Dim sum meaning5/10/2023 ![]() This makes sense when you consider the broader context, which is that the Tang Dynasty was an era of prosperity that followed decades of hunger and conflict. The maidservant replied, “This is to prepare dim sum for the mistress.” This wasn’t simply a meal – it was something special. The state official scolded her for asking for so much food. When the mistress was ready for her own breakfast, the servant asked for the key to the food storage again. A maidservant obliged and prepared some small dishes for the guest. To tide the guest over, she told him to have some “dim sum,” a dainty term she seems to have invented. His wife, the mistress of the house, was still washing up. One day, the official’s brother-in-law visited his house in the early morning. According to one story, there was a thrifty state official tasked with managing his family’s food supplies. The term “dim sum” itself didn’t appear until the Tang Dynasty (618-907), and the origins of the name are reflected only in lore. Soldiers could only have small bites of food as meals which gave rise to the concept of food as a delicate pleasure worth savouring. In the latter part of that era, during the Liang Dynasty (502–557), all kinds of food became precious treats when a prince ordered food and garment rationing to save up for battle expenditures. It can refer to a dainty snack between meals, but also to breakfast, the lighter meal of the day.īut why are these dishes called “touching hearts”? The answer goes back to the sweets and pastries that were consumed as snacks between meals during the Six Dynasties (220-589). So the term dim sum is as stuffed with meaning as a har gau is with shrimp. If used as an adjective, dim2 also denotes “tiny,” “delicate” or “a small bit of” – and it can also be used as a noun to mean “dish.” The noun sam1 (心, “heart”) is a multi-functional word that connotes desire and pleasure. First is the character dim2 (點), which if used as a verb to mean “touch,” refers to “appeasing the heart,” that is, to quell one’s hunger. If you break it down into its components, the term dim sum has two meanings. They are served at thousands of places across the city, including traditional tea houses such as Lin Heung, where women pushing trolleys piled high with bamboo steam baskets yell out “ char siu buns, shrimp dumplings, siu mai, beef offal” like a well-rehearsed poem.ĭim sum was officially recognised as an English word by Oxford English Dictionary in 2016, but its definition- “a Chinese dish of small steamed or fried savoury dumplings containing various fillings”-does little to shed light on its origins. Figuratively, of course, because what they are actually doing is enjoying baskets of dim sum, whose name (dim2 sam1 點心) literally means “touching heart.” As anyone familiar with Hong Kong will know, these bite-sized snacks are an essential part of Cantonese cuisine. Every morning, people in Hong Kong touch hearts.
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