FAQ Dim Sums

點心 The guide to the traditional brunch dish from southern China.
Dim Sum is a traditional Chinese dish consisting of small plates of dumplings or other smaller dishes.
Dim sums are usually eaten with a pot of tea. Similar to tapas in Spain, these dishes are also shared with family and friends. Usually, dim sum is eaten as brunch – the time between late morning and lunch.
A brief historical overview Nowadays, dim sum is eaten all over China as well as all over the world. However, the origin of these dishes is believed to be in the southern Chinese region of Guangdong, and dim sum only then found its way to Hong Kong. According to Food Magazine Lucky Peach, Cantonese dim sum culture began in teahouses in the second half of the nineteenth century in the port city of Guangzhou, the capital of Guangdong, after opium dens were banned throughout the country. Silk Road travelers and traders reportedly took breaks at teahouses for a dim sum dish. As they continued their journey, they distributed the dim sum craft and created widespread popularity within the region, especially in Hong Kong.
Nowadays, dim sum can include dishes and traditions from other parts of China. But by and large, the culinary form remains as it has always been.

“Jiao” means bag, “Zi”: little. “Bao” means bread, “Zi”: little.
Jiaozi and Baozi are both stuffed dumplings, so to speak. Usually, the jiaozi dough consists only of wheat flour and water. The baozi dough, on the other hand, is a rising fluffy yeast dough or a classic sourdough. As for the fillings, there are no fixed rules.

Typical is a pork filling with Chinese cabbage. Depending on the region in China, lamb or beef is also used more often.

Jiaozi can be steamed, fried or boiled. In northern China, more wheat products are distorted than in the south and there cooked jiaozi are eaten as a noodle meal.

Baozi can only be steamed or pan-fried because of the dough. They are popular for breakfast or as a street food snack.

Dim Sum are small appetizers like tapas in Spain. You can take them as an appetizer or eat several as a main course.
 

Yes, but unfortunately not very many, because most dim sum are dumplings and these are traditionally made from wheat flour. Dumplings made from wheat starch (for example Ha Gao) should not contain gluten, but there is unfortunately no guarantee from the manufacturer.

Of course! Visit our next Dim Sum cooking class. Dates and information can be found on our website.
If you have any questions, please contact us via WhatsApp

It should be small, bite-sized morsels. So it must not be too big. Basically should be between 60g and 90g per serving. For example, our Siu Mai is about 20g per piece, so 80g per serving. The classic Char Siu Bao, for example, is usually 2 pieces per serving. It is a bread after all. Makes just more full.

So 3 servings is a good starting point. But we also have guests who can eat 6 portions and more. It just always depends.

First, choose a tea, as it plays a central role in the dish – after all, the origin of dim sum 點心 lies in the tea houses.
Following traditional etiquette, the person sitting closest to the teapot should first pour tea for all other guests before pouring tea for themselves. If there is little water left in the pot, remove the lid and place it on or to the side of the pot. This is how you signal to the waiter/waitress that you would like an infusion.
Ordering a dish at traditional dim sum restaurants is fun and definitely makes for a unique experience-but ordering also requires a good eye. Push carts loaded with stacks of bamboo baskets or plates of fried food roll out of the kitchen and make their way through the tables.
From your table, direct the trolley with the food you want as it passes. Waiters* will take the food of your choice from the cart and note on your table menu what you ordered. Nowadays, most modern dim sum restaurants also often use checklist menus. With this, diners only need to check off the dishes they wish to dine on and hold the card up in the air before handing it to the waiter and receiving their chosen dishes.
With us, you can select the dim sums digitally via tables and pass the order directly through to the kitchen. The digital ordering system allows us to offer great daily specials and adjust the availability of the dim sums in real time.

Dim Sum dishes consist of a selection of seafood, meat and vegetable dishes that can be prepared in a variety of ways; both cooked and deep fried or baked.
The classics are Har Gao, Siu Mai and Char Siu Bao. It is a must to know.
The following is a list of the most popular dishes.

 
Har Gao 蝦餃 Shrimp dumpling (har gow) one of the most popular dishes when it comes to dim sum. Pieces of shrimp wrapped in a thin, almost translucent dumpling shell and served in bamboo baskets.Har Gao is one of the most demanding dim sums to make. The dough is prepared with hot water so that the dough is already cooked. Now the dough is cut into small pieces and ‘knocked out’ with a flat knife. The cut dough should be processed as soon as possible. When it cools down, it sticks together less and making a proper har gao with it becomes much more difficult.
Next, folding is also particularly difficult. A beautiful har gao has 8-10 folds. Beautiful folds means that the dough must already be ‘pressed’ from the center. But if you press from the center, the filling comes out again. Therefore, a very deft hand is required.
Har Gao is one of the dim sums that cannot be made by machine.
See:
– Har Gao
– Bärlauch Har Gao

Siu Mai 燒賣 (also Siew Mei) are thin round cup-shaped dumplings with a tasty filling – usually pork, shrimp or a combination of both – and often small amounts of vegetables such as bamboo shoots, black mushrooms or water chestnuts.
Siu mai dough and wan tan dough are identical. Siu mai is usually open at the top while wan tans is a closed dumpling.
The ingredients of Wan Tan dough are: Wheat, water, egg, tapioca and salt.
Nutritional value of Wan Tan Dough (Average per 100g):
– Energy: 277kcal
– Fat: 2.0g of which saturated fat 0.53g
– Carbohydrate: 50.62g
– Protein: 13.4g
– Salt: 0.18g
See:
– Beef Siu Mai
– Quail egg Siu Mai

Char Siu Bao 叉燒包, also BBQ pork buns are light-as-air, bread-like white buns filled with sticky and sweet spiced pork, cooked and served in a bamboo basket.
All baos have in common that the flour are especially white. With ordinary 405 flour, unfortunately, the baos will not be beautiful.

Nutritional value of wheat flour for Baos (Average per 100g):
– Energy: 404kcal
– Fat: 0g of which unsaturated fatty acids 0g
– Carbohydrate: 27g of which sugar 2g
– Protein: 8g
– Salt: 0g

See also:
– Gua Bao
– Baked Char Siu Bao

 
Xiao Long Bao 小籠包 also called „Soup Dumplings“, are filled with hot broth and pork and are also served in a bamboo basket in which they have been cooked. Even though these soup dumplings originated in Shanghai, their nationwide popularity has secured them the status of a dim sum dish.
Classic Xiao Long Bao is made with pork jelly. The pork jelly, which is made by boiling down the rind and foot, is one of the main ingredients for the Xiao Long Bao. Because the jelly is solid when cold, it can be wrapped in dough. When heated, it melts again and the soup is in the dumpling.

 
Chicken feet 凤爪 ‘Fung Zao’ are whole chicken feet without claws, fried in deep fat and stewed in a rich, slightly sweet sauce of fermented black beans until tender.
What looks simple, requires extra effort during preparation. The preparation of the feet requires many steps: skinning, de-nailing, pre-frying and braising in many hours. Braising requires a lot of feeling: too short braising the meat is hard; too long braising destroys the chicken feet and the chicken feet are really delicate.

 
Rice noodle rolls (also Cheong Fun 腸粉) are long, thin, usually handmade, cooked rice noodles rolled around a tender shrimp, meat filling, or crunchy meatless filling. The rolls taste like steamed dough.
Rice noodle rolls can be prepared only conditionally. It tastes best when freshly prepared. Decisive for a delicious and tender rice noodle rolls is the dough. This consists largely of rice flour 粘米粉.

 
Jiaozis 餃子 are small dumplings with a dough made of wheat flour and water, which are semicircular in shape and have a corrugated side. They are traditionally made with a filling of minced pork, ginger, Chinese cabbage, sesame oil, garlic and soy sauce. Jiaozi are then eaten with a dip of soy sauce, rice vinegar and chopped garlic.
More about Jiaozi.