Chinese Dim Sum

By Author: Jamie Hanson
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Many people have heard of the words Chinese Dim Sum, but do you know what it is? Dim sum is a Chinese word derived from Cantonese language which literally means "dot the heart". It is a meal usually eaten during breakfast, brunch or tea consists of a combination of a variety of Chinese snacks and appetizers in small servings served in plates or steamer basket. Dim sum can be steamed, deep-fried or baked.

The traditional dim sum meal normally comprise of various buns such as the cha siu bao (BBQ Pork Buns) or lotus bean paste buns, dumplings and rice noodle rolls or cheong fun. Inside these dumplings and noodle rolls are an assortment of beef, chicken, prawns and pork. Two very popular dim sum dumplings are siu mai and har gaw. However, if you are vegetarian, you can get it with vegetarian stuffing too. Other than these, you can also find various other dishes such as congee porridge, lotus-leaf wrapped sticky rice chicken feet or pork ribs in black bean sauce, steamed vegetables, roasted meat, chow mein, egg tarts and soups.

Dim sum dining, also known as "yam cha", basically means "drinking tea". This is because ...
... of the fact that tea is almost always accompanies dim sum dishes. A couple of the most common teas that are served in a dim sum restaurant are oolong also called wu lung, Chrysanthemum, and green tea. Another tea that you may find that is normally reputed to aid digestion is pu-er, which is a type of strong tea.

In Chinese custom, the tea is poured to others first, before pouring in your own cup. The recipient can thank the person who pours the tea by tapping his/her index finger several times next to the cup if you are a single or using both the middle and index fingers if you're married. This traditional tapping custom is to represent thank and bowing to them. It is done to save time in loud or lively restaurants as the person might be talking or eating when the host is serving their tea. To attract the waiter's attention, the gesture is to leave the lid off from the tea-pot.

It is a tradition to get dim sum family style as they are served in a small portion of two to four pieces in one plate. Ordering dim sum family style enables every family member to share and enjoy many varieties of food. You may get several plates for each kind of dish if one plate is not enough for everyone in the table to sample it.

In a dim sum restaurant, you can either order off a menu or in some restaurants, dim sum is offered by somebody going around the restaurant using a wheel cart. The price of dim sum dishes may vary. There are those that calculate the total by the number and size or even at times by the color of the dishes that are left on the eaters table. There are also restaurants that record the dishes ordered on a bill at the table. This is a neater method and prevents patrons from hiding or stealing the plates in an attempt to cheat. In some of these places, servers will use a unique stamp to make sure the numbers of sales made through him/her are recorded correctly.

The varieties of dim sum are endless. Some of my favorites are deep fried taro cake, mango pudding, fried beancurd rolls with shrimp, steamed scallop dumpling and stuffed eggplant. Make sure you try them!

For a large selection of Chinese recipes and Chinese dim sum recipes, visit ChineseFood-Recipes.com.