Dim sum (Chinese: 點心; Cantonese IPA: tɪm²sɐm¹, Jyutping: dim2 sam1; Mandarin Pinyin: diǎnxīn, Wade-Giles: tien-hsin; literally "dot heart" or "order heart", meaning "order to one's heart's content"; also commonly translated as "touch the heart," "dotted heart," or "snack"), a Cantonese term, is usually a light meal or brunch, eaten sometime from morning-to-early afternoon with family or friends.
Classical dim sum includes buns, dumplings and rice rolls, which contain a range of ingredients, including beef, chicken, pork, prawns and vegetarian options. Many dim sum restaurants also offer plates of steamed green vegetables, roasted meats, congee porridge and other soups. Tea is always served, giving it the alternative name of yum cha (飲茶) which means "drinking tea". In some countries, such as Britain and Australia, the term "dim sum" (or more commonly "dim sim") is incorrectly used to refer specifically to Chinese-style dumplings, either steamed or deep-fried. They are often available at snack bars, even those with no other Chinese food on the menu.
Dim sum can be cooked by steaming and frying, among other methods. The size of the dim sum are usually small and normally served as three or four pieces in one dish. It is customary to order family style, sharing dishes among all members of the dining party. Because of the small portions, people can try a wide variety of food.
Dim sum dishes can be ordered from a menu or sometimes the food is wheeled around on a mobile cart by servers. Traditionally, the cost of the meal is calculated based on the number and size of dishes left on the patron's table. Some modern dim sum restaurants record the dishes on a bill at the table. Not only is this tidier, it also prevents patrons from cheating by concealing or stealing the plates, which has been known to happen. Servers in some restaurants even use different stamps so that sales statistics for each server can be recorded.
Travelers on the ancient Silk Road needed a place to take a nap, so teahouses were established along the roadside. Rural farmers, exhausted after working hard in the fields, would also go to teahouses for a relaxing afternoon of tea. At first, it was considered inappropriate to combine tea with food, because people believed it would lead to excessive weight gain. However, people later discovered that tea can aid in digestion. Therefore, teahouse owners began adding more variety of snacks, so the tradition of dim sum evolved.
In Hong Kong, and most cities in Guangdong province, many Chinese restaurants start serving very early in the morning at around 6 am. It is a tradition for the elderly to gather to eat dim sum after morning exercises, often enjoying the morning newspapers. For many southerners in China, yum cha is treated as a weekend family day. Consistent with this tradition, dim sum restaurants typically only serve dim sum until the afternoon; other Cantonese cuisine are served in the evening. Nowadays, various dim sum items are sold in a takeaway manner for students and office workers' on the go.
Though dim sum is a Cantonese word, the idea of a wide variety of small dishes for lunch also holds for other regions of China. Therefore, the terms "Northern dian xin" or "Shanghai dian xing" have come into use.
The drinking of tea is as important to dim sum as the food. A popular tea which is said to aid in digestion is bo lay (or pu erh), which is a strong, fermented tea. Chrysanthemum, oolong and green tea can also be served as well.
It is customary to pour tea for others during dim sum before filling one's own cup. A custom unique to Hong Kong is to thank the person pouring the tea by tapping the index and middle finger together on the table. This is said to resemble the ritual of bowing to someone. Given the number of times tea is poured in a meal, it is a timesaver in loud restaurants, as an individual being served might be speaking to someone else or busy consuming food.
Dim sum restaurants have a wide variety of dishes, usually several dozen. Among the standard fare of dim sum include: