Order Your Dim Sum Lunch Today
 | Dim Sum box with a bottle of spring water, prepared by
Yangzi River Restaurant of Lexington: $12 per box.
There will be only 300 boxes for order. |
Due to the limited space of the cafeteria in the City Hall, lunches will be served in three time periods: 11am - 12pm, 12pm - 1pm, and 1pm - 2pm. When you place your order, be sure to specify the time period. Make sure you enter the correct email address, as we will email you the ticket link.
Food Ingredient
| Sweet coconut custard pie | Coconut, flour, sugar, oil |
| Flaky pastry (Shu-Ban) with roast beef | Flour, beef, scallion, salt, soy sauce |
| Steamed pork or chicken bun | flour, pork or chicken, ginger, scallion, salt |
| Vegetable egg roll | Vegetable, flour |
| Boiled ravioli/Chinese cabbage & pork | Chinese cabbage, pork, flour |
| Sesame red bean balls | Sticky rice, red bean, sugar, sasame |
Dim Sum Origins
Originally a Cantonese custom, dim sum is inextricably linked to the Chinese tradition of "yum cha" or drinking tea. Teahouses sprung up to accommodate weary travelers journeying along the famous Silk Road. Rural farmers, exhausted after long hours working in the fields, would also head to the local teahouse for an afternoon of tea and relaxing conversation.
Still, it took several centuries for the culinary art of dim sum to develop. At one time it was considered inappropriate to combine tea with food: a famous 3rd century Imperial physician claimed this would lead to excessive weight gain. As tea's ability to aid in digestion and cleanse the palate became known, tea house proprietors began adding a variety of snacks, and the tradition of dim sum was born.
Today, dim sum is served throughout China. In The Taste of China, Ken Hom shares his memories of enjoying regional variations of "small eats": jiaozi in Beijing, pearl balls in Shanghai and spicy huntuns (wontons) in Szechuan province.
In the west, dim sum came about as a natural result of 19th century Chinese immigrants - most of whom were from the Canton region - settling on the East and West coasts. Some gourmands believe that dim sum inspired the whole idea of "brunch" - combining breakfast and lunch into one large midmorning meal. It is true that the word brunch only came into existence in the late 1800's.
