Sunday, November 28, 2010

Yum Cha and Bubble Tea

Yum cha, also known as Ban ming, is a dining experience which involves drinking Chinese tea and eating dim sum dishes. Yum cha in Cantonese literally means "drink tea".
 In the US and UK, the phrase dim sum is often used in place of yum cha; in Cantonese, dim sum refers to the wide range of small dishes, whereas yum cha, or "drinking tea", refers to the entire dining experience.

Recently in Melbourne, I had an amazing Yum Cha experience with my friend Meherangiz and her sister-in-law Layla.

Dim sum is a varied range of small dishes (a concept similar to tapas) eaten for breakfast, brunch or afternoon tea, as part of the yum cha dining experience. Dishes are usually steamed or fried and may be savoury or sweet. They include steamed buns such as char siu baau, assorted dumplings, sui mai, and rice noodle rolls, which contain a range of ingredients, including beef, chicken, pork, prawns and vegetarian options. Typical desserts include egg tarts, sai mai lo (tapioca pudding) and mango pudding. Many dim sum restaurants also offer plates of steamed green vegetables, roasted meats, congee porridge, and soups.

The dim sum are usually small and normally served as three or four pieces in one dish. The restaurant we went to served in 3s which suited us perfectly! The servers wheel the dim sum trolleys around and customers have to pick from the selection. The server then marks the order on a stamping card on the table.








After yum cha, we went to a place where they served "bubble tea" which is a Taiwanese innovation. Drink recipes may vary, but most bubble teas contain a tea base mixed with fruit (or fruit syrup) and/or milk. Ice blended versions of the drink are also available, usually in fruit flavors. Bubble teas usually contain small tapioca balls or pearls called "boba". Pearls made of jelly are also available in many places. These teas are shaken to mix the ingredients, creating a foam on the top of some varieties, hence the name.




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