Okay, let me tell you about my little project of figuring out dim sum names in Cantonese. It wasn’t some grand plan, just something that happened bit by bit.
Starting Point: Just Eating
For ages, I’d go for dim sum. Love the stuff. But ordering? It was always a bit of a guess, or pointing, or just taking whatever looked good from the cart. I’d hear people rattling off names in Cantonese, waiters confirming, but it was all just noise to me. I knew the English names for some, maybe, but that felt… incomplete, you know? Like I was missing part of the experience.
Deciding to Actually Learn
One day, sitting there, pointing at some shrimp dumplings, I just thought, “This is silly. I come here all the time, I should at least know how to ask for the basics.” It wasn’t about becoming fluent, just about connecting a bit more with the food and the culture around it. So, I decided I’d actively try to pick up some names.
The Process: Listening and Trying
The next few times I went, I started paying real attention. When the carts rolled by, I listened hard to what the server announced. I listened to other tables ordering. It’s fast! And the tones are tricky.
I started with the absolute classics, the ones you see everywhere:
- Har Gow (蝦餃): That beautiful translucent shrimp dumpling. This was probably the first one I tried to lock down. Heard it constantly. Tried saying it quietly to myself. Sounded wrong for a while.
- Siu Mai (燒賣): The open-topped pork and shrimp dumpling. Another super common one. Listening, repeating.
- Char Siu Bao (叉燒包): BBQ pork buns. Had to figure out there’s the steamed kind (bao) and the baked kind (so bo lo bao). Listened for those differences.
Honestly, my first few attempts at saying them out loud were probably a bit mumbled. I’d point and try the name, hoping the server understood through context. Sometimes they’d correct my pronunciation gently, which was actually super helpful. I wasn’t embarrassed, just focused on getting it.
I also started trying to learn the phrase for ordering, something like ngo jiu… (我要…) meaning “I want…”. So I could string together “ngo jiu Har Gow”. Baby steps.
Getting Somewhere
Slowly, it started to click. I could recognize the sounds when I heard them. I could say a few names clearly enough to be understood. I learned:
- Cheung Fun (腸粉): Those rolled-up rice noodles, often with shrimp or beef.
- Lo Bak Go (蘿蔔糕): Pan-fried turnip cake. A personal favorite.
- Fung Zaau (鳳爪): Chicken feet! Took me a while to get the pronunciation right on this one.
- Pai Gwut (排骨): Steamed spare ribs.
It wasn’t like I studied a textbook. It was purely practical. Go, listen, try, repeat. Sometimes I’d quickly look up a name on my phone right after hearing it, just to connect the sound to the characters and the dish itself. The general act of ordering, I heard someone mention dim coi (點菜), which just means ‘order food’, and that kind of stuck in my head as the overall activity.
Where I’m At Now
So, that’s my journey so far. I’m no expert, not by a long shot. There are still tons of dishes I don’t know the names for. But now, when I go for dim sum, I feel a bit more involved. I can confidently order my favorites in Cantonese. I can understand a bit more of the back-and-forth. It just makes the whole delicious experience feel a little richer. It started with just wanting to know what to call a shrimp dumpling, and it grew from there. Just kept at it, visit by visit.