there were eight of us, it was easier to polish off.

Dessert was something else that's rarely served...Black Sesame Rolls. It's uncommon because it's pretty labour intensive, according to my mom, who doesn't cook at all. It's made by grinding black sesame into a powder, then making into a paste, and then cooling it before rolling it into logs.
The eight of us ate more than this...we also got the tradional Har Gow (shrimp dumpling) as well as a vegetarial Bean Curd roll. Due to distractions and howling stomachs...no photos were taken. However, you should try the Bean Curd Roll...it's deep fried, enough said.