What to order at Dim Sum in a Chinese Restaurant

Being Chinese, I grew up with the weekly Sunday morning journey to China Town for Dim Sum. I love the tradition and ritual of going for Dim Sum. Perhaps it's also my parents background of being born in Malaysia, that I have inherits the traits of travelling miles across a city just to east one certain dish. After several attempts at introducing friends to Dim Sum I figured that I would write a little guide for my blog about Dim Sum or Yum Char as it also commonly known, how to eat it and perhaps what to expect.

Going for Dim Sum or Yum Char is a social occasion and best shared with loud friends (who can talk louder than surrounding din of shouting and chatter from every other table) and family. It is unfortunate that so many people these are particular and not flexible with their diets and this often conflicts with "ethnic" eating. Traditionally Dim sum is not great for vegetarians or those who don't eat pork or seafood. There's a lot of meat, and mostly pork and prawns in these dishes though some restaurants will offer a few vegetarian options.

A couple of tips:

• Arrive Early. If you don't like queuing, arrive early on weekends. It's more than likely that the restaurant you are going to will be busy if it is good or centrally located. There will be couples, families and big groups all dining at the same time as you, all wanting tables at the same time. So don't complain about having to queue.
  
• Drink Tea. Drink Tea with all Chinese food. Tea cleanses the palate. Fizzy drinks are too sweet, beer is too filling, and wine is not complementary at all.
• Use chopsticks. It's part of the fun. Use the chopsticks and the porcelain spoon. Even your fingers! But please, definately not knife and fork.

So now you've made it to the restaurant and with some luck you might go to one with a trolley service although most have abandoned this old tradition in favour of either forms that you fill in yourself or ordering direct from your waiter. If you do go to a restaurant that has a trolley service try to get a table as close to the kitchen as possible, and avoid being seated in a a side room, as you are more than likely to miss out on some trolleys.
What you might find on a menu...
A menu will most likely be broken down into several groups and so i have included my favourite varieties in some of them below.

Gau or Gow - Dumplings wrapped in a transcluent rice or wheat flour skin

• Har Gau - Whole prawn / minced prawn dumpling

• Siu Mai - small steamed dumplings with pork inside a thin wonton pastry topped with a crab roe

• Gee Bau Har - Minced or whole prawns wrapped in a rice sheet and deep fried. Sometimes mixed with a few whole fresh garden peas and served with sweet and sour sauce.
  

Bau - steamed or baked buns, often white and fluffy with meat and/or vegetable fillings

• Char Siu Bau - steamed to be fluffy and white buns filled with sticky cantonese barbecued
  

Cheong Fun - Rice noodle sheets that are steamed filled with a meat, seafood, vegetable or chinese dough fritter and then rolled.

• Har Cheong Fun - Prawn filled and served with a slightly sweetened Soy Sauce on the side or on top.
  

And then the other dishes...

Lor Mai Gai - Glutinous rice with egg yolk, dried shrimp, chinese mushroom, chicken or pork (chinese sausage or belly pork) and sometimes water chestnut importantly wrapped in a lotus leaf and steamed. DO NOT EAT THE LOTUS LEAF! While the rice is steamed in the leaf, the flavour of the lotus leaf is infused into the rice and it's other contents.

Wu Gok - Taro Dumpling. Made with mashed taro, mixed with mushroom, shrimp and pork, then deep fried in a fluffy and crispy batter.





Fung Jau - Chicken feet, deep fried, boiled, marinated in a black bean sauce and then steamed. This dish is all about texture. The process will result in skin that is light and tender.

Char Siu Sou - Barbecue pork puffs. Cantonese barbecue pork baked in a flaky puffy pastry.

Lo Bak Go - Turnip Cake. Lo Bak or Chinese turnips mashed and mixed with dried shrimp and/or pork, sliced and fried til golden brown. Often served with a barbecue sauce.

Juk - Congee or Rice porridge, served with different meats and garnished with fresh chopped spring onion, soy sauce and sesame oil. Most often served with pork, or duck egg.