Dim Sum
- Introduction
- In the Canton provinces, many people gather at tea houses during the
morning and early afternoon to socialize or conduct business over small
meals. In China this is most popularly called
going to yum cha -- going to tea -- because the drinking of tea is so
strongly associated with the snack foods served. In the United States,
however, we are most familiar with the term dim sum to
describe these small meals. Dim sum, literally
translated from the Cantonese, means "dot-hearts," small
treats that touch the heart.
- What Is Served
- Most dim sum foods are savory pastries -- steamed or fried
dumplings, filled buns, noodles. There are also sweet pastries,
vegetables, meats. The portions are bite-sized, and they are served in
small quantities, usually three or four to a plate, so that the diners
can enjoy a variety of foods, whether they eat very little or indulge in
a huge feast. Variety is one of the keys to
dim sum. Some restaurants offer over 100 different items on a busy
day.
- How Dim Sum Is Served
- The presentation of the dim sum meal has no equivalent in the
West. Servers push carts, loaded with a variety of foods, through the
dining room, past the customers, who keep an eye out for appealing
dishes. Once a desired item is in sight, the diner flags down the cart
and points out what she wants. The dining room bustles with the activity
of carts wending among tables, calls for attention, and the clatter of
plates. The idea is to choose things continually throughout the
meal, rather than to gather all the food at once before eating.
Sweet items are interspersed with the savories; Chinese custom
does not include saving sweets for the end of the meal, although
they are reserved for special occasions, such as the pauses between
courses in a banquet or indulgences like dim
sum.
- Tea
- Just as the arrival of food is ongoing, the supply of tea is endless.
When a teapot is empty, the customer need only leave the lid up, and it
will be whisked away and refilled. One story told to explain this custom
involves a poor student who hid a bird in his teapot. When the waiter
came to refill the pot and lifted the lid, the bird flew
away. According to his plan, the student made a loud fuss. It
was a very valuable bird, he said, and the restaurant owed him
recompense. After this, the restaurant-and all others--decided
to wait for customers to lift the lid of an empty teapot if a
refill was needed.
- The Bill
- When the diners have eaten their fill,
the bill is calculated by counting up the number of plates on
the table.
- Reading List:
- Everything You Want to Know about Chinese Cooking by Pearl
Kong Chen, Tien Chi Chen, and Rose Tseng. Woodbury, New
York: Barron's, 1983.
How to Cook and Eat in Chinese
by Buwei Yang Chao. New York: The John Day Company, 1945.
Dim Sum: The Delicious Secrets of Home-Cooked Chinese Tea Lunch
by Rhoda Yee. San Francisco: Taylor & Ng, 1977.
Classic Deem Sum by Henry Chan, Yukiko, and Bob Haydock. New
York: Holt, Rinehart, and Winston, 1985.
Chinese Dessert, Dim Sum and Snack Cookbook
edited by Wonona Chong. New York: Sterling, 1986.
Tiny Delights: Cooking Dim Sum and Simple
Chinese Dishes by Elizabeth Chong. Toronto: Macmillan of Canada,
1987.
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