Cantonese pronunciations are used throughout this article as this is the dialect I speak and the dialect used in Hong Kong the most.
What is yum cha and dim sum?
Yum cha 飲茶 means literally to “drink tea”, a term originally coined when eating dim sum was akin to having bar snacks with your drink. It is commonly referred to now as the act of going to a place to eat dim sum.
Dim sum 點心 literally means “touch of the heart”, which is the perfect name used to describe these small plates of food which warm the heart. As well as dim sum, you can also order bigger plates of food, such as rice or noodles to share with the group. I would say strictly that these are not dim sum, but are commonly ordered alongside it. Examples include the 3 roast meat mentioned in my Chinese Dishes to Order Part 1.
Cleanliness routines
In Hong Kong, you may be given a pot of boiling water on arrival. This is to allow guests to rinse everything with boiling water before using it, partially to warm the utensils before use and also to clean the items of dust. Following the SARS outbreak in 2003, this became more popular. I feel this was more of a comfort action for guests to make sure their kitchenware was as clean as possible and I don’t think this is necessarily something you have to do. In the UK, this isn’t really done but one to note if you ever travel to Hong Kong.
Additionally, communal chopsticks might still be used in certain dining groups, both in the UK and overseas. The idea behind this is that the chopsticks are used to move items to your bowl or plate from the middle of the table, thereby avoiding possible bacteria transfer from your own utensils.
Types of tea
Given the roots of eating dim sum, it makes sense to have some tea with it. The staff will often ask you what tea you would like to drink upon entering one of these establishments. The usual teas available in the UK are as follows. I’d put them in order of what I think is the easiest to drink at the top for tea beginners.
- Jasmine/Hoeng Pin 香片 – tea scented with jasmine blossoms. The best tea for Chinese tea beginners due to its floral notes.
- Chrysanthemum/Guk Fa 菊花 – Floral. Not in many restaurants now. Sometimes they combine this with Pu Erh e.g. 菊普 Guk Pou
- Shou Mei 壽眉 – a white tea with a lighter flavour that’s a bit fruity
- Pu Erh/Pou Lay 普洱 – also known as black tea. The tea leaves are fermented and once steeped, gets dark without the bitterness of tannin seeping through. Has a lot of depth.
- Iron Buddha/Iron Goddess/Tieguanyin 鐵觀音 – an oolong tea with great depth of flavour.
Tea etiquette
All teas are served loose leaf in a large teapot, without milk. Small handle-less cups are normally already on the table. Tradition dictates that the youngest pours the tea for the table, starting with the most respected member. A person who is served tea can then thank the person verbally or in Hong Kong tradition, you can tap the table twice near the cup using your first two fingers (either the knuckle or fingertips). The older generation in particular loves this!
You may find that your teapot will need water added during the meal, either because it has been steeped too long or all the tea has been poured. At the time of ordering your tea, you can also request a pot of hot water. This means you can pour the water into the pot yourself. However, this will of course cool down over time. An alternative is to either pop the lid up if it is attached to the pot or take off the lid and leave it balanced on top near the handle. This indicates to the staff that you need a water top-up.
Dim sum menu
In many Chinese restaurants, you will be given a dim sum menu that looks similar to the one below. To order, one simply adds the number required in the square box below each dish. So if you want two portions of a certain dumpling, you just put the number 2 below it. You can always add more to your order (at the risk of certain items selling out!)
The text is sometimes read vertically with the price of each one indicated by the red text above. Just match the text with the price at the top of the menu. (You’ve done similar at Yo! Sushi).
Sometimes, the English dim sum menu doesn’t quite match the Chinese one, so it might be worth your while remembering the few dim sum dishes in Chinese ahead of time. It’s an unfortunate state of affairs and one which likely stems from the fact that in the past, many non-Asians did not like some dishes. In more modern restaurants, you can find picture menus and sometimes you can find ones that are bilingual!
In more traditional places, you will find dim sum transported around the room in trolleys, some of these keep the food warm by steam and others are warmed ovens. The people manning these trolleys would usually have a stamp and would mark the card on your table in the correct area corresponding with the price of each item taken from their trolley. Such trolleys are now in decline not just in the UK but also in Hong Kong as well.
How the food arrives
Much like a tapas restaurant, the food will arrive at the table when it is ready, as opposed to all at once. Generally speaking, any pastry items are first to the table as these have already been prepped ages ago and are usually stored in a warm oven, ready to be served to whoever orders them.
Next up are usually any small plated items, such as rice noodle rolls or anything from the fried section. Then the big plate dishes and bamboo steamers tend to come in last. Sometimes you will need to be strategic if you are coveting the sweeter items, such as the mango pudding 芒果布甸 or lava custard buns/lau saa bao 流沙包. These can sell out pretty fast, but also you may not want your sweet items arriving towards the beginning of your meal. When you order these can therefore be a balancing act.
Eating etiquette
In some families, the most respected person initiates the start of the meal by saying “eat the meal”. Sik fan 食飯! It is important that you grab food from the spread to your own bowl or plate, and then start eating from there. Never grab something from the middle and start eating it. Always aim for the dishes which are close to you. If there is a dish that’s across the table, ask for it to be passed to you, or use the Lazy Susan if there is one to move it closer to you.
Never stab your chopsticks into your bowl of food and leave it there as it is commonly seen as a sign of death. Chopsticks should be placed on the right on the chopstick rest or the side of the plate when not in use.
Additionally, in Chinese culture it is ok to lift the bowl to bring it close to or to your mouth, to assist with eating. If you want to be extra polite, never finish the last portion of any dish, or at least check if anyone else wants it before grabbing it.
Paying the bill
One can shout “maai daan” 買單 to ask for the bill. In respected company, there is normally a rivalry over who gets to pay the bill. The one who pays the total is seen as showing filial piety, a respect to the people at the table. This is particularly popular with my parents’ generation, with some sneaking off to use the bathroom and secretly paying the bill en route, or just swiping the bill before someone else can get to it. With friends, I prefer to just split the bill equally.
Final word
Hopefully, this has helped you to navigate some of the traditions of yum cha! If you want to hear any of the Cantonese out loud, I highly recommend using Microsoft Bing’s text to audio translation.
