World Foodie Guide

If you’re a regular World Foodie Guide reader or a personal acquaintance of mine, then you’ll know that I love to eat dim sum! I go whenever I can, and if an excuse is needed, then I’ll invent one in the name of research. In early May, I’m going to write about Where to Eat Dim Sum in London, so from now on, I will just have to try a few more restaurants…

As my parents are originally from Hong Kong, I grew up on my mother and grandmother’s cooking, as well on the Cantonese food that we served in our restaurants in Germany. I’ve also been eating at dim sum restaurants since I was about three (when I was known as the prawn dumpling or ‘har gau‘ princess), so I’ve had some time to hone my taste buds where dim sum is concerned. Incidentally, it’s really rare for Chinese people to prepare a dim sum meal at home, because it would take far too long and each dish is quite complicated and time-consuming to make. People also like the idea of specialist dim sum chefs making their dim sum, and going for dim sum is a means of socialising with friends and family, particularly at the weekends.

Living in London, I now go regularly to Pearl Liang and Yauatcha, and I’ve written about How To Eat Dim Sum and What Dim Sum To Order. But you might like to know more about the origins and traditions of dim sum.

Where does dim sum come from?:
Dim sum literally means ‘touch the heart’, and is a type of Cantonese cuisine, consisting of a wide variety of small dishes, served with Chinese tea. It is in Hong Kong, Macau and the southern Chinese province of Guangdong, where the majority of the population is Cantonese-speaking, that superb dim sum restaurants and tea houses can be found. Dim sum and Cantonese cuisine are popular around the world because many overseas Chinese, Cantonese in origin, settled in their host countries to prepare the food with which they were most familiar.

What kinds of dishes are available?:
Rice porridge (congee or juk), fried noodles and rice are served alongside different types of dumplings (steamed, fried, grilled), steamed meat and seafood balls, buns (savoury and sweet) and endless other varieties of small, light dishes – steamed, baked, fried, grilled. The portion sizes of these are small, with three or four pieces per serving.

The classics – har gau (steamed prawn dumpling), char siu bau (steamed roast pork bun), spare ribs in black bean sauce, cheung fun (rice noodle rolls with fillings such as roast pork, prawn and beef) and so on – are continually adapted using new ingredients and combinations to create ever more exciting flavours and unique presentation styles.

Vegetarian dim sum are unfortunately still a rarity, as most dishes are prepared with prawn, pork, beef and other seafood. Vegetable steamed dumplings and spring rolls are about as much as you will find in a dim sum restaurant, and they are not that tasty either. Perhaps it is the pork-based lard used in standard dim sum that makes it so delicious! I always find it hard going for dim sum with the husband, who is vegetarian and who usually has to settle for vegetarian dishes on the main menu. We did however find an excellent vegetarian dim sum restaurant in Hong Kong, Lock Cha Tea Shop, which I highly recommend.

Sweet dim sum are also popular on any menu, although I’m not so familiar with these, because I’m always too full from eating the savoury dim sum to manage the sweet varieties. But I’ll always leave room for at least one dan taat (egg custard tart) or classic mango pudding.

When is dim sum served?
Dim sum is usually served from early morning (as early as 5am) until mid-afternoon. I remember going for dim sum once with my grandfather at about 7am in Hong Kong, when I was about six or seven. It was a strange experience because up until then, I had only eaten dim sum at lunch in England. But I ate and ate, while he read his newspaper and drank Chinese tea. Elderly people like to go early for dim sum as part of their morning ritual (they used to take along their song birds in tiny bird cages, until this became too unhygienic!)

Dim sum is most popular at the weekends, especially Sundays, when entire families or groups of friends can get together. It’s a very social event, with much emphasis on sharing food and pouring tea for each other. Dim sum restaurants can also be deafeningly loud, but that’s all part of the atmosphere. In England, there are now modern dim sum restaurants that serve it in the evening as well, but I’m a traditionalist – I don’t eat dim sum after lunch!

Drinking Chinese tea with dim sum:
Drinking Chinese tea is traditional when having dim sum. To go for dim sum is also called ‘yum cha‘, which literally means ‘drink tea’ in Cantonese. The waiter will typically ask what type of tea the customer wants. You can request the tea that you like and see if the restaurant or tea house has it. The price of tea varies widely, and can cost more than the meal itself, but most people will order a standard black bo lei (pu’er in Mandarin), tit kwun yum or Iron Goddess (a popular oolong) or jasmine (heung pin in Cantonese). I find bo lei a bit strong, and normally order heung pin with an extra pot of boiling water to really dilute the tea.

I know little about the types of Chinese tea, except that we drink tea with dim sum because it supposedly helps with the digestion of oily foods. Incidentally, Hong Kong health officials have recently warned that dim sum contains high amounts of saturated fats (plenty of lard is used in the wrappers and pastries) and salt, so it’s best eaten in moderation.

Tea is usually charged per person, but some restaurants charge per pot. Refills are usually free, but modern dim sum restaurants may charge for an extra pot (even though they might have just added some water to the original tea leaves!)

Tea rituals:
There are also rituals involved with the serving of tea. Other people’s tea cups should be topped up before pouring tea for oneself, even if someone’s cup looks almost full. It’s more a courtesy than a practicality. If another person is pouring tea for you, a light double tap on the table with either the knuckles or the forefinger and middle finger together is a polite acknowledgement, without having to say thank you (as you’ll either be in mid-conversation or in the middle of a mouthful).

This is said to originate from the olden days when a Chinese 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, the servant was really shaken by this, but could only demonstrate his obeisance by using his knuckles (rather than kneeling or prostrating himself in front of his emperor).

When the teapot requires topping up with hot water, simply remove the lid and place it balanced on the edge of the pot, resting against the handle. This is a universally recognised sign in Chinese restaurants and the waiter will top it up for you.

Another thing Chinese people do is to rinse their bowls, plates, Chinese spoons and chopsticks with hot tea, even if these aren’t noticeably dirty. It’s a ‘hygiene’ ritual and forms part of the dim sum meal. I think these days though, it’s mostly the older generation that do it, but I simply ask for replacements if I find anything dirty.

Ordering dim sum:
The dim sum selection follows the ordering of the tea. I haven’t been to the trolley service restaurants for many years, which are more common in Hong Kong, Macau and Guangdong than elsewhere. If you can’t read or understand Chinese, then this can be a real hit-and-miss affair, although you’ll certainly get to sample dishes you’d never order off a menu! You can also just point at what others are having. Other restaurants have a form that you can fill in by writing the quantities next to each of the listed items. This is usually in Chinese, but some restaurants have the same form in another language, depending on where you are. You can also ask the waiter to help you fill it in if you can’t read the form, but know what you want to eat.

Do read my other two posts as well, as they contain tips that you might find useful. How to Eat Dim Sum talks about the etiquette involved in eating dim sum, a shared meal, while What Dim Sum To Order goes into more detail about the different types of dim sum on offer. What’s Your Favourite Dim Sum will be useful too.

Let me know about your dim sum experiences, and what your favourite dim sum are!

Check out the Useful Info page for more informational posts on Chinese food.

Helen Yuet Ling Pang @ World Foodie Guide

Tags: breakfast, Cantonese, China, Chinese, Chinese food etiquette, dim sum, dining out, food, food & travel, lunch, restaurants, tea, traveleating