Chinese Dimsum Etiquette

Fingers, Forks or Chopsticks: Dimsum are finger and/or chopstick foods but forks are usually provided. As a finale, moist fingertip towels, rolled into small cylinders and warmed are a welcome touch. Some Chinese restaurants offer the packaged towelettes after meals as the use of fingers is inevitable at the Chinese table.

Dimsum Etiquette: How and when to serve at Chinese restaurants and tea parlors dimsum are served piping hot from bamboo and metal steamer trays and serving carts. As the endless profusion of carts tempt diners, trays and platters accumulate on the table. 

Proper etiquette is to stack, not remove, as you’ll be charged for the number of trays/platters/plates of dimsum you’ve consumed. Tea is the appropriate accompaniment. Once you’ve sampled an impressive variety the meal may be topped off with a soup or a noodle dish and a sweet dimsum. The meal may be breakfast, lunch, brunch or tea lunch, called “yum cha” by the Chinese.

Fingers, Forks or Chopsticks: Dimsum are finger and/or chopstick foods but forks are usually provided. As a finale, moist fingertip towels, rolled into small cylinders and warmed are a welcome touch. Some Chinese restaurants offer the packaged towelettes after meals as the use of fingers is inevitable at the Chinese table.

“Come to Yum Cha”: Now savvy hostesses can invite guests for “Yum Cha” instead of brunch. Using the five dimsum now available as the main part of the meal, supplementary tidbits may be prepared in advance to round out the menu: thin slices of Chinese roast pork, sliced abalone, savory stuffed bits of red and green pepper, zucchini cut into 1½ inch pieces make dainty cups for meat filling, pieces of spareribs, radish fans and crunchy cucumber sticks can be prepared well in advance. A hot pepper sauce, white vinegar and soy sauce make appropriate sauces.

What's for dessert?: Miniature buns with a sweet filling made of lotus seeds or bean paste are usually offered. Flaky pastries, miniature custard tarts, sesame rice balls, steamed sponge cake, almond cookies and assorted fruits served on a pick are also available. Preserved ginger, kumquats, lychee, mandarin orange, persimmons, melon and seasonal fruits are often favored over pastry by the Chinese.

Breads: East and West Americans are accustomed to crusty breads oven baked. Most Chinese homes don't have ovens so steaming and sauteeing are practical cooking methods for them. Some dimsum are sauteed or deep fried. These are crisp and crunchy. But many dimsum are steamed. They have a shiny, translucent appearance, unfamiliar to the Western world. They look uncooked because of their pale color. But seasoned cooks know that steaming is a good cooking method for preserving natural flavors of most foods.

The Art of Steaming: Families who appreciate the natural flavor of vegetables and cereals have turned to steaming in recent years. Small, perforated-steamers that collapse to fit a variety of sizes of saucepans are available in most housewares stores. But a steamer can be improvised by using a deep saucepan, roaster or electric skillet with domed lid. 

Use custard cups or small potted meat cans on the bottom of the utensil, set a wire rack over that, and place dimsum on a perforated foil plate. Or if you have a strainer or colander that fits over a deep saucepan, that can also be used. Bamboo and aluminum steamers that fit over the Chinese wok are available from mail order houses and specialty stores, but they are not necessary.

What about steaming dimsum in a double boiler? Not recommended. That is cooking over hot water. Dimsum need to be exposed to live steam to cook thoroughly. How long can dimsum be held before serving? They should be served piping hot, right out of the steamer as cooling congeals the wrapper and fillings lose their fluffy texture. – The Desert Sun, 1979

Etiquette Enthusiast, Maura J. Graber, is the Site Editor for the Etiquipedia© Etiquette Encyclopedia