How To Eat Dim Sum
Nov 27th, 2007 by admin
[Have a look at my posts What is Chinese Dim Sum? and What's Your Favourite Dim Sum before reading the rest of this post! If you live in London, Where to Eat Dim Sum in London may also be useful.]
Chinese dim sum is a shared meal, so my tips on chopstick etiquette and sharing food may come in handy. The dishes will usually arrive gradually, rather than all at once, but not in any particular order. Just eat what arrives, so as not to let the food go cold.
Carefully pick up an item from the steamed basket or plate with your chopsticks without touching the other pieces. Don’t worry if it sticks to the paper underneath, you’ll most likely get help from a neighbour. Sometimes a Chinese spoon in your other hand comes in handy too.
Chinese people eat one item at a time, rather than piling everything into the bowl. And we normally sample one piece from each type of dim sum, leaving the rest for others. When everyone has had a taste, then it’s fine to have another one. It’s not a counting game by any means, but it’s considered a little rude to have eaten three prawn dumplings when your neighbour hasn’t even tried one.
Some things, like cheung fun, come without a serving spoon, so just ask for one. Cheung fun is really slippery, but each long piece can be divided up into twos or threes with a metal spoon, so that it’s more manageable. People generally don’t take a whole piece for themselves in one go (although you might end up eventually eating enough to total a whole piece). Remember to dip your piece in the sauce on the plate before eating it. Once it’s gone into your bowl, you won’t be able to put it back on the plate to dip into the sauce.
Certain things are slightly trickier to eat. If you have steamed ribs, these will come in a small dish, in bite-sized portions with the bone on. Pop the whole piece into your mouth and work off the meat. Then use your chopsticks to take the bone out and place it on the side of your plate. Steamed ribs are really delicious, so don’t miss out on these just because they seem a bit fiddly to eat.
I don’t eat chicken or duck’s feet, but you simply put the piece in your mouth and suck off the skin and jelly bits. You’ll end up with a small pile of clean bones on the side of your plate. If you practise this technique, your dining companions will be in awe of you.
Egg custard tarts are eaten with fingers, not chopsticks, as are char siu bao (roast pork buns).
When eating dim sum, I always ask for soy sauce as the chef isn’t around to be offended. Pour a little into your spoon, bowl or plate and dunk away. Do the same with chilli sauce or XO sauce.
A note on shared dipping sauces. Watch what other Chinese people do. Stick to the correct dipping sauce for each dish and don’t mix them with other dishes as the flavours will be spoiled. And don’t dip, take a bite out of your piece of food, then dip again. A quick dunk should be more than enough, but if you really want more sauce, use a teaspoon to add some to your food in your bowl.
A note on drinking tea with dim sum. Top up other people’s tea cups before filling up your own, even if someone’s cup looks almost full. It’s a courtesy rather than a practicality. If another person is pouring tea for you, a light double tap on the table with either your knuckles or the forefinger and middle finger together is a polite acknowledgement, without having to say thank you (you’ll either be in mid-conversation or in the middle of a mouthful).
Apparently, this originates from the olden days when an emperor went incognito amongst his people to see how they were living. When he had to serve one of his servants food, in order to appear like an ordinary person, his servant was really shaken by this, yet could only demonstrate his obeisance by using his knuckles (rather than kneeling or prostrating himself in front of his emperor).
When the teapot needs topping up with hot water, simply remove the lid and place it balanced on the edge of the pot, resting against the handle. The waiter will then refill it for you.
Most importantly, dim sum is meant to be relaxing and enjoyable, so don’t worry too much about making mistakes. There are no hard and fast rules, so just have a delicious meal out with your friends!
Let me know if you have other tips or suggestions! I’d love to hear them. I’m also happy to answer any questions, if I can!
Check out the Useful Info page for more informational posts on Chinese food.
This is a very useful website, I am glad I found it
I am working for a company in Sydney that is doing a lot of work in Shanghai, and we’ll soon have our Chinese colleagues visiting Sydney so I am trying to learn more about the etiquette of Chinese dining, as we will be entertaining them a fair bit while they’re here
I have a question about deep fried dim sums if I may. They are quite big, too big to swallow at once! While I can pick them up with chop sticks easily, what is the best way to eat one? Do you just a bite at a time?
I keep using my fork and spoon to “slice” them into smaller bits, but would like to know the “correct” way to eat them with chop sticks! Thanks
Hi Jake
Lucky you, lots of Chinese food to look forward to then!
Re deep fried dim sum, I do agree that they are always too big to eat in one go. But one bite at a time with your chopsticks is better than using your fork and spoon. However, if you have a Chinese ceramic spoon (as opposed to a metal ‘Western’ spoon), then it’s perfectly OK to use that as ‘support’ in your other hand. I find most dim sum are too big to be eaten in one bite, so I use a spoon sometimes – not to eat with, but to hold or rest the dim sum on, then eat using the chopsticks. Hope this makes sense.
There’s another post I wrote recently, called How To Eat With Chinese Stick, and there’s a response from me to a comment that you might find useful – about using place settings at a Chinese meal.
If you’re going to be entertaining Chinese guests, you’ll have to remember all the stuff I wrote in the other posts listed above about shared meals – using communal chopsticks and serving spoons, not personal chopsticks when transferring food from shared dishes to your bowl, not letting your guests top up their own drinks (whether tea or alcohol), offering them the best bits (lobster claw would be considered the best part of a lobster).
Feel free to ask more questions, I love talking about Chinese food etiquette. All the posts I’ve written are listed in the Useful Info page at the top.
Good luck!
Helen Yuet Ling
Hi Helen, thanks very much for your response. I’ll buy some dim sums next time I buy takeaway and try your eating recommendation at home where no one can see me make a fool of myself
I’m trying to go to more Chinese restaurants for lunch and dinner and do try watch other people as much as possible but so far I’ve seen no one eating deep fried dim sums!
And thanks for the mentioning the other articles, very helpful
Hi Jake
You’re welcome. Practising at home is a good idea! I think if you can pick up green peas with chopsticks (and those slippery straw mushrooms), then you’ll have no problems with fried dim sum.
Let me know how it goes with the entertaining…
Helen
Hi there
anyone any idea what tea is served with dim sum. Tried it at the weekend and loved it! want to buy some!
Janie
There are different types of tea served at dim sum. It really depends on the restaurant though. Diners are always asked what kind of tea they would like, long before food is ordered. Common ones are bo lei, heung pin (jasmine) and tit gwun yum (Iron Goddess). Hope this helps…
Helen Yuet Ling
Thankyou so much your article helped me lot. It was great knowledge to me.
God Bless you!
Pradeep Pradhan – you’re welcome! Thanks for visiting my blog and I hope you enjoy your dim sum…
Helen Yuet Ling