Yu-Ma-Mi: take two

On a return visit to Yu-Ma-Mi, Stoke-on-Trent’s fine dining Chinese restaurant based in Trent Vale, I once again found top notch cooking. Combining traditional and modern, old favourites and some less familiar, authentic Chinese dishes including dim sum, Yu-Ma-Mi is a great addition to the Staffordshire food scene.

As I wrote in my recent post about Little Seeds’ New Orleans tasting menu, because I’ve set myself a goal of discovering new food experiences, this sometimes means I don’t go back as often as I should to places I’ve already found and loved.

Yu-Ma-Mi in Stoke-on-Trent is another such example.

I first ate there last summer and loved their combination of traditional and modern Chinese food, the well known and the unfamiliar. If you read my review of that visit here, you’ll see I was particularly wowed by their mission to bring dim sum, delicious bite-sized portions of Chinese food, to Staffordshire.

As it turned out, it was a dim sum dish that was the highlight of my latest visit too. But more of that later.

Besides my partner and regular dining companion, ID, I’d invited along a couple of friends. They’re keen eaters of the sort of westernized food familiar from Chinese takeaways all over Britain. Myself and ID aren’t, so I thought it would be good to get their feedback. How would they react to more authentic Chinese food cooked at a fine dining level? Before we went, I suggested they take a look at Yu-Ma-Mi’s online menu, warning them not to expect chips…

STARTERS

Among Yu-Ma-Mi’s starters, of which there’s around forty, you’ll find tasty little dishes in fantastic variety. There’s soups, steamed or fried dim sum, sharing platters, ribs, skewers of chicken or prawns plus vegetarian choices like crispy tempura veg.

It’s a tough choice, but myself and ID decided on three to share.

SIU MAI PORK & PRAWN DUMPLINGS

One of the great things about dim sum becoming more popular is that siu mai is becoming well known. You can buy them frozen in Chinese supermarkets and, although not recommended, even some high street supermarkets. But if you’ve only had those, then you’re in for a treat at Yu-Ma-Mi.

On my previous visit, I’d noted the freshness of the seafood dishes and these siu mai Pork & Prawn Dumplings (£5.45) had real delicacy of flavour too.

As is traditional, the wonton wrapper enclosing the filling was left slightly open so you could see, and smell, their loveliness as the lid was taken off the bamboo steamer.

But it shouldn’t really come as a surprise that the siu mai were so good. Owner Sam Yu (Yu-Ma-Mi takes its name from a play on the word umami – said to be the fifth taste) is part of the family which owns China Court in Birmingham’s Chinese Quarter. There, they have over 70 different varieties of dim sum and it’s the same experienced chefs that handmake Yu-Ma-Mi’s dim sum too.

SALT & PEPPER SQUID

Like I say, my main aim when eating out is to try new things, but sometimes I just can’t help going back to a dish I’ve really enjoyed.

That was the case with this Salt & Pepper Squid (£7.45). Last time, I thought it was one of the best squid dishes I’d eaten. ID is a real squid fiend anyway, so it made sense to order it again.

Happily, the dish was just as good as we remembered. Perfectly cooked, tender squid coated in very crunchy, light batter, the whole thing tossed with salt, pepper and lots of sliced moderately hot chillies plus garlic and onion.

LO MAI GAI

Our final starter turned out to be, for me, the highlight of the meal. As is so often the case when I’m eating out, something I wasn’t really expecting too much of will stand in my mind as most memorable.

I’d never heard of Lo Mai Gai (£4.95). Its description didn’t sound anything special: steamed sticky rice wrapped in lotus leaf parcels with a peanut filling.  ‘Really tasty’, the menu read, as if conceding that you might need a little convincing.

But it was that ‘really tasty’ that did convince me to try Lo Mai Gai. After all, at less than a fiver, what’s to lose? And with a couple of rich, meaty dishes coming up for our main course, a few little leaf-wrapped mouthfuls of rice would be neither here nor there, right?

Wrong! Opening up the steamer basket we were amazed to see two huge parcels. I think I’d assumed they’d be like stuffed vine leaves – little more than a thick fingerwidth and two or three bites each. But these filled the whole basket.

Opening up the fat leaves, at first the filling appeared to be just lots of rice. But, delving further, it was clear there was a lot more going on. Not just the peanuts listed on the menu, but mushrooms, tiny shrimp, rich, meaty Chinese sausage and egg too.

I virtually never eat white rice, and sticky rice rarely appeals. But the flavour of this sticky rice has converted me. Perfectly cooked, with no stodginess, it had taken on the flavours of all the delicious little treats and morsels hidden within.

Appearance wise, Lo Mai Gai wasn’t going to win any beauty contests. But, crikey, it tasted so good.

MAINS

For our shared mains, we uncharacteristically headed off into largely meaty territory.

CRISPY SATAY DUCK POT

When they hear the word satay, I guess most people think of the peanut based spicy dipping sauce, often served with skewered meats, associated with Thailand or Indonesia rather than China.

But satay is popular in many Asian countries and the word refers to the meat, not the sauce, which may or may not contain peanuts.

At Yu-Ma-Mi the very substantial Crispy Satay Duck Pot (£13.95) was full of tender, flavourful aromatic duck and lots of vegetables.

The richly flavoured sauce was spicy with a little sweetness. Labelled with a one chilli symbol on the menu, the hot pot had just the right amount of warming heat.

This was a really satisfying, quality dish.

HONG KONG 3 ROAST

Our friends had chosen the smaller, starter version of this dish for one of their shared first courses. And when we saw their tempting looking platter of meat arrive, we were glad we’d selected Hong Kong 3 Roast (£13.95) as a main dish.

When I’m in the mood, I can eat a fair bit of meat. Despite ID having less of a capacity for it he also, with gusto, tucked in to the impressive array of duck, pork and pork belly. All were perfectly cooked and seasoned.

Perhaps, with all the other interesting dishes on offer, this traditional Chinese roast was a rather safe choice on our part. On the other hand, its relative simplicity did demonstrate the quality of ingredients used and the bang on cooking skills of the kitchen.

HO FUN NOODLES WITH VEGETABLES

As a side dish to eat with our meaty mains, we opted for Fried Ho Fun Noodles & Veg (£4.95).

I say side dish but, true to generous form, at Yu-Ma-Mi this piled high plateful was really the size of a main course.

Ho fun are wide, flat rice noodles, similar in breadth to pappardelle pasta. I almost always prefer thick noodles and pasta, as they somehow seem more satisfying. In this case the noodles combined wonderfully well with all the vegetables, including onion, spring onion and bean sprouts.

I think this dish is a great example of the difference between Yu-Ma-Mi’s cooking and your run of the mill Chinese restaurant or takeaway. It was full of rich, complex flavour with very fresh ingredients.

In fact, one of our friends, a lover of chow mein, tasted it and for her it was the best dish of the evening. She thought the amount of flavour packed into this apparently simple plate, was amazing compared to what she’s been used to in a fried noodle dish.

DOGGIE BAG

Tasty as everything was, the generous servings meant that ID and I couldn’t manage to polish off all of our main courses (although I did put away a dessert of fried pineapple and ice cream, and he coconut ice cream with a cherry on top).

However, I loathe waste of any kind and certainly wasn’t going to leave behind this quality food. As last time, the restaurant was happy to pack up our leftovers, so the next day we had a delicious late breakfast of spicy duck, roast meats, noodles and veg.

HIGHLY RECOMMENDED

As much as I loved the first time I ate at Yu-Ma-Mi, I think I might have enjoyed my recent visit even more.

Maybe it was that, on a Friday evening, our meal was accompanied by live piano music. Perhaps it was that unexpectedly good Lo Mai Gai – unassuming but unforgettable.

Added to those factors was the good company of friends and the pleasure of introducing them to a new experience. Thankfully, they loved it too.

Dishes they selected for themselves were Pan Fried Pork & Vegetable Dumplings (£5.45), Hong Kong Three Roast starter (£7.95), House Special Sizzling Steak (£14.95), House Special Sizzling Sliced Chicken Breast (£11.95) and Boiled Rice (£2.95).

Between the four of us, I think we sampled a good selection across Yu-Ma-Mi’s offering of Westernized dishes familiar to British diners as well as lesser known Chinese ones.

Without exception, all the food we ate was faultless.

So, whether you’re after your old favourites elevated to fine dining, or want to try some of China’s authentic cuisine, Yu-Ma-Mi is the place to go.

Highly recommended.