When is dim sum

Dim Sum dumplings are usually made from rice flour and are filled with more delicious fillings than you could possibly imagine.

Traditionally, Dim Sum are steamed and served in bamboo baskets. Another variety of Dim Sum are Cheung Fun, which are made from rice noodles and look more similar to cannelloni than traditional dumplings. When were the first Dim Sum eaten? References to Dim Sum can be found in music and poetry from more than 2, years ago.

When traders were travelling along the Silk Road, they needed places to rest and relax during their long journeys. They stopped off at tea houses, enjoying some of the most wonderful, fragrant teas available at the time whilst they revitalised themselves in preparation for long journeys ahead.

The benefits of tea were widely exhorted by doctors at the time. Among these benefits were strong assertions that tea aids digestion. Eating Dim Sum then became synonymous with drinking tea. The first, early 20th century incarnations of dim sum dishes were larger, starchier dumplings intended for the blue collar appetites of day laborers who needed a quick, hearty meal during the day. Dim sum can be found everywhere from humble Chinatown takeaway storefronts to glittering restaurant palaces serving hundreds of diners at a time.

Though dim sum is typically a mid-day meal, some restaurants open as early as 5AM for an older clientele who may quietly eat while dwelling over the morning paper with a cup of tea. Once the crowds swell later in the day, the pace and volume heighten as patrons order from checklist menus or from steam carts pushed by attendants around the restaurant floor.

Dim sum meals begin by selecting a tea for the table. The cacophony and sensory overload of dim sum can be overwhelming —so many moving carts, impatient servers asking you whether you want their wares before you even know what they have to offer, the ever-present question in your head of wait, is that pork, or shrimp, or some weird animal part?

Unless you were lucky enough to grow up with friends or family members who have already been initiated to the fast-paced cult of dim sum, your best strategy was probably just to close your eyes and point. Until now. With this handy guide, you can order 24 of the most common dim sum dishes like a pro, so that next time someone asks you "what's in this one?

Click through the slideshow above for images of each dish, or click on the links below to jump directly to that slide. Har gau steamed shrimp dumplings : Translucent shrimp dumplings with a wheat starch skin that's cut with tapioca to give it extra stretchiness and translucency.

Pork, scallions, and bamboo shoots are often used to flavor it. These are one of the most difficult dumplings to make properly: the skin should be translucent yet sturdy, slightly chewy but not tough, with perfectly cooked, crisp shrimp inside. Chiu-chao fan guo steamed dumpling with pork, shrimp, and peanuts : A crunchy, fresh-tasting mix of shrimp, pork, and peanuts, often flavored with cilantro and crisp chunks of jicama.

These are awesome if you're looking for a unique textural experience in your dumplings. Haam sui gau: Deep-fried glutinous rice dumpling with pork. Jiu cai bau: Fried wheat starch skin dumplings with chives. Wu gok taro dumplings : Crispy, wispy, slightly sweet fried purple taro surrounding a center of savory pork filling, wu gok are a study in contrasts. Cha siu bao steamed barbecue pork-stuffed buns : The classic steamed yeasted buns stuffed with Chinese-style barbecue pork cha siu.

The dough has a soft, dense crumb similar to American sandwich bread, while the filling is savory and sweet. Cha siu bao baked barbecue pork-stuffed buns : The same as the steamed version, these ones are rounded, baked, and painted with a shiny glaze. Cha siu sou flaky barbecue pork-stuffed pastry : Sou is Chinese puff pastry with a flaky, slightly sweet flavor. I love dim sum, so this is all good news for me.

But my favourite place for dumplings in this city is an old-timer. In operation for 19 years, the service staff consist of three generations of the family.

The menu is a dim sum bible: ten pages of delicious-looking dumplings, rolls, cakes, soups, and drinks. The range and variety has me jumping in my seat every time I visit.