點心

In Cantonese, dím sām literally means "touch the heart"—a poetic name for small portions of food meant to lightly satisfy, not to fill. The tradition began in teahouses along the Silk Road, where travelers needed small bites to accompany their tea.

Cantonese dim sum evolved into an elaborate culinary art in Guangzhou and Hong Kong. Bamboo steamers stacked high, carts wheeled between tables, diners pointing at what they wanted. The ritual of yum cha ("drinking tea") became inseparable from the food—dim sum is as much social practice as cuisine.

When Cantonese immigrants established Chinatowns around the world, dim sum followed. San Francisco, New York, London, Sydney—each developed its own dim sum culture. The words entered English: dim sum for the food, yum cha for the experience.

Today dim sum has transcended Chinatowns. High-end restaurants serve deconstructed har gow; frozen dim sum fills supermarket aisles. But the best dim sum is still found in noisy, crowded halls where the carts never stop rolling and the tea never stops flowing.