There are two possible ways to approach Dim Sum.

1. You can be an expert in the field, giving your thoughts and opinions based off of your thousands of hours of experiences regarding said topic.

   Or.

2. You can approach the topic as a complete ignoramus, claiming no experience at all, and choosing to learn about Dim Sum as an outside who wants to learn, and is willing to take the time to understand the hows and whys.

I have chosen the second way. So take any information learned here with a grain of salt.

Okay, two grains of salt and a teaspoon of sugar.

Having been raised in a part of America where Chinese restaurants began with deep dried egg rolls and ended with General Tso's chicken, Dim Sum was a new experience for me when I hit the West Coast way back in 2003. After my first experience, I vowed to learn more. The posts listed below are my attempts at understand the who, what, and hows of this great tradition.

History

• What is Dim Sum?

Experiences

Tea

Dishes

(NOTE: I will sometimes have the same dish in two different categories, mostly because some dishes are not easily defined by one single category.)

Buns

• BBQ Pork Bun (Char Siu Bau)
  

Congee

Deep Fried Dishes

• Taro Dumpling (Wu Gok)
  

Dips and Sauces

Dumplings

• Pork and Shrimp Dumpling (Shao Mai)
  

• Shanghai Dumpling (Xiao Long Bao)
  

• Shrimp Dumpling (Ha Gao)
  

• Taro Dumpling (Wu Gok)
  

Meats

• Chicken Feet (Foong Jow)
  

• Roast Duck (Siu Ngap)
  

Pan Fried Dishes

• Turnip Cake (Law Bahk Go)
  
  

• Shrimp-Stuffed Eggplant (Yeung Qi Dze)
  

Rice

• Glutinous Rice with Chicken & Chinese Sausage (Ngor Mai Gai)
  

Seafood

• Shrimp-Stuffed Eggplant (Yeung Qi Dze)
  

Sweets

• Egg Custard Tart (Dahn Ta)
  

Vegetables

• Chinese Broccoli (Kai Lan)
  

Restaurant Guides

San Francisco, CA

• Yank Sing: 49 Stevenson St. San Francisco, CA 94105, (415)541-4949 Google Maps: Website

Bellevue, WA

• The Noble Court: 1644 140th Avenue Northeast Bellevue, WA 98005-2302, (425) 641-6011 : Google Maps: Website

Renton, WA

• The Tea Palace: 2828 Sunset Ln NE, Renton, WA‎ - (425) 277-8600‎: Google Maps: Website

Seattle, WA

• Jade Garden: 424 7th Avenue South, Seattle, WA‎ - (206) 622-8181‎: Google Maps:
• Ocean City: 2609 South Weller Street, Seattle, WA‎ - (206) 623-2333‎: Google Maps: Website
• Purple Dot Cafe: 515 Maynard Avenue South, Seattle, WA‎ - (206) 622-0288‎: Google Maps
• Sun-Ya:605 7th Avenue South, Seattle, WA‎ - (206) 623-1670‎: Google Maps

Usual Disclaimer: This is a work in progress, and will likely always be a work in progress. So if there's something missing here, I probably have some plans to address that at some point in the future.

Additionally, I am human, which means I make mistakes. If you see something wrong, I would love it if you pointed me in the right direction. Feel free to e-mail me at Kate AT accidentalhedonist DOT com with any tips, hints, or advice you may have.

Rude and insulting e-mails will be deleted without a second thought.