If someone was to ask us what the most memorable event that we've attended this year, this experience would undoubtedly take the cake. Which event are we referring to? We're talking about the time we were invited for a dim sum workshop with Chef Susur Lee at his newest restaurant, Luckee inside Toronto's Soho Met. Having been to Luckee for dim sum before (and enjoying every single bite - read blog post) and having watched the sensational chef on a variety of Food Network shows, we were thrilled to say the least!
Chef Susur Lee is no stranger to Toronto's culinary scene with appearances on Iron Chef, Top Chef and Chopped. He is also owner of famed restaurants such as Lee on King, Bent and Luckee.
The workshop took place at Luckee (inside the SoHo Metropolitan Hotel), which is well known for its unique take on some original and favourite dim sum dishes such as har gow, cheung fun, and siu mai just to name a few. If you haven't yet, you definitely need to visit for an experience of your own! We were in the presence of the Chef himself along with an intimate group of about 10 bloggers, all eager to learn the secrets behind his delicious dishes.
Chef Susur Lee is no stranger to Toronto's culinary scene with appearances on Iron Chef, Top Chef and Chopped. He is also owner of famed restaurants such as Lee on King, Bent and Luckee.
The workshop took place at Luckee (inside the SoHo Metropolitan Hotel), which is well known for its unique take on some original and favourite dim sum dishes such as har gow, cheung fun, and siu mai just to name a few. If you haven't yet, you definitely need to visit for an experience of your own! We were in the presence of the Chef himself along with an intimate group of about 10 bloggers, all eager to learn the secrets behind his delicious dishes.
Our afternoon started with a quick introduction and get to know each session with Susur Lee, where he told us more about the design concept and visions for the restaurant. To our surprise, we were able to provide him with some knowledge about the blogging world and where we get our inspirations come from.
What followed was an assortment of dim sum menu items for attendees to sample, all of which you can order at the restaurant during their regular dining hours.
Curry Shrimp Spring Roll
Har Gow - Shrimp Dumplings
Chicken Cheung Fun - rice roll with tofu, ginger, green onion & soya juice.
One of our favourite appetizers was definitely the cheung fun.
Singapore Slaw - this delicious salad combining 16 ingredients is a popular dish at Susur's other restaurant, Lee on King. Refreshing and full of flavour with just one bite, we were instantly hooked.
Har Gow - Shrimp Dumplings
Chicken Cheung Fun - rice roll with tofu, ginger, green onion & soya juice.
One of our favourite appetizers was definitely the cheung fun.
Singapore Slaw - this delicious salad combining 16 ingredients is a popular dish at Susur's other restaurant, Lee on King. Refreshing and full of flavour with just one bite, we were instantly hooked.
After some mingling and a few bites of Luckee's dim sum menu offerings, we moved into the beautiful kitchen to get down to business! Susur was encouraging and funny but even throughout the laughter, his passion for his work in the kitchen was evident. We learned some of his dim sum tricks creating Siu Mai to roll it and shape each piece to look as nice as Susur's. Of course, we didn't even come close!
Our finished product! Even though they don't look perfect, we must admit that they sure tasted delicious.
Next, we moved back into the kitchen to create Luckee's other popular dish, the Chocolate Custard Steamed Sponge Roll:
We must admit that as simple and straight forward these dishes look, it's really hard to get them right, every time. Pressing the rolls to ensure that there's an equal ratio of chocolate custard to the sponge cake was a little challenging.
Once we "mastered" the art of both savoury and sweet dishes with Chef Susur, his son, Kai Bent-Lee who is also the mixologist for the restaurants, took over to give us a demo on his take on Sangria. It was time for a bit of fun!
Usually, sangrias are considered to be the perfect drink for summer BBQ's and get togethers because it's so easy to make - prosecco, wine and some fruit, right? Well, Kai's version was a little more that just that - he uses about 20 ingredients that's not only delightful to our tastebuds, it's such a pretty site, too!
One thing to remember though, is that it could be chilled in the refrigerator before serving but avoid keeping it in there for over 24 hours as the fruits can start breaking apart or getting soggy. We're definitely going to have to try his 20-ingredient sangria at our next BBQ to impress the socks off our guests.
Special thanks to Susur for having patience with us during the workshop and for feeding us some delicious menu items, as well as to Luckee Restaurant and Soho Metropolitan for hosting this memorable event!
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