We Got Dim Sum in Hong Kong at 3 A.M.

[Host claps] [Host hand's rubbing]

We're in Kennedy Town, it's three in the morning,

Sun Hing just opened and we're here for the custard buns,

lo sao bao.

This is one of the only late night dim sum places

that I know of, still operating in Hong Kong.

The dim sum itself is gonna be prepared right behind us.

It's gonna be steam inside of those bamboo steamers

and they make them in batches.

And they have fillings inside of them, pastries, baos,

there are various types of dumplings,

but as I said, we're just here for one thing,

which is the custard bun.

Lo sao bao, I would translate as custard lava bun

and the idea is that you have a solid piece of filling

that gets wrapped inside of the dough.

It gets steamed and once it's hot it'll run.

So bao is a leavened bun.

The dough itself is quite simple.

The reason why the buns are so soft

is a combination of baking powder and yeast

and the filling here is primarily salted egg yolk,

so that's a duck egg yolk that's been cured in salt.

It becomes runny delicious lava.

[Host and Chef speaking in Cantonese]

So when they're completed,

they just look like plain old white baos.

There's no fancy folding but it's all about craftsmanship

and it's some of the most delicate handiwork ever.

Little bit of water over the top

to stop that skin from forming

and they're gonna let it rest

for probably just a little bit.

[Host and Chef speaking in Cantonese]

This is a specialty station.

Just like pastry, the handiwork that produces

these specific shapes and the speed,

that's what makes this place very, very special.

And it's gonna go into steamer at a high temperature

for a couple of minutes.

Bunch of brave friends are coming to join us for dim sum

first thing in the morning.

Actually, the original crew of people

who brought me here the first time.

Did Elton convince you to come?

Yeah, Elton convinced me.

It just didn't make any sense having dim sum alone,

it has to be a group.

So we in English call this whole genre of food, dim sum

but in Hong Kong we call it yum cha.

And historically those are two concepts

that have kind of merged into one.

yum cha means drink tea.

The primary act here,

the primary thing that we're here for is the tea.

First step for yum cha, pick your tea.

Tea, it's kind of like a personality question.

I actually like heung peen, which is jasmine tea.

A little bit of like floral tinge.

It's quite easy to drink first thing in the morning.

Second step for yum cha is to wash your utensils.

This is a myth that we have in Hong Kong

that for some reason the people who are dishwashers

don't know how to do their jobs,

so you have to clean your own utensils with lukewarm tea.

It's part of the ritual,

I cannot imagine that this is actually good for you but...

Here's the tea, heung peen; green tea Jasmine flowers.

All of that food that developed the dim sum,

developed around that tea drinking ritual

and that tea drinking habit.

Cheers. [Host sips]

And the third step is then you start ordering

the things that you like.

[Host speaking in Cantonese]

Roughly translates to whatever you like.

Whatever your heart desires really.

You serve yourself

and you go through all those little bamboo baskets

and you try to find the stuff that you want.

You bring it back to your table.

Your goal is to cover the table in as big of a variety

and as much diversity of dim sum dishes as you can.

You want different textures, you want different flavors,

you want sweet things, you want salty things

everything at the same time.

Every single time you go to dim sum,

basically you have to get har gow,

this is a crystal shrimp dumpling.

A lot of fancy dim sum chefs will say

that this is a test for what's good.

And then siu mai, siu mai is pork and shrimp.

One of the things Cantonese people are really good at,

is combining land and sea.

Specific animals have specific proteins

with specific types of amino acids.

When you bring different type of animals together,

sometimes you create this symphonic effect.

Shrimp and pork, really great example.

From Japanese cooking, dashi is kombu plus bonito flakes,

that's a classic example or chicken and mushroom.

Yes, these are kind of the classics

but they're classics for a reason,

and most dim sum restaurants won't deviate from it.

This is an old school version of a siu mai.

Quail eggs, good for the mojo.

[Host laughs]

I think this is beef siu mai.

If proper dim sum experts watch this,

they're gonna say...

They're gonna think this is ridiculous.

Three siu mai in the first round is crazy.

[Host savoring] Thank you.

This is cotton chicken,

lo bak go, daikon or radish cake.

Cheung fun, a nice, stretchy texture.

Hong Kong people love texture.

This is what happens when you sit a little bit too far away

from the dim sum restaurant, your fresh food gets sniped.

[Host and server speaking in Cantonese]

So after it's steamed,

the food just physically moves through the restaurant space.

She pushes that cart all the way up

to the steamer in the front

where things are kept warm.

It's like a spotlight, everyone just turns and looks.

You might grab it off the cart, literally just snag it.

Or usually they'll shout, they'll say, what's being made?

[Server and ladies speaking in Cantonese]

She was like, Chicken feet.

And then all the girls were like

Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah.

Chicken feet, please, please, please.

[utensils clinking]

[Host respectfully chuckles]

This is what you're here for.

[gentleman gasping]

Dude...

[Friend] Now eat it. Eat it?

Yes, chef.

I think the image speaks for itself.

It's so perfect.

The fattiness of that buttery dairy milk stuff.

And then the salted duck egg yolk balanced.

It's chalky but it's smooth.

It's piping hot, it's so fresh.

[Host speaking in Cantonese] Thank you, sir.

Go ahead. [Friend speaking in Cantonese]

The longer we stay here,

the more type of people you're going to meet.

Literally a rotating cast of characters.

Actually the table next to us is three people.

Every time someone finishes eating,

one person will get up

and randomly a new person is going to take their seat.

This is the only way

that they can keep track of what you've ordered.

This is the size of a dim sum

but really it's a pricing category.

I will say this is the most civilized

I've ever seen the pricing been done here

because last time we were here, we got up,

they had no idea what we ate cause it was just pure chaos.

They just charged us a cover charge.

They just said...

They're like, Yeah about 200 per person.

Yeah, yeah, that sounds good.

And then you just have to pay it and leave.

Every time people come to Hong Kong,

they always wanna look for a dim sum

cause they know that it's the best here, probably is.

And there are the really fancy places

the Michelin starred restaurants that make really delicate,

really beautiful dim sum.

This is the type of place I like to go to

because it's a little bit more [Host speaking in Cantonese].

It's closer to the ground,

it's a little bit more for the people

and it is very, very, very fun to go out

knowing that you're trying to survive

until three in the morning

because these custard buns are worth the wait.

So we just ordered a fried milk.

It really is milk, right?

So like the point of this

is to really taste that fresh fragrant dairy flavor.

Nice custardy and soft.

Crispy crackling batter on the outside.

[fried milk crunching]

It's like deep fried panna cotta.

[fried milk crunching]

Touch of sweetness, so perfect.

[Host savoring]