It requires a trip to the Westbank of New Orleans, but today I discovered a foodie mecca, and it involves really good Dim Sum. Chef Shing Kwun Lam of Hong Kong prepares traditional, cart style dim sum at Panda King of Terrytown from 11-3 on Saturdays and Sundays. Servers parade through the restaurant pushing carts full of steaming dumplings and savory dishes. Dim Sum or "piece of heart" originated in the teahouses of the Guandong Province in Cantonese southern China. Most dishes emphasize fresh flavors and are steamed instead of fried with sauces that play a delicate balance of soy, vinegar, wine and sugar.
I would love to tell you exactly what I ate, but there were no menus on the table nor can I find one anywhere on the Internet. Some of dishes we sampled or contemplated sampling included shark fin dumplings; shrimp dumplings; shumai; ground rice sheets loosely wrapped around shrimp, served with one of those amazing salty sweet sauces; shrimp with green peppers; Japanese eggplant stuffed with shrimp; Rice noodle rolls filled with shrimp and pork; Baked and Steamed buns filled with hoisin sweetened pork; Peking Duck; Singapore Noodles; Pan-Fried Sticky Rice with Chinese Sausage, Egg and Scallion; Pan-Fried Turnip Cake with Chinese Sausage; Fried Taro with pork filling; steamed Chinese broccoli drizzled with a thick soy sauce; deep fried salty pork; egg custard tartlets; Jalapenos stuffed with ground shrimp; Sticky rice with sausage, wrapped in a lotus leaf; fried calamari tossed with hot peppers; duck feet simmered in soy and star anise; chicken feet coated in fire red pepper sauce.
After you have indulged at Panda King, stroll next door to the Hong Kong Supermarket. The produce section is reminiscent of one of my most favorite foodie stops, Dekalb Farmers Market. I immediately located many ingredients, that until now, I have had to rely on the Internet for when preparing my favorite Asian dishes. From the produce section you walk directly into the tilapia and catfish, live swimming in the tanks, then onto the butcher, with the largest section of meat and poultry that I have ever experienced. I'm going back this week for one of the whole ducks, any suggestions for preparation? I'm thinking Peking duck. From the meat section you enter the extensive bakery, then onto the Banh Mi (Vietnamese poboy) counter, and finally a counter that contains cooked suckling pig, chickens, quail and Cornish hens. Within these outer aisles lies every hard to find dry good you can imagine, as well as a fun housewares section. I can't wait to use the ten porcelain Japanese soup spoons that I purchased for 69 cents a piece in an authentic bowl of Tom Kha now that I have a source for fresh galangal root and kaffir lime leaves.
Panda King fine dining is located at 925 Behrman Highway Gretna, LA 70056.
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