How’s the Frozen Dim Sum at Home from Yung Yee Kee’s New Shop?

Photo: Brie Thalmann

Dim sum at home is such an appealing concept, especially for us non-townies who don’t have easy access to Honolulu’s plethora of delicious dim sum spots. So when Go Go Mix, a frozen dim sum shop by Yung Yee Kee Dim Sum—the former Kapi‘olani Boulevard restaurant that now has a popular counter in Ala Moana Center’s Lanai Food Court—opened in ‘Aiea in October, I was excited to give it a try.

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Photos: Brie Thalmann

The Selection

On the second level of ‘Aiea Shopping Center, Go Go Mix consists of four jumbo-size refrigerators jam-packed with frozen food, in small and large serving sizes. The menu boasts a whopping 40 options, most of which are hash (pork, fish), dumplings (shrimp and chives, half moon, soup), steamed and baked bao (char siu, lup cheong, chicken, egg custard), and rolls (rice noodle, bean curd, spring roll). Sticky rice in lotus leaf, turnip cake, taro puffs, egg tarts, chicken feet and jin dui are available as well.

And you can get starches (including fried noodles and garlic fried rice), jook congee (with pork, century egg or chicken) and meats by the half-pound (sweet and sour chicken, shoyu pork belly, roasted pork and bbq pork). A couple of small bento options offer two pieces of siu mai with a half-moon and sticky rice in lotus leaf or char siu bao.

Photo: Brie Thalmann

What We Got

We picked up the smaller servings of:

• siu mai ($8.74 for nine pieces)
• har gow ($9.60 for eight pieces)
• steamed char siu bao ($8.99 for six pieces)
• sticky rice in lotus leaf ($9.79 for four pieces)
• turnip cake ($7.99 for six pieces)
• baked snow mountain char siu bao ($7.80 for three pieces)

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Photo: Brie Thalmann

How We Made It

Go Go Mix says no thaw time is required. In fact, an employee told us that at Yung Yee Kee, the dim sum goes right from the freezer to the pot/pan. Most items come with instructions for heating in the microwave or via steam, bake or pan-fry. Hoping to get as close to the restaurant experience as possible, we went with steaming for our siu mai, har gow, char siu bao and sticky rice.

We split our pieces between a pot with a perforated metal steamer basket and one with the bamboo-plastic baskets that Go Go Mix sells for $4.50 a pop. For the turnip cake and baked snow mountain char siu bao, Go Go recommends you microwave first before pan-frying and baking.

Photo: Brie Thalmann

The Results

We followed the temperature directions to a T, but the centers of all pieces were still frozen. Both pots needed double to triple the suggested times to heat the dim sum all the way through. Keep that in mind when planning your meals.

The metal steamer basket was slightly faster than the bamboo basket stack. And its pieces warmed through at a similar rate, whereas each tier of the bamboo stack seemed to be on its own temperature journey.

The siu mai, har gow and char siu bao were on the smaller side, especially compared to massive Yung Yee Kee har gow we encountered at 7-Eleven. But the fillings were all fantastic—tender, super juicy and very flavorful. The siu mai was our clear favorite, with its thin, perfectly springy wrapper. The only letdown was the har gow wrapper, which was overly dense and a bit mushy.

The sticky rice in lotus leaf took the longest to steam. It was worth the wait for the generous portion, nicely balanced flavor and pretty hearty chunks of meat.

Photo: Brie Thalmann

The sleeper hit of the whole meal was something we threw in our basket as a last-minute addition: the baked snow mountain char siu bao. You microwave it for 30 seconds, then bake for 10 minutes. Was it worth firing up the oven for three bao? Boy, was it. A sweet, golden crust covers the dome. Toasty, crunchy and sweet on the outside, while soft, chewy and savory on the inside, it was heaven in every bite.

Photo: Brie Thalmann

The only real fail was the turnip cake, which looked such a mess I did not bother to include a photo. You microwave it first, then pan-fry on medium heat. But we couldn’t get a good, crunchy texture unless we cranked the heat up to high. On both heats, the cake fell apart in the pan, and the whole thing was pretty mushy. We likely won’t be ordering that again.

Overall, trying Go Go Mix frozen dim sum was fun and mostly delicious. It’s not the same as getting dim sum directly from the cart. But for family parties, a fun stay-in night with friends or even just if a craving hits, it’s a nice option. And how convenient is it that you can keep a stash in your freezer? We’ll definitely be back to try more items and see how microwaving the dim sum pans out.

‘Aiea Shopping Center, 99-115 ‘Aiea Heights Drive, #247, ‘Aiea, yykdimsum.com, @gogomix.hawaii

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Brie Thalmann is the home and style editor of HONOLULU Magazine.