DIM SUM - My new discovery

Dim sum is a Chinese light meal or brunch, eaten sometimes from morning-to-early afternoon with family or friends. Dim sum consists of a wide spectrum of choices, from sweet to salty. It has combinations of meats, vegetables, seafoods, and fruits. It is usually served on a small dish, depending on the type of dim sum.

Name

It is a Cantonese term, literally translated as dot heart or order heart, meaning order to one's heart's content. It is also translated as touch the heart, dotted heart, or snack; or it may be derived from yat dim sum yi, meaning a "little token". Though dim sum is a Cantonese word, the idea of a wide variety of small dishes for lunch also holds for other regions of China.

Service

Classical dim sum includes buns such as bau (baozi), dumplings and rice rolls, which contain a range of ingredients, including beef, chicken, pork, prawns and vegetarian options. Many dim sum restaurants also offer plates of steamed green vegetables, roasted meats, congee porridge and other soups. People go yum cha when they are having meals in a Chinese teahouse or a dim sum restaurant, and tea is always served along with dim sum.

It is customary to order family style, sharing dishes among all members of the dining party. Because of the small portions, people can try a wide variety of food.
Dim sum dishes can be ordered from a menu or sometimes the food is wheeled around on a mobile cart by servers.

History
Travellers on the ancient Silk Road needed a place to take a nap, so teahouses were established along the roadside. Rural farmers, exhausted after working hard in the fields, would also go to teahouses for a relaxing afternoon of tea. At first, it was considered inappropriate to combine tea with food, because people believed it would lead to excessive weight gain. People later discovered that tea can aid in digestion, so teahouse owners began adding more variety of snacks, and the tradition of dim sum evolved.

From Wikipedia

So, we've turned this into a habbit, we go for Dim Sum at least once every 2 weeks, and I just love it!!! Like our "picada", but asian...