WASHINGTON 鈥� It鈥檚 safe to say that Tim Ma has had a busy year. Actually, a busy seven years.
Since 2009, the chef and restaurateur has opened three restaurants in Northern Virginia and two in D.C. 鈥� both in the same year. His latest project, , made its public debut last weekend.
The casual Petworth tea house in the former home of Chez Billy is quite different from Ma鈥檚 more formal D.C. dining spot, .
At Ten Tigers, the food is no-fuss; the d茅cor is 鈥�19th century opium den鈥�; and come January, the dining room will be open during the day for coffee, tea and pastry service.聽
Tables in the two-story Georgia Avenue space are even equipped with outlets for locals in need of a bubble tea and a mobile office.
Ma, who worked as an engineer before he became a chef, describes the menu at Ten Tigers as Asian street food with a Chinese focus. Diners can graze on a selection of dumplings, bao buns, noodle bowls, rice donburi and skewers 鈥� all of which ring up under $12.
鈥淭here are certain dishes on the menu that were inspired from things that I ate growing up in my family,鈥� said Ma, whose parents used to run their own Chinese restaurant in Arkansas.
One of the noodle dishes is even a recipe from Ma鈥檚 uncle. (Of course, Ma鈥檚 parents, who stopped by Ten Tigers two days before it opened, were quick to point out how much their son鈥檚 dish deviated from the original version.)
鈥淭hey were like: 鈥楴o, no no. You have this wrong. You need to use this in order to make it,鈥欌�� said Ma, who 聽was tapped to design the food menu at Ten Tigers by brothers Ian and Eric Hilton and partner Scott Herman.
However, the item receiving the most attention on the food menu聽is the soup dumpling 鈥� a food that鈥檚 developed somewhat of a cult following in recent years. While soup dumplings are relatively easy to find at Chinese restaurants in the Virginia and Maryland suburbs, very few places in D.C. serve them 鈥� or, if they do, they鈥檙e on the small side, Ma said. 聽
The key ingredient in the darling dish is a gelatinous stock, made from chicken feet and bones. Ma explains the stock is reduced over the course of a day to the consistency of a jelly. Then, it鈥檚 added into the dumpling dough, along with meat, Chinese chives and seasonings.
鈥淲hen you steam it, the [gelatinized stock] turns back into stock, but it鈥檚 enclosed in this little cute package,鈥� Ma said. 鈥淚t鈥檚 kind of fun to eat. It packs a lot of flavors. It鈥檚 unique.鈥�
His definition of 鈥渇un鈥� translates to 鈥渕essy鈥� for many, hence the need for demonstrating the proper way to eat a soup dumpling.
The bao buns at Ten Tigers are different from the fold-over style bao, made popular by chefs like David Chang and Eddie Huang. Ma鈥檚 are enclosed and resemble plump purses of dough, filled with minced meat, vegetables and seasonings.聽
Ten Tigers is one of several street-food-inspired eateries聽to open in D.C. in recent years. Ma鈥檚 explanation for the uptick is the diner鈥檚 desire for good fast food.
鈥淚 think people are 鈥� we go through cycles. And I feel like we鈥檙e in the cycle where we鈥檙e coming down from pretentious, complicated food to just really tasty, delicious food, which is what this is,鈥� he said.
鈥淭his is me plating the food here.鈥� (Ma took a hot dumpling off a pan and plopped it on a wooden serving board next to a bowl of hoisin-soy dipping sauce.)
鈥�Kyirisan would be like tomato tartare and you鈥檝e got to line up the mushrooms perfectly on top of black garlic puree and black garlic power. This is just as delicious as what we do at Kyirisan, but it鈥檚 all packaged in this little tiny dough package.鈥�
The two-story Georgia avenue tea house also has an outdoor patio and an upstairs space for private events. Currently, it opens for cocktails and food service at 5 p.m. Extended daytime hours will be announced after the new year.
