The Squid Steamed at Hum Sung in Ottawa was prepared with Scallion and Ginger. It was decent overall, and deserved a Rating of 3 out of 5.
I love squid cooked just about every way possible, and steamed squid is something I enjoy making at home. I often order it in Dim Sum restaurants and, though there is a wide range of quality from establishment to establishment, it is rare to be served with something I don’t enjoy. Here at the Hum Sung Restaurant in Ottawa’s Chinatown, theirs was not the best I have ever had, but it was still a fairly decent version of this Dim Sum classic.
The first thing noticeable about the Hum Sum Steamed Squid was the pretty plating job and service in an individual steamer basket. Often, especially in Dim Sum restaurants with cart-service, the dishes tend to get a bit sloppy through handling of the hot plates, with sauce splashing about the place. The other was the aroma that arose immediately as my portion was set before me. It was truly wonderful and appetizing.
The squid pieces themselves were clearly sliced from a relatively large specimen as they were quite thick. Usually, pieces this thick will be scored with little cuts before steaming, and failing to do this can result in overly chewy meat. Here, though, they managed to avoid this and the meat had a lovely texture that still retained a nice ‘bite’ but was delightfully tender at the same time.
The pieces were lightly dusted with corn starch, which helped to thicken the juices thrown off during steaming, and the green onion sections were just delectable as a delicate highlight. The ginger, unfortunately, was added with a bit of a heavy hand and rather dominated the dish a bit. This is something of a subjective assessment, in all honesty, but I felt that the result was a bit off-balanced. That notwithstanding, though, that did not materially affect my overall enjoyment of the dish and I still think this was a pretty good execution.