History of Dim Sum

While eating at a dim sum restaurant the other day, I thought of what my dad would always say about this old Chinese tradition of eating a light meal with tea.

Long ago, it was more about drinking the tea than about choosing and eating a variety of pastries. Teahouses across China would serve tea with side dishes much like peanuts served at bars. This tradition of drinking tea (yum cha) at the teahouses was made popular by Chinese noblemen, who frequented these places to socialize and to show off their prize pet birds.

How did he know birds were involved? Well, according to my dad, people have found hooks alongside the windows of these teahouses to hang bird cages with (try and pass that one by the board of health -- "bird flu", hello!). And occasionally, the teahouses would have live entertainment called "teahouse brawls". That is when all good kung fu fighting would occur.

Yes, a bit Hollywoodish!
Drunken Master 2, image courtesy of yahoo movies

Drunken Master 2, image courtesy of hkfanatic.com

The real story taken from the About: Chinese Cuisine site states that:
Originally a Cantonese custom, dim sum is inextricably linked to the Chinese tradition of "yum cha" or drinking tea. Travelers journeying along the famous Silk Road needed a place to rest, so teahouses began springing up along the roadside. Rural farmers, exhausted after long hours working in the fields, would also head to the local teahouse for an afternoon of tea and relaxing conversation. Still, it took several centuries for the culinary art of dim sum to develop. It was originally considered inappropriate to combine tea with food - in fact a famous 3rd century Imperial physician claimed this would lead to excessive weight gain. However, as tea's ability to aid in digestion and cleanse the palate became known, tea house proprietors began adding a variety of snacks, and the tradition of dim sum was born.