Dim Sum 
From Singapore Hotels & Singapore Lifestyle
|
Dim Sum is one of the most famous and perennial favourite Cantonese specialities. This is not a dish, but a whole philosophy to eating. Literally meaning "little heart", these small snack-type dishes consist of countless small steamed or fried buns, pastries and dumplings served in bamboo containers. These little delicacies are usually stuffed with a variety of meat, prawns, minced vegetables and herbs.
Each serving portion of Dim Sum tends to be small. The fried items come in pairs or threes on a small plate, while the smaller steamed items such as Har Kow or Siew Mai are served in bamboo steamers in batches of four.
The tradition started in the tea houses of China where tea drinkers would congregate. It was not long before they needed something to go with their tea. And so the Dim Sum culture was born. People used to sit at the Dim Sum table the whole day, reading papers, listening to their pet birds sing and discuss politics.
Over the centuries, Dim Sum has evolved to become a quick and convenient lunchtime meal. Only a few decades ago, Dim Sum was only available in specialty restaurants in Singapore and would be served from trolleys. Each trolley would contain a few types of food and be wheeled around by ladies who could tell you what each dish was and what it contained.
Eating Dim Sum, also known as "Yum Cha", is available at most Chinese Restaurants. It is usually eaten at lunchtime or as a Sunday brunch, in large, noisy restaurants. When dining, you need only order the Dim Sum from the menu, although there are still a few outlets that have the dishes are whisked around the tables on trolleys or carts; take what you like as they come by. The "Yum Cha" culture in Singapore is almost similar to the one found in Hong Kong.
These days, Dim Sum has become more widespread and you can even find these food items being sold at the corner coffee shop, or even in hawker centres, to cater to Singaporeans who crave the taste of Dim Sum but not able to afford Restaurant-type pricing.
Basically, Dim Sum is the Chinese version of Finger Food or Tapas. Some of the more common dishes are:-
- Braised Pork Ribs and Black Bean
- Char Siew Bao
- Char Siew So
- Chee Cheong Fun
- Chicken Feet
- Dan Tart/Egg Tart
- Deep fried spring rolls in which julienned turnips and bamboo shoots plus bean sprouts and minced pork are wrapped in spring roll skins
- Dou Sa Bao
- Fried Carrot Cake
- Har Kow
- Lor Mai Fan
- Siew Mai
- Pei Dan Chook/Century Egg Congee
- Wu Kok
Their price range from S$1 to S$2 (for a coffee shop or hawker centre setting), to S$3 onwards for a restaurant setting for a small serving.
