Dynastic Dim Sum

Dynastic dining tends to focus on a large variety of smaller dishes, rather than one large main course, in a style known as ‘dim sum’. Dining is a political game of itself: what a host serves at a function reveals her political agenda: the value of ingredients shows the importance of the effort, while the choice to serve (or not to serve) the favourite foods of certain guests can show who the host is attempting to influence, and who they consider to be their enemies. Some dishes can be used as a form of coded language, though it must be noted the exact significance of certain dishes is rarely common knowledge, and is usually restricted to members of a specific scheme.

Dumplings and Buns

Shrimp dumplings: Tender, semi-translucent dough pleated in a distinctive half-moon shape around a shrimp filling and then steamed. Dynasts judge a teahouse by the quality of its shrimp dumplings.

Pork dumplings: Small, round steamed dumplings with a juicy, gingery pork and shrimp filling peeking though the gathers of a thin wrapper.

Potstickers: These steamed and pan-seared appetizers are heartier than most other dim sum dumplings. They have a thicker dough enclosing a pork and shrimp filling.

Chive dumplings: Flat and round, with a chewy dough thin enough to reveal a delicate green colour on top and seared to a crisp on the other side.

Scallop dumplings: Flat and round, with a chewy dough seared to a crisp on the bottom, and thin enough on top to reveal the green tint of a cilantro-chive and scallop filing.

Steamed buns with roast pork: Soft, fluffy white rolls filled with morsels of sweet, red-glazed roast pork.

Baked buns with roast pork: Roast pork enclosed in a yeasted dough and baked golden brown.

Curried beef crescents: Miniature turnovers with extremely flaky dough and a curried beef filling reveals culinary influences from the South.

Spring rolls: These flaky-crisp, finger-length rolls were the inspiration behind larger and more oily egg rolls popular in the River Province and the inner Threshold (egg rolls are seen as ‘low class’ in the Realm). A filling of pork, shrimp, bamboo shoots, and water chestnuts is rolled a thin wrapper and then fried until golden brown.

Rice Dishes

Rice pearl balls: Rolling small spheres of seasoned ground pork in uncooked kernels of glutinous rice before steaming them creates these pearly rice “dumplings.”

Lotus leaf rice packets: During steaming, the leaves of the lotus plant infuse their delicate flavor and aroma into a filling of glutinous rice studded with a variety of ingredients including chicken, roast pork, Chinese sausage, peanuts, and black mushrooms.

Poultry Dishes

White Chicken Feet: A delicacy amongst Dynasts, these severed chicken feet are served whole, boiled and very lightly spiced.

Black Chicken Feet: A delicacy amongst Dynasts, these severed chicken feet are served whole, first boiled, then braised in hot sesame-ginger oil.

Stuffed Quails: Small birds, spiced then stuffed with small, sweet onions and roasted. Said to be a sensual dish… some say because of the sexual suggestions so often conveyed by Dynasts as they ‘finger’ out the onions at parties. A favoured dish of House Sesus.

Seafood Dishes

Seafood dishes in the Dynasty vary widely, and example dishes can be seen in Dynastic Seasonal Seafood . However, some dishes remain popular year-round as part of dim-sum meals.

Barbequed Eel: Long eel fillets, oiled and grilled, then served with a tangy brown drizzle of spiced fish sauce.

Stuffed Squid: Small squid, hollowed out and stuffed with spinach, red pepper, and onion, before being quickly baked.

Tempura: Fish, zucchini and sweet potatoes dipped in batter, then deep-fried until golden. Said to have roots amongst the Haslanti, where the deep-fried fish is eaten with equally fried white potatoes and ale, but this method is viewed as too ‘foreign’ or ‘uncultured’ amongst most Dynasts.

Smoked Seafish: A salt-water fish, skinned and smoked, served raw. Like most raw fish dishes, it is favoured by House Peleps.

Braized Seafish: A salt-water fish, braized and served wrapped in kelp. Far more salty than the average Dynastic dish, more popular amongst those raised on the coast than inland. Said to represent the vastness of the open sea.

Roast Seafish: A salt-water fish, roasted and served on a bed of spiced fruit.

Riverfish in Sauce: A fresh-water fish, cooked soft in a herb broth and then served on the bone covered in cream sauce. The bones remain hard and inedible amidst the softness of the flavoured fish, which inspired a poem of Imperial consort Tepet in years past: “Outer Softness, seen and open to all. Hidden Strength within, opening to none.”

Vegetable Dishes

Stuffed mushrooms: Mushroom caps filled with shrimp and bamboo shoots then steamed. The dish is sometimes called “a hundred flowers,” for the mounded caps resemble open blossoms.

Scallion Pancakes: A batter derived from mung beans, mixed with small onions and sometimes mixed with fish, chicken, or pickled cabbage, then fried.

Roasted Root Vegetables : Roasted turnips, carrots, potatoes and yams. A low-class peasant food, often served to unwanted guests.

Sweet Dishes

Custard tarts: Tender egg custard baked in a flaky crust, these delicate little sweets are a perfect ending with tea.

Melon Cherries: A lightly honeyed half-moon of melon, wrapped around a sour cherry.

Stuffed Pears: Sweet pears, halved then filled with honey and dates and gently steamed.

Mango Pudding: A rich, sweet pudding made with fine cream and fresh fruit. The favour is quite strong, and is generally dismissed by many in the more conservative Great Houses as ‘uncultured’… the pudding would never be found near a Tepet party. However, it finds favour with the younger Houses, and the more hedonist Dynasts.

Sweet & Salty Balls: Steamed rice-dough balls filled with peanuts and chestnuts, sprinkled with honeyed coconut.

Soup Dishes

Wonton Soup: Small dumplings filled with pork and spinach, sitting in a lightly flavoured vegetable broth.

Miso Soup: A soup made with soybean paste, flavoured with small pieces of parsley and chives. Considered to be a palette cleaner at the start and end of a meal.

Condiments

Soy Sauce: Condiment. A sauce made from fermented soybeans, with a salty flavour. Used as a dipping sauce for many Dim Sum dishes. Often is mixed with other elements for this role, including crushed garlic, citrus juice, and horseradish paste.

Horseradish: Condiment, One of the Fivefold Flavours of the Enflamed Palette. Coming in a variety of flavours, the weakest being white (often used in peasant cooking) and the best being green. Sometimes powdered, but more often made into a paste. The heat of a horseradish is very intense, perhaps more so than the hot peppers of the South, but this heat is localized in the nasal cavities and fades much more quickly than the heat from peppers. Most Dynastic diners consider it the finest of the hot spices, having the great intensity needed to impart its unique flavour, but without lingering behind to spoil the food that follows.

Beverages

Wine: Fermented grape juice. Wine is served cold in the warmer months, and is mulled with cloves and heated during colder times (on the Isle, this is more an asthetic consideration than a temperature-related one). House V’neef holds a monopoly on wine production. Wine is often served not from the bottle, but from pitchers, mixed with water… the less water, the better impression given to those being served. For extra richness, honey is served either added to the decanter or in a dish for mixing into the wine at the table.

Sake/Rice Wine: A ‘wine’ of fermented rice. Stronger than its grape counterpart, it is used more by patricians or poorer Dynasts, as it is cheaper to produce (and thus to obtain). In a protest against V’neef, House Peleps uses mostly rice wines at its functions (as they lie outside of the monopoly).

Plum Brandy: A thick beverage of fermented plums. Not used at mealtimes, the brandy is the drink served in private studies while two Dynasts engage in more personal political maneuvers.

Fruit Schnapps: Sweet alcoholic beverages made using seasonal fruits such as cherries, peaches, or apples. Considered by more serious and martial Dynasts to be a distastefully foppish drink.

Fruit Juices: Freshly squeezed juice, a beverage of the wealthy due to the amount of waste it produces. Common fruits are tangerine, passion fruit, pineapple, grape, plum, and melon.

Tea: Tea is a staple of life across the Blessed Isle, plant matter dried and then steeped in hot water. The tea plant gives the drink its name and the plant does the same to the drink, linguistically intertwined beyond unravelling, but many peasants without much true tea supplement with local leaves and berries more easily obtained.

--- Green tea: Green tea is the simplest variety of tea, left unprocessed. It is served as standard with just about every meal or ceremony, and is said to aid digestion and clear the palette.

--- Black tea: Black tea is fermented before baking, causing a less bitter flavour. It is primarily produced in Pangu, and is the standard tea of the Legions.

--- Oolong tea: This represents a variety half way between the green and the black teas, undergoing only partial fermentation. It is said to have medicinal properties, speeding up healing and reducing appetite.

--- Jasmine tea: Green tea scented with jasmine, a slightly more costly and more aromatic variant.

--- Spice tea: A harmonious blend of hibiscus, cloves, lemon balm, other herbs and spices, naturally sweet, tart and spicy.

--- Chrysanthemum tea: A sweet tea of Chrysanthemum blossoms and honeysuckle, one of the most costly teas in the Realm.