Dim Sum

Dim sum is a style of Cantonese cuisine built around bite-sized portions served in bamboo steamers and on small plates. Classics include har gow (translucent shrimp dumplings), siu mai (open-topped pork and shrimp dumplings), char siu bao (barbecue pork buns) and rice-noodle rolls.

The dishes are meant to be shared, ordered a few at a time and eaten leisurely alongside endless refills of tea. The whole experience — the food, the tea and the table talk — is known as yum cha, literally 'drink tea'.

Dim sum evolved in the teahouses of Guangzhou (Canton) and the Pearl River Delta, where travellers on the ancient trade routes stopped to rest and drink tea. Over time teahouses began offering small snacks to accompany the tea, and the repertoire blossomed into hundreds of items.

Cantonese emigration carried yum cha around the world, and today weekend dim sum is a social institution from Hong Kong to San Francisco — trolleys weaving between tables, families gathering, and steamer lids lifting to release clouds of fragrant steam.