DIM-SUM – A NO, NO?

A report by the Hong Kong government suggesting that eating many kinds of dim sum regularly may be bad for your health has provoked a strong reaction.

Practically every Chinese-language newspaper in Hong Kong has run a banner headline about it across its front page. Scrolling electronic displays in subway cars have flashed the news, and the report has become a topic of breakfast, lunch and dinner conversations at Chinese restaurants across the city.

Longtime dim sum lovers are indignant. “The government is putting its thumb on every part of citizens’ lives, and it shouldn’t be telling anyone how dim sum should be served,” said Wong Yuen, a retired mechanic and truck driver who says he has eaten dim sum every morning for the last two decades. “People can make their own decisions. If it’s unhealthy, they can eat less. They don’t need the government to tell them.”

Dim sum, which means “touch of the heart,” is usually eaten at breakfast or lunch and includes steamed or fried pastry dumplings stuffed with anything from pork and beef to shrimp and egg custard.