The Dim Sum Diary - Bite size inspiration, wisdom, reflections for Tuning to Your True Self
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If you've ever been to Hong Kong, you must know that Dim Sum is such an integral part of our culture. It's the culmination of culinary arts, packing a delicately assembled bite size dumplings / small buns with an explosion of deliciousness. You can say it's the Chinese Tapas, but it's much more than that. The name "Dim Sum" in Chinese literally means "a gentle touch/caress to the heart." It's a fanfare we don't do at home, because each little piece is a labor of love. And the essence of the meal is the variety. Traditionally 2 to 4 pieces are put onto a small steaming basket or plates, and they come out freshly steamed or cooked from the kitchen. Waiters/waitresses or later on Dim Sum Ladies, roll them out in dim sum carts to keep them warm, and you as customers just wave your arm and order whatever tick your fancy. Hence there's no order to this meal. Dim sum could be tasty, like the infamous Har Gwor, Siu Mai or sweet, like Sesame roll, sweet Tofu etc. Like a brunch, you are absolutely allowed to eat the sweet before the savory or in which ever order the freshly made dim sum appear from the kitchen. The point is they have to be freshly made, steaming piping hot for the most part.
Why am I going on about Dim Sum here? Coming from Hong Kong, this is so much part of my identity. What better way for me to share nuggets of wisdom I've learned along my personal spiritual path that I know could gently touch your heart as well but a Dim Sum blogpost that allows me this free flow format. Hence expect no structure or sequence; much like how life presents lessons to us - there won't be a neatly organised table of contents or menu that we could easily follow, building upon concepts explained sequentially. Life could throw us into enormous lesson when we were little; sometimes they are small lessons that we learn plain and clear, sometimes they just throw us into the deep end and we just have to figure things out on our own the hard way. There are sweet lessons, and not so sweet ones. They don't come in any particular order, and they are so uniquely different for everyone - just like your dim sum experience could be so different than the table just next to you. Remembering that even coming from the same family or schools, siblings or best friends too have very different paths than yours. I am thrilled to start this Dim Sum journey with you. Let's dig in!