Asia News
Yum Cha Chats with Miss Yellow: Everything you didn’t know about eating dim sum
Best enjoyed from bed...
Sunday’s are hard but can be made easier with unexpected delights — so here’s some fluff to get you through it. Inspired by a recent jaunt for dim sum with Miss Yellow in Hong Kong, allow us to present the first of many Yum Cha Chats — which means let’s go eat dim sum and drink tea in Cantonese. The series will dig into the obscure and tasty 'fillings' you never knew about your favourite DJs and have nothing to do with music — every Sunday. Best enjoyed from bed…
Dim sum is delicious, but how much do know about the etiquette that comes with yum cha? Miss Yellow schooled us one Sunday in Sheung Wan on what to do and what not to do when indulging in Hong Kong's hugely popular Sunday (hangover) brunch.
1 WASH YOUR UTENSILS, AGAIN
“Obviously, utensils are washed when they arrive at your table, but it’s a tradition to wash then again at your table. Use tea or hot water to wash your own or for all the people at the table.”
2 SAY THANK YOU...WITH YOUR FINGERS
"To say thank you, tap your fingers on the table (as if bowing…but with your fingers). When somebody younger pours your tea, tap one finger. If a sibling, a cousin or a friend does it, then tap two fingers. And if it’s an elder (very important), tap your fist."
3 ASK FOR A REFILL THE RIGHT WAY
"Need more tea? Open the lid of the teapot when it’s finished. This indicates to the waiters to refill your pot with hot water.”
4 DON'T DOUBLE DIP
“Don’t touch any food with your chopsticks and change your mind. For hygienic reasons, you should stick to the food item you already picked."
5 DON'T DO THIS
"Never stick your chopsticks upright in the dishes. Doing so looks like an incense offer of death. Big no-no."
