Alright, so I decided to mess around with this idea: a dim sum parody. Sounds a bit daft, I know, but hear me out. It wasn’t like I set out to create some masterpiece or anything. It just sort of… happened.
It all started when I was, well, probably just hungry and looking at pictures of dim sum. My brain has this weird habit of twisting things, finding puns where there probably aren’t any. So, names started popping into my head. Silly names, mostly. Like, instead of Har Gow, maybe “Hard Go” – a dumpling that’s just too tough to crack. Or Siu Mai becoming “Shy Guy,” always hiding at the back of the steamer.
Getting The Ball Rolling
So, first things first, I grabbed a notebook. Just an old one I had lying around. Started scribbling these names down. Then I thought, what if these little food items had personalities? What if they had their own little dramas and daily grinds? That’s when it got a bit more involved.
I tried sketching them. Now, let me be clear, I’m no artist. My drawing skills are what you might call… ‘enthusiastic’ but lacking in actual talent. We’re talking very basic shapes. A circle for a bao, a sort of lumpy rectangle for a turnip cake. But I gave it a shot. I wanted to visualize these little characters.
- I imagined a “Worried Wonton,” constantly stressed about being overcooked.
- Then there was “Gloomy Glutinous Rice,” always feeling a bit too sticky and dense.
- And, of course, the “Show-off Spring Roll,” all crispy exterior but maybe not much substance inside.
It was just for my own amusement, really. A way to pass the time and have a bit of a laugh by myself. Sometimes you just need a project that has no real purpose, you know?
The Actual “Making Of” Bit
After the names and the, uh, “concept art,” I thought, why not try to bring some of these to life? Not literally, of course. But maybe set up some little scenes. This is where it got a bit chaotic. I started rummaging around the house for props. Bits of colored paper, some old fabric scraps, toothpicks – you name it. My desk looked like a disaster zone for a few days. My partner probably thought I’d finally lost it.
I tried to photograph these little setups with my phone. Let me tell you, food photography is hard. Parody food photography with makeshift props? Even harder. Getting the lighting right was a constant battle. Most shots looked like they were taken in a dimly lit dungeon. And don’t even get me started on focus. It was a lot of trial and error. Mostly error, if I’m being honest.
Some ideas I had just didn’t translate well. I had this whole elaborate plan for a “Steamed Pork Ribs in Black Bean Sauce” character who was a grizzled old detective. Sounds cool, right? But making a tiny trench coat out of a coffee filter proved to be beyond my crafting abilities. So, that one got scrapped. You gotta learn to let go of the stuff that’s just not working. It’s not like there was a deadline or a client. Just me, messing about.
So, What’s The Result?
In the end, what I’ve got is a folder full of slightly blurry photos and a notebook filled with goofy names and half-baked ideas. It’s my little “dim sum parody” collection. Is it groundbreaking? Absolutely not. Will it change the world? Highly unlikely.
But you know what? It was fun. It was a silly, pointless exercise that made me chuckle. And sometimes, that’s all you need. It’s a good reminder that not everything has to be serious or productive in the traditional sense. Just making something, anything, even if it’s just a dumpling with googly eyes and a tragic backstory you made up, can be pretty satisfying. I didn’t really achieve much, but I sure did do a lot of little things. And that was the whole point, I guess.