Yum cha or dim sum? There's a difference

After living in Malaysia, Korea and Australia, Natalie Liu realises that Chinese cuisine is never quite the same around the world.

So what's the difference? Source: Getty Images

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“Do you want to have yum cha?”

I grew up in Malaysia, which has a large Chinese diaspora, so I was initially confused when Australians asked me this question.

Yum cha? Or do you mean dim sum?

In Cantonese, yum cha means ‘drink tea’ while dim sum means ‘touch the heart’ (and it refers to the little plates of food you actually eat at a Chinese restaurant). It’s like someone saying to you, “Do you want to have drink tea?” It was odd to me, because in Malaysia, we’d always say, “Do you want to have dim sum?”

When we asked someone if they wanted to 'yum cha', we really meant it. We’d order a piping hot teapot of it – usually filled with oolong or pu'er – alongside several dishes if we were ever eating at a Chinese restaurant.

Tea and food is a good combination in any language. Source: Chris Chen

I looked up the history of dim sum – something my sisters and I have grown up with but never thought twice about – wanting to know why Australians call dim sum ‘yum cha’ instead. Apparently, the Chinese used to have a yum cha culture, which evolved into having small bites along with their tea at teahouses.

Maybe this is why Australians say, “Do you want to have yum cha?”

I can’t be sure, but as long as we still get each other, that's all that matters.

Here in Australia, where the Chinese diaspora is also large as in Malaysia, my sisters and I have begun to rediscover Chinese food, exploring new flavours that we’ve never had before in Malaysia.

I still remember the first time we tried the Hong Kong-style cheung fun (rice noodle rolls), which reminded me of har gow (prawn dumplings) when I first tasted them. We’d never seen or heard of this dish before in our entire lives.

Cheung fun: a highlight of yum cha experiences. Source: Flickr / Jnzl

In Malaysia, the cheung fun my sisters and I grew up with was plain rice noodles doused in a slightly sweet, savoury sticky black sauce or curry (depending on your choice), accompanied by fish or meat balls and fu chuk (bean curd). It’s a meal in itself while the Hong Kong-style cheung fun we had was more like a snack.

Then there are the different Malaysian and Australian dim sum dishes. I remember looking for or nee (a sweet taro dessert soup) on the menu when I first arrived in Brisbane. Only to find that it wasn't available.

But it was here in Australia that my twin Angeline and I were introduced to the goodness of buttery, flaky barbecue pork pastries by our dajie (big sister). We’ve only ever had siew pau in Malaysia – similar but less buttery and moist pork buns, which Angeline and I never really liked when we were growing up.

These barbecue pork pastries are winners. Source: Natalie & Angeline Liu

My sisters and I have been living in Brisbane for the past few years, but it didn’t take us long to realise that Chinese cuisine is never quite the same in different parts of the world. When Angeline and I lived in Seoul, Korea, we learnt that Koreans considered jajangmyeon (a black bean noodle dish) to be part of Chinese cuisine. We’re Chinese and have grown up eating Chinese food, but we’ve never heard of it before. Even our classmates from China denied that it was an actual Chinese dish. (It's said to be inspired by Beijing's zha jiang mian, though.)

In Cantonese, yum cha means ‘drink tea’ while dim sum means ‘touch the heart’.

The flavours of Chinese cuisine vary around the world and that's not a bad thing. In fact, my sisters and I embrace it. Food, in essence, is the taste of cultures brought together on a plate, and that’s why it’s so special. It’s the taste of history, the taste of memories, the taste of home.

Natalie and Angeline Liu are discovering how Chinese food changes from country to country. Source: Natalie and Angeline Liu

Food makes cultural exchanges and experiences possible, and that’s why my sisters and I appreciate food and travel. That’s why Angeline and I started a blog to write about food and travel. We want to explore and live with no regrets.

If you agree with us, why don’t you join us on this journey of exploring new flavours? We’re sure you won’t regret it.

Because we don’t, and we don’t think you will.

 

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