Eating in the Chinese Manner

Dim sum is the most informal of meals, served randomly, its dishes set out in no particular order except at the whim of those eating. Just about the only rule is to eat sweets toward the end of the meal, but even that is a rule to be broken.

Dim sum can, however, be served formally, in individual porcelain dishes, or family-style out of large platters or steamers. How you serve depends upon your taste and inclinations.

Just as there is a proper way to hold a rice bowl or soup bowl, and those small Chinese spoons: