Meet Mumbai's best dim sum ninjas

Steamed fried baked Take your pick from shitake mushrooms cottage cheese spinach edamame or prawn chicken pork and mutton Dim sums are really Chinarsquos most loved and versatile cultural export to the world They spawned a range of legends around them Have you heard the one about how it was created by chefs of the royal court to touch the heart of the Chinese emperorsThe dim sum platter at most Asian restaurants is the top selling dish and so calls for special skills So specialised in fact that most restaurants with a platter to boast have an entirely different team to tackle the mission And itrsquos these skilled foot soldiers often supervised by a general who dedicates the day to a process that ensures that the bitesized dumplings satiate both your tastebuds and soulYauatcha Types of Dimsum 50 Top pick Sea bass nonveg Edamame vegAt this BKC finedine dim sums arenrsquot just the menursquos most delicious They are a muchrevered culinary experience In fact says Chef Wang Yixuan consultant and head chef with Yauatcha India the restaurant recently released a collection of poetry and short stories that are an ode to the dim sumOf the over 50 varieties on the menu there are even 10 Jain typesThe team of 25 arrives at the kitchen at 11 am Therersquos a dedicated section for each task mdash chopping filling folding preparing the skin and steaming Chef Wang divides the duties depending on the dayrsquos orders ldquoTo prepare and serve a dim sum requires a certain savoir faire It needs to be served in the right cutlery and with a compliment of condiments Since wrapping and folding is more than just a science every dim sum in the basket has character This comes when a chef is involved in every step of the preparationrdquo he says Every day 2500 dim sums make it to the plates on Yauatcha tables Proportions are weighed on a scale and recipes of the Michelinstarred brand are adhered toUmameTypes of Dimsum20Top pickChive and prawn nonveg edamame vegA little before 7 pm the kitchen at Farrokh Khambattarsquos panAsian Churchgate restaurant is already prepping for dinner which will roll out in another hour While the entire kitchen has a staff of 25 five of these form a special team to ensure the dim sum trail runs smooth The team headed by Marzban Amroliwalla rolls out hundreds of steamed dumplings each one meticulously hand rolled and flattened in the blink of an eye to be later steamed in the many bamboo baskets stored in the cabinets behind the teamEach member has a specific task While Prem Bahadur chops the carrots and mashes the corn at lightening speed Binod Thapa rolls out the dough made of refined flour even as Debilal Bhandari prepares the edmame filling ldquoMaking dim sums requires a craftsmanship They are not about just filling your tummy but are meant to whet your appetite The challenge is to create an artistic piece thatrsquos visually appealing and tempts the tastebudsrdquo explains Amroliwalla who was heading the dessert section at the restaurant before being selected by Khambatta to lead the dim sum team two years ago ldquoInitially everyone underwent dim sum training During it he Khambatta noticed that I was good at making the pleats folds and rolls and made the cutrdquo says the 23yearold ldquoWe rotate our responsibilities to ensure each of us knows every aspect of dim summakingrdquo he adds The teamrsquos veteran is Nun Bahadur Pulami who has a decadersquos experience behind himBusy preparing the prawn and chive dim sums his favourite Pulami carefully opens the lid of the bamboo basket to check if itrsquos steamed enough ldquoThe goodness comes from the details The skin needs to be delicate yet firm enough to hold the filling If the dim sum were to appear without the signature lsquopinchrsquo it would look unappetisingrdquo he saysTen years on therersquos still no contempt for the triangular shaped bites of heaven ldquoEach day is a new experience because itrsquos a craft that can take a lifetimes to masterrdquoLemon LeafTypes of Dimsum9Top pick Prawn har gao nonveg shitake and waterchestnutsvegLemon Leaf which once wooed everyone in Bandra from Turner Road as Lemon Grass now has a kitchen at Bandra Talao from where it caters to delivery ordersOn Tuesday at 1 pm lunch orders have started to trickle in In the next hour the team of three rolls out 25 portions The mise en place has been accomplished and now whatrsquos nearly an 11hour shift begins Ramesh Shreshtha who calls Darjeeling his home has been doing this for eight years He is an artist at work His tools mdash eight counters of fillings mdash at the ready Therersquos minced chicken prawn spinach cottage cheese edamame mushroom spring onions mdash itrsquos a Cantonese counter all right On the oven are three steamers each with a capacity of holding four bamboo boxes Shreshtha pulls out a vessel and fills it with potato starch and pours spinach puree and then starts kneading Next to him is Shivam Rai who assists in rolling out the mounds while Shreshtha takes over stuffing and wrappingOn needing a separate team for the task head chef Sameer Juvekar says ldquoDim sums require a special skill it is the most demanding job in the kitchen And very simply these guys donrsquot have the time to do anything elserdquo The techniques displayed are a marvel mdash knotting itself can be of four kinds There are banana leaf dim sums and even open dimsums stuffed with shitake mushrooms and topped with edamame Shreshtha has been doing just this for eight years but hersquos not even close to boredldquoThis is my skill my craft I feel happy doing this I am never bored not even tiredrdquo