Don Jevonn
While I’ve certainly written about
this before (and most likely will again) there are one-offs and
little events that tend to make me want to revisit them. And hence,
without further ado, we return to that happy hunting ground that I’ve
spoken of in times past: Tao, in Campal, Panjim. For those of
you who follow my adventures, and
for that matter, even those who don’t,
Tao is a favourite stop for me primarily because I think that their
Nasi Goreng is outstanding. But that is not why we’re here today.
We’re here, primarily because a chance encounter with a dear friend
led me to return to Tao so that he could sample the aforementioned
dish that I had raved about as much as I had. However, upon reaching
there, we quickly discovered that there was a special Dim Sum
festival on, which of course piqued our interest.
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The first thing on the menu that caught
my eye was the Duck Jiaozi. For those who are more familiar with the
American way of life, these are popularly known as ‘pot stickers’.
These ‘stickers’ in particular are filled with a shredded amount
of spicy Peking duck, spring onions, garlic and mushrooms. In my
honest opinion, this dish is lovely and light, but needs a little
more seasoning to bring out the flavour to its fullest potential,
which is undoubtedly there.
But Goa being Goa, and our love for the
sea being what it is, one could not possibly go without ordering the
Prawn Mandu. This Korean style steamed dumpling is stuffed with
prawn, shitake mushroom, tofu and spring onions, and served with a
Korean dipping sauce, which is highly reminiscent of the
peanut-flavoured sauce on a satay platter. It’s simple, flavoursome
and probably my favourite of the evening.
Prawn Dim Sum Mushrooms. Unlike
conventional dim sum, here the stuffing that goes into the dumpling
is stuffed into the inverted caps of button mushrooms, which are then
steamed. It is a perhaps unusual dish, and moreover difficult to
cook. I would prefer mine steamed a little less than what I received,
but the flavours are all there, and it is an undoubtedly delicious
dish.
If there’s one thing I’ve noticed,
it is Goa’s love for what they refer to as ‘Schezwan’. Across
cuisines, people ask for a dollop of the sauce with any snacky dish
they’ve ordered, even a cheese naan. Sigh! Hence this next dish is
one which I personally think the state of Goa will love; Chao Shou.
This Sichuan Chicken Wonton is a throwback to the classic Chinese
wonton, and is filled with minced chicken, spring onions and
mushrooms, before being tossed in Sichuan sauce.
There is no doubt that there are
vegetarian options for those that ‘swing the other way’, the
non-meat one i.e. There are vegetable stuffed mushrooms nearly
identical to their prawn counterpart mentioned earlier. In similar
vein, there are also pot stickers in a vegetarian variation, but I
still find that the duck is a big miss.
Dessert has far from missed out on
making its way on to this menu, with a Steamed Lemon Curd and Coconut
Dumpling finding its way on to the roster of the festival. Filled
with creamy lemon goodness with a dash of grated coconut for lift and
texture, this one just ends the meal on a sweet note, with a
lingering hint of tang.
All in all, this menu is different from
what most Pan Asian restaurants in the city have to offer, and is one
that will be on offer for a very limited period of time. So what are
you waiting for? Go…now…
