Dim sum =? savory snack

[Benjamin Barrett]

A nice summary. I recall being told that dim sum is served in that same time range, but was not aware of its place in the diet. I don't think I've ever had dim sum before 11:30--my impression is that that's when the restaurants start serving--so it doesn't seem like a brunch thing to me.

The question at hand is not only understanding how dim sum operates traditionally, but how it's understood in English. We certainly have places here in Seattle that serve far past the traditional time. The Bamboo Village, for example, serves until 9 or 10 pm (http://www.yelp.com/biz/bamboo-village-seattle). They also start at 10:30 am, showing that my impression of the start time is either outdated or just wrong.

One of the interesting questions is what happens to yumcha in English. My recollection is hearing people say the somewhat awkward "Let's go yumcha" because "yum" is a verb. I was told that's because you're supposed to drink a cup of tea for each dish to aid in the digestion of the oils.

The Japanese article says that there are different explanations for the origin of the word dim sum, but that in any case, it's a little something you eat between meals. That sounds like snack food, which is perhaps how many people understand it in the English-speaking world.

Benjamin Barrett
Seattle, WA

On Aug 17, 2011, at 11:55 PM, victor steinbok wrote:

> Only last week I had a discussion with a Chinese friend (don't recall the
> specific place of origin, but it is South Coastal China). And I was
> corrected (unnecessarily, as it turned out--the distinction was not relevan=
> t
> to the point I was making) that dim-sum is never served past mid-afternoon,
> although one can certainly buy dim-sum items and eat them at his leisure.
> That is, dim-sum is traditionally a morning-to-early afternoon meal or
> snack, i.e., the spot traditionally occupied in American cuisine (if there
> is such a thing) as "brunch". You don't have dim-sum for lunch or for
> dinner--or, for that matter, for breakfast, nor do you have "dim-sum lunch"
> or "dim-sum brunch"--it's just "dim-sum". This does not mean, of course,
> that no one uses these expressions, just that they are not what is normally
> intended by "dim-sum" (i.e., those uses might well be considered
> non-standard--for a time).
>
> Although most American Chinese restaurants serve dim-sum only on weekends
> (sometimes only one day a week), in larger cities (NYC, Boston, Chicago,
> SF), there are now numerous restaurants that specialize in dim sum and serv=
> e
> it daily, although never after 3 pm (some only until 2 pm). But even at
> these locations, the selection is more limited during the week than it is o=
> n
> weekends.
>
> Tea is an integral part of such a meal. Traditionally, it might have been
> the center of the meal, although, in the American version, that's hardly th=
> e
> case. In fact, the Wiki article on dim-sum goes further: "Going for dim sum
> is usually known in Cantonese as going to "drink tea" (yum cha, =E9=A3=B2=
> =E8=8C=B6)."
>
> In general, the Wiki article is sloppy and somewhat tendentious, but it's
> worth checking out. In particular, it starts out with an important bit for
> this discussion: "Dim sum is a Cantonese term for snack. However, dimsum
> more typically refers to a style of Chinese food prepared as small
> bite-sized or individual portions of food, traditionally served in small
> steamer baskets or on small plates."
>
> Now, "snack" could also mean a number of things. It can be a small meal or
> consumption of something edible that is consumed between meals--e.g., an
> apple, a candy bar, a cookie. The third meaning is an item for such an
> interlude--i.e., the apple or candy bar itself. So, while the entire dim-su=
> m
> meal is certainly not a snack, each individual item may well be considered =
> a
> snack in that third sense. Perhaps, in French it would sound different, but
> we are talking about Chinese food, not French haute cuisine.

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