Cantonese people love to drink tea and eat with friends and family. In fact, when they say let’s go drink tea or “yum cha”, it implies that they are going to eat at a Dim Sum restaurant. In Dim Sum culture, drinking the tea has the same importance as eating the food, so the two are connected to each other.
When you translate the word “Dim Sum”, the first character “dim” means point, dot or to touch, the second character “sum” means heart. When you put it together the literal meaning would be to touch the heart, but in foodie context, Dim Sum is a broad term for Cantonese dishes enjoyed in teahouses that come in small portions. But I must agree, some of those dishes really touch my heart because they are so delicious!
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A phrase that is closely associated with Dim Sum culture is “jat zung loeng gin”, which means to have one bowl of tea and two pieces of dim sum. Although you are not limited to only eating two pieces, the phrase refers to the small portions that are served. The main point is quality over quantity. Every piece of food is delicately prepared by skilled dim sum chefs, it is very complicated and time consuming to make. Many dishes require multiple steps and can take up to a few days before it can be finally served on the table.
The food comes in small bite sized portions, usually three to four pieces in one bamboo basket which is freshly steamed to order. This allows a few people to each try one piece, which is enough to satisfy their taste buds, but still leave enough room in their stomachs to try other dishes. Authentic Dim Sum restaurants would have waitresses pushing a cart around with tall stacks of steaming hot bamboo baskets. When they circle around to your table, you can see what they offer and tell them which ones to put down on your table. They will stamp your Dim Sum card, and at the end they just count the number of stamps and charge you for your meal.
In an article by Carolyn Phillips, “Modern Chinese History as Reflected in a Teahouse Mirror”, she talks about Cantonese teahouses and dim sum culture.
“Cantonese-style dim sum is almost astonishing in its range of flavors, textures, cooking styles, and ingredients. They are so complex that more than a thousand different varieties exist…
The practice of sipping hot tea and eating dim sum in Guangzhou’s specialized tearooms is known as yum cha in Cantonese, which means “drinking tea,” and this relaxed practice of casually selecting small plates and steamers filled with fresh snacks eventually made the southern way of dining on dim sum much more popular than its northern counterpart in Beijing…”
Carolyn Phillips
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These are some of the most popular dim sum dishes:
- Siu1 Maai6 – steamed dumpling filled with pork, shrimp and mushrooms
- Haa1 Gaau2 – shrimp dumplings wrapped in rice flour
- Fung6 Zaau2 – chicken feet with spicy black bean sauce
- Coeng2 Fan2 – steamed rice noodle rolls
- Caa1 Siu1 Baau1 – BBQ pork stuffed buns
- Daan6 Taat1 – egg tarts
The more people you go with, the more variety you can eat. Don’t be afraid to try new things, you might fall in love with Dim Sum and be yearning to “yum cha”.