BRIEF HISTORY OF DIM SUM
The unique culinary art of dim sum (Cantonese) or dian xin (Mandarin) means "a little bit of heart" and originated in China hundreds of years ago. It is said to have started along the Silk Road where farmers, laborers and travelers often stopped at roadside teahouses to have afternoon tea, regain sustenance and relax, an olden days version of the local neighborhood bar. In the third century AD, Hua To, a highly respected Imperial physician, advised that eating food while drinking tea would cause excessive weight gain. But the Cantonese in southern China disregarded that advice and turned the quiet and unexciting teahouse into a loud and lively eating experience, which is also how the term "yum cha" (to drink tea) became synonymous with consuming dim sum. Since the 10th century, about 2000 different varieties of dim sum have been created, with up to 100 kinds offered on any given day in the larger restaurants.
It is now the typical Hong Kong breakfast/lunch fare, much like bacon, eggs and toast are in the west, except with a much more diverse and extensive selection of dishes from which to choose to satiate one's appetite. With the large emigration of residents overseas in the years before 1997, many dim sum restaurants in major world cities with a populous Chinese community can rival, or even surpass, the quality of those in the Fragrant Harbor today. In Hong Kong, one can see students and office workers having a dim sum breakfast of congee or steamed buns as early as 6:30 AM and then head off to school or work, followed by the elderly who may order a couple of light dishes after morning exercises, stay-at-home moms with toddlers en route to grocery shopping, groups of mahjong legs sharing a few dishes before playing eight rounds, or businessmen consummating deals over shark's fin dumplings and savory phoenix claws. In places where people don't have the luxury of eating a leisurely breakfast during the week, dim sum is reserved for weekend gatherings with family and friends. Where there are Chinese people, there will undoubtedly be dim sum.
DIM SUM RESTAURANTS
Think of dim sum as a buffet on wheels, but more refined with a larger selection of tasty delicacies. Dim sum consists of many small dishes that could be considered appetizers, such as dumplings, buns, fried or steamed meats and seafood, vegetarian dishes, cakes and desserts, but when eaten in quantity, can make a satisfying yet not overly filling meal. Small portions of rice, noodles, congee and deli meats are also served. They are kept warm on portable trolleys with built-in gas burners, fried slightly to reheat while you wait, or served at room temperature, and pushed around the room to each table by a woman who will serve it to you. She will announce (usually in Cantonese or Mandarin, but perhaps also in English for non-Chinese customers) what is on her trolley as she passes by your table, or stop and lift the lids on the bamboo or metal steamers stacked up on her cart for you to see the contents. If you don't know what a dish is, ask and she may describe it with a few words of English, or you can point to something that looks appetizing. To get an idea of the dishes you'd like to try, take a look at the index following this guide and learn the pronunciations before you go, then listen for them as the cart comes by your table. As a side note, in dim sum restaurants located where the turnover of dishes is not high, you may not be able to order from carts pushed around the dining room. Instead, you will have to specifically order from a slip of paper and it will be made for you from the kitchen. This is just to avoid waste and ensure that your food is delivered to you as freshly as possible.
Be advised that during peak dim sum hours, the waiting time for a table can be quite long, the crowd will be noisy and you may have to bring your voice up a few decibels amid the din to be heard in a conversation with a fellow diner across the table. But it is worth the wait and you will be treated to a delectable cuisine like no other. For those who have never tried it, or never had it without someone who knew what they were ordering, here is a simple guide to help you maneuver your way through the dim sum experience.
A Dim Sum Excursion Makes a Great Team Building Event
To find out where the good dim sum restaurants are, ask a local Chinese friend, a shopkeeper in Chinatown, or take a glance at the lines outside a dim sum restaurant during lunch hour on the weekends. This is usually a good indicator how popular the place is. Another good source is to do on-line search by entering city name and the words "dim sum," and it will come up with a list of those in your area, and quite often with an accompanying review.
Since many Chinatowns around the world are located in congested urban areas with limited parking, just finding the dim sum restaurant is a challenge, let alone getting a parking space, so carpool or take public transportation whenever possible. Some restaurants in the larger suburban Chinese communities have free parking so take advantage of that.
In order to try out as many dishes as possible in the huge array of offerings, make it a group outing. The ideal number would be 4-8 people, as most of the little dishes have either 3 or 4 servings per plate so that everyone can try one piece and you can double up on a dish. Dim sum, as with any other Chinese meal, is shared among all who are dining together, so be nice and don't hog all the chicken feet.
Getting a Table During Lunch Hour on a Weekend
If possible, make your first experience a weekday lunch so you can at least get a table without a long wait and be able to eat in relative peace and quiet. The dim sum ladies will also have a little more time to describe the dishes to you if necessary. The weekday variety of dishes may not be as large as on the weekends when it is much busier, but it's a good way to try the common ones, like shrimp (ha gao) or pork (siu mai) dumplings, roast pork buns (cha siu bao) and turnip cake (law baak go), before venturing to the more exotic, such as chicken or duck feet, curried squid and beef tendon.
If you have the patience to go on a weekend, be prepared to fight the crowd, or take a good book, Game Boy or group of conversation partners with you for a possible hour or more wait. The first person that can squeeze their way to the receptionist at the podium will give her the number in your party in exchange for a number on a ticket, which you must listen carefully for as they are announced. Reservations are usually not honored for dim sum, but you can try calling the restaurant in advance if you have an especially large group (15 or more), otherwise, you'll have to wait with everyone else and your party will be split into separate tables. Another tip for avoiding a long wait is to get there early and beat the crowd. Most of the larger restaurants open for dim sum between 9 AM and 10 AM for early tea, but if you arrive before 11:30, it is easier to get a table. Dim sum is usually served until about 3 PM, when the staff begins to prepare for dinner. In Hong Kong, restaurants may open as early as 6:30 AM, and smaller parties are harder to accommodate than large ones, so the hostess may offer anyone who is willing to share a large table with another small party. It is not as private but you do get to eat sooner. Finally, if you know someone who works in the restaurant, that's a sneaky way to go to the head of the line if the guilt won't eat you while you are eating a crispy stuffed taro pastry or dunking fried dough sticks in a bowl of preserved duck egg and pork congee.
ALL ABOUT TEA
One of the first things you will be asked upon being seated is what type of tea you prefer. Most establishments will have up to 10 different teas available since tea is a focal point of the meal, and it is a matter of personal taste. Try a different one each time you go, or if you are with a large party, order two or three different pots and try them at one sitting. Unfortunately, the pots are not labeled and they will not tell you which is which, so you might want to go with someone who knows their tea and have them tell you what you are imbibing, and the flavors will be more recognizable after a few tries. Tea is served by putting loose tea leafs into a pot, adding near boiling water and letting it steep for several minutes before pouring. Many people like to have a pot of hot water in addition to the teapot for diluting as it gets stronger, in addition to the refills the wait staff should pour for you. The most common types of tea are the following:
- Bo Lei (Pu-erh in Mandarin) - a dark reddish tea with a strong, full earthy taste, becomes darker as the leaves steep longer in the pot, thought to help aid in digestion and one of the most popular to accompany dim sum
- Guk Fa (chrysanthemum) - a light tea usually with rock sugar on the side, made from the dried flowers of the chrysanthemum plant
- Guk Bo - a combination of Bo Lei and Guk Fa
- Heung Peen (jasmine) - a very light green tea with a subtle flavor and scented with jasmine flowers
- Sau Mei (literally, longevity eyebrow) - a slightly bitter tasting white tea
- Sui Sin (literally, water fairy) - a tea believed to have cold healing properties
- Oolong - from Taiwan, a tea known for its rich flavor and pleasant after taste
- Teet Kwun Yum (literally, Iron Goddess of Mercy) - a health conscious tea said to help lower cholesterol, related to Oolong
- Lung Jiang (dragon well) - a very popular light green tea, named for the water in a special well that is used to soak the leaves prior to fermentation and gives the tea its distinctive flavor
Playing Blackjack With Your Teacup
Another custom you will notice, and should practice, is the gentle finger tap in front of your teacup when someone refills it for you. In general, whoever is closest to the teapot does the pouring, and everyone else should be served first, unless he or she has a bad case of the hiccups and needs a sip right away. One version of this custom's origin says that it started during the Ching Dynasty some 350 years ago, when the emperor liked to dress like a commoner and go out on the kingdom to mingle among his people. Servants were told to keep a low profile to prevent from revealing his identity. One day when eating in a restaurant, after pouring himself a cup of tea, the emperor filled a servant's cup as well. To the servant, it was a tremendous honor and out of habit, was going to kneel and thank his master, but he couldn't because it would give away the emperor's presence. So instead of getting down on his knees, the servant tapped the table with his fingers to acknowledge the favor. So when someone fills your teacup, make sure you gently tap twice with your index or middle finger on the table to thank the server.
Getting Refills of Tea
When your teapot is getting low or the tea has gotten cold, lift the lid and tilt it diagonally into the opening of the pot, or balance it on top of the pot between the handle and the opening. This is an indication to the wait staff to send someone over with a thermos of boiling water to refill your pot. This is also a good indicator how good the service is. The best service is when the teapot filler goes around to each table taking a feel of how full your pot is and automatically refills it before you ever run out during the entire meal. Below par service is when your teapot lid is constantly open, meaning the waiters aren't paying attention to you. This could dictate the amount of tip that is left for the staff.
Why Chinese Teacups Don't Have Handles
Here's a trivia question for you: why don't Chinese teacups have handles on them? Give up? The reason is that if the teacup is too hot to handle with your fingers, then it is definitely too hot to drink, so it is a warning mechanism to wait until it has cooled sufficiently so you don't burn your mouth drinking tea.
HOW AND WHAT TO ORDER
As the carts pass by your table, don't be shy to stop the dim sum lady and ask what's hiding under the lids of the steamer baskets if she doesn't announce them, or you can just point to any dish on the cart and it's yours. Dim sum dishes come in various sizes (small, medium, large and specialty dishes) and are priced accordingly. For example, four shrimp dumplings or steamed spare ribs in black bean sauce are considered a small dish, three strips of shrimp cheung fun (rice roll) a medium dish, and a plate of fried sticky rice would be a large dish. Usually there is a small menu on the table listing the prices of each type of dim sum, along with special dishes that you may have to ask for specifically. If there is something you have a craving for but it has not yet passed by your table, get the attention of a waiter, tell him the dish you want, and he will locate the cart and direct it your way. It is also customary to save the sweet dishes and desserts for the end, as it is the best way to finish a meal.
If you've tried everything on the dim sum carts, including the pig's blood (jue hung), beef intestines (ngau jaap) and beef tripe (ngau pak yip), and aren't quite full yet, there's always the regular menu from which another huge variety of more substantial dishes can be ordered. Common dishes eaten for lunch include fried egg noodles with various meat, seafood and vegetable toppings, wide or thin rice noodles, soup noodles, and a large selection of different rice dishes. Of course, everything on the dinner menu is also available at lunch, so if you have a big appetite, go for it.
CUSTOMS AND ETIQUETTE
You will see some interesting practices during a dim sum meal, or actually, during any authentic Chinese meal in a restaurant, and those are noted here for your entertainment while you wait for your next round of dishes to be served.
Rinsing of the Teacup… Chopsticks, Plates and Bowls
You may notice some odd behavior of women at a table who automatically fill everyone's teacups half way, swirl it around a bit, then get up to discard the tea into the nearest dirty dish receptacle, ash tray or other empty bowl. This is supposed to be the proper way of warming a teacup prior to serving the tea, but it also gives a bit of psychological satisfaction that the cup has been cleaned prior to use, although we all know that it needs to be through a dishwasher with scalding water and detergent for that to happen. Not only do they rinse teacups, they might even take a handful of chopsticks and dip the ends in the tea, or pour tea into all the bowls and plates, rinse well and repeat. Some who want to be less obvious might just wipe the edges of a cup or bowl, or the tops of dishes with a tissue from their pocket packs or a napkin, if available. It's embarrassing if you're the child of this woman (note the rolling eyes and hunkering down in his seat), but it's a generally accepted custom, much like an overzealous aunt trying to give you a big kiss on the cheek in public.
Hot Towels are for Wiping Hands Only
In almost all Hong Kong dim sum restaurants and the more upscale ones overseas, as soon as you are seated, someone will come over with a tray of hot steaming towels rolled in plastic for you to wipe your hands prior to the meal. This will save you a trip to the restroom to wash your hands, but if you've just spent the morning changing the oil in your car, or plowing natural fertilizer into your bok choy fields, you may want to take a wipe with the towel and then clean up more thoroughly with some hot soapy water in the restroom. Use the towels to wipe your hands only, and not as a tissue to blow your nose into, to shine your bald head, or to give yourself a towel bath on a hot humid day. Someone will then come by with a pair of tongs to pick up the used towels and place them on a tray to take away.
Bring Your Own Napkins, Tissues, and Toilet Paper
When going out for dim sum in Hong Kong, don't expect a napkin as part of your place setting, unless you are eating in an upscale dining establishment or one that caters to foreign tourists. That's why so many people carry tissue packs in their purse or pockets, and for other purposes as well, for instance, in the restroom. The reason for this is not clear, but it could be to reduce the amount of waste, maybe to save money on paper products, or because the help is too lazy to refill the dispensers. In any case, when traveling in Asia, especially Hong Kong and China, always remember to take extra packages of tissues with you.
How to Have an Audible Conversation in a Dim Sum Restaurant
Because food is the focal point in most social gatherings in the Chinese culture, having dim sum with friends and relatives to eat, drink tea, chat and gossip is a favorite past time for both young and old. And when there is a room packed with 500 people all talking simultaneously, on top of the dim sum servers announcing their dishes, the noise level can get fairly high. It's almost as if you were in the middle of a big party where good food and good company are in constant celebration. It's a wonder how young infants are able to sleep through the noise while strapped in their car seats on a couple of chairs behind their parents. If you want to talk with someone across from you, you either need to scream across the table, adding to the din, or sit right next to them and talk directly into their ear. Or you can call each other's cell phones and use headsets with background noise filters.
The Polite Way to Pick Your Teeth
The substitute for napkins on a dim sum table is a couple of wrapped wooden toothpicks set beside your chopsticks. These are provided for your comfort, as well as to remove the food particles between your teeth from something you've already eaten so as not to mingle the flavors of too many foods together as you continue your meal. The proper way to pick your teeth at the table is to hold one hand over your mouth as you dig away with the toothpick in the other. This is another one of those embarrassing moments when a child would like to temporarily disown his mother, as it seems to be a more common habit for women than for men, as they just pick their teeth openly.
Leftovers - To Take or Not to Take?
In Hong Kong, it is uncustomary to pack up any leftovers and take them home, a very wasteful practice when there is enough food left to feed a family of four for a week. This is viewed as being cheap and frugal. However, due to the poor economy of late, it has started to become more acceptable, especially after a ten-course banquet where there is usually a lot of food remaining. Of course in many overseas restaurants, it is common practice, but the best rule of thumb is to order just enough food for everyone, no more, no less. It never tastes as good the next day, especially after it's been through a microwave.
PAYING THE BILL
Like HBO Fight Night
In some of the older restaurants, the number of actual plates and steamer baskets are piled up on your table and the waiter will add them up in the end for your total bill, however, the restaurants are at risk to lose money from customers who might be a little less than honest and hide some of their empty dishes under the table or even place them on an adjacent table of a party who just left. In most dim sum restaurants today, when you are seated, a card is placed on your table for the servers to place a stamp for every dish that you order, in effect, tallying your bill for the meal. There is also a separate per person charge for tea, but if you are a regular or happen to know the headwaiter or manager, often the fee is waived. Because you may have been served by at least 10 people during this meal, it is customary to leave a 15% tip to be divided among the service team, but it is left at your discretion to leave more or less depending on how you felt the service was.
The grand finale of a dim sum meal, as with most Chinese meals in restaurants, is the proverbial grabbing of the check, usually between two people who are vying for face and the glory that comes with proving you can afford to treat the group to such a lavish meal. This grabbing contest could get somewhat physical, so beware of flying elbows and any small children sneaking under the table to grab the check for his parents. One of the grabbers may just go to the cashier discreetly, and take care of the bill before it ever reaches the table, thus avoiding a scene and preventing any potential bodily injury. Or even better, agree to divide the check by everyone at the table at the beginning, the most fair way to do it even though you might miss a good fight.
Index of Dim Sum Dishes
