Taste Of The Town Visits Local Favorite Tropical Chinese
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MIAMI (CBSMiami) - Renowned by locals and tourists alike, Tropical Chinese, across from Tropical Park, is a family favorite celebrating 30 years in business.
May Yu came to Miami with her parents from Taiwan when she was a small child.
"My mom cooked awesome food," Yu said. "She can cook up a storm so when we came to U.S. we decided there's nothing else we can do but cook since they don't speak any English so they decided to open the first restaurant."
Right away, Tropical Chinese became a local's favorite, famous for many dishes, but none more than their fresh-made dim sum.
The dim sum is served on push carts in steamer baskets or small plates. There are 60- 90 selections of dim sum daily. They start with those flat pieces of dough that are rolled and stuffed with a number of surprises.
"The word dim sum means little hors d'oeuvres that touch the heart, so we like to think about our dishes that we touch hearts. It's a family affair, that's what we do," Yu said.
There are 20 chefs that work in the kitchen, those that make dim sum start at 5 a.m. Everything is prepared from scratch and the proof is in the restaurant's popularity—it's packed daily.
CBS4's Lisa Petrillo sat down and chose from one of the large pushcarts of dim sum. She tried one stuffed with shrimp, scallops and a hint of cilantro
"It's so delicate and it does have a kick. The shrimp is so fresh—so much flavor in this dim sum," she said.
But there's much more to the menu than dim sum. It's actually heavy book with a plethora of things to nosh on.
Tropical is known for its Peking Duck—sliced at the table. Wraps are made stuffed with duck meat, duck skin, scallions, cucumber and plum sauce.
"The duck is so tender and moist and then there's a crunch. The skin gives it so much flavor, this is a special dish," Petrillo said.
And finally, red snapper served whole. The fish is deboned and filleted and served in an edible basket made from potato.
"It has a savory taste on outside and the fish is moist on the inside. I feel like I could be in China and get this dish," said Petrillo.
Tropical Chinese is open 7 days a week, 364 and 1/2 days of the year serving lunch and dinner.
For more information, visit www.tropicalchinesemiami.com.