Dim Sum

With Chinese culture being all about the food, it is extraordinary that I haven't mentioned dim sum yet. Perhaps I was saving it for a special occasion - which turned out to be a trip to One Dim Sum in Prince Edward.

Dim sum originated as a snack, not a full meal, and can be eaten at almost any time of day (most often breakfast / lunch). It refers to the style of preparing food in small, bite-size portions in baskets. Dim sum includes various types of buns, dumplings, rice noodle rolls, as well as specific dishes such as turnip cake and chicken feet. It is often eaten with tea, hence the Cantonese name for dim sum, yum cha ,饮茶, meaning to drink tea.

I have developed a fond acquaintance of dim sum, not least through breakfast at Chung Chi college three times a week. So I headed with three GLOBErs to One Dim Sum, a 2012 Michelin guide recommended eatery. Seating no more than 40 people, there are no table reservations, and the décor is nothing fancy. But the food is cheap and fantastic, with waiting time reaching an hour during peak lunch and dinner hours. We came in the late evening, so after a 20 minute wait we were seated.

Dim sum is, like all Chinese food, shared - so we ordered some 20 dishes and had a banquet. My favourite by far, cha siu bao, 叉烧包, is a bun filled with roasted marinated pork. Other classics are the shredded chicken rice rolls, the turnip cake, xiao long bao, 小笼包, which is a steamed soup dumpling, and prawn dumplings. Throw in the obligatory bok choy (a small Chinese cabbage), as well as a rice dish, and one has themselves a feast.