I guess food is a unifying force in pretty much all cultures; however, Hong Kong seems to bask in this force. Walk down the busy streets of Hong Kong and you’ll be surrounded by a 360 view of busy people, on- the- go, chomping on some delightful stinky tofu, fish balls, mango desserts, or even sipping some refreshing oolong tea. Food is the ultimate power source for these busy Hong Kongese; however, food here is not always about quickly stuffing one’s face to refuel. But, it is also a cultural experience over which large, extended families chit chat for hours and hours at a time on the weekends. Dim Sum: the popular Hong Kong brunch is something that I quite adore about Hong Kong, and wish that I took more advantage of in the States. I was introduced to dim sum by my cousin, Supriya, in the Asian-populated streets of San Francisco (when I was about 13). When I first tried dim sum, I fell in love with the idea, but I never really ate much of it back home. When I came to Hong Kong, I learned to appreciate it on another level. I am enthralled by every part of my dim sum experiences. It begins as I step into the cheerfully crowded restaurants, that are overflowing with happy families laughing and chattering away in Cantonese dialogue. Although I can’t understand anything people are saying, I feel a little nostalgic when I saunter in. When we are seated, we share a table with another family. The huge tables seat about 10-12 people, and since the restaurants are usually crowded, we are mostly accommodated with smaller families that cannot fill up the entire table. In the United States, this would never happen! The few times that I have gone to dim sum, my small family of three has been seated at a private table, isolated from the frequent Chinese diners.
Lucky for me, I have a knowledgeable Chinese friend who can help me out with ordering. When the Chinese waitresses come by asking me what type of tea I prefer, I usually just respond with a befuddled face repeating: “Chah? Chah?” (means: tea? tea?) and nodding my head…In response, I get pity laughs and some Cantonese response that I obviously cannot understand. I usually settle for whatever tea that my friend decides to order…yet, the jasmine tea has been my favorite so far. In some dim sum restaurants, they come around with food on carts. The carts are labeled in Chinese (so that doesn’t really help me decipher what food the carts actually contain); other dim sum restaurants provide you with lists of food items that you check mark if you want to order (yet, once again, most of these lists are in Cantonese); thus, either way, I mainly rely on my friend to order for me. The Chinese idea of yin-yan ( equalizing tastes) is in full effect in many of these dishes, as they are all usually a perfect balance between sweet and savory. As we wait for our food, we first “wash” our bowls and cups with the hot water they provide. Though this ritual does not really kill any bacteria, it is done for mere psychological appeasement (I am assuming since the Hong Kongese are such germaphobes?). After the tea is finished steeping someone pours a few cups of tea and I gently tap on the table as a sign of thanks to the person who has poured the tea. Then, the moment comes and it is finally time to EAT! My favorite dim sum dishes have been the sweet ones, cuz you all obviously know how enormously LARGE my sweet tooth is! I love the hollow sesame balls that are filled with just the right amount of sweet sesame paste. The buns with sesame paste or meat are also quite delicious. Taro cakes and egg tarts are a few of the other delectable dim sum dishes that are served. The food choices are unlimited; thus, dim sum requires one to man up and go in with the appetite of a voracious caveman…unfortunate for my tiny appetite, I get full after filling up on a few buns and sesame balls. When I first tried dim sum, I was also introduced to one of the most common dim sum dishes: CHICKEN FEET! After trying this dish once, however, I have decided that chicken feet will not be repeat items on my dim sum list…
All of my dim sum experiences have ended with me rolling myself out of my chair and waddling out of the restaurant while in a deep food coma. I usually eat until I can eat no more, as I think it is necessary for me to force feed myself in order to be able to try all the lovely dishes that my friends have ordered. Don’t be fooled by the misleading name of this type of cuisine, however! Dim sum is definitely not only SOME food…it’s more like dim A LOT! haha ok, I know, I need to work on my corny jokes…but you all get the point that dim sum entails a lot of food. I encourage you Californians back home to try some dim sum (as there are PLENTY of dim sum places in CALI! esp in SF!)…you won’t be disappointed, I promise!
