Yum cha generally involves small portions of steamed, pan-fried, or deep-fried dim sum dishes served in bamboo steamers, which are designed to be eaten communally and washed down with hot tea.

[citation needed] Yum cha generally involves small portions of steamed, pan-fried, or deep-fried dim sum dishes served in bamboo steamers, which are designed to be eaten communally and washed down with hot tea.

This is known as yum je cha (飲夜茶, "drinking night tea"), though most venues still generally reserve the serving of dim sum for breakfast and lunch periods.

[13][14] The history of the tradition can be traced back to the period of Xianfeng Emperor, who first referred to establishments serving tea as yi li guan (一釐館, "1 cent house").

[4] The general yum cha atmosphere is a loud, festive one due to the servers calling out the dishes and the groups of diners having conversations.

[20][21] This method provides fresh, cooked-to-order dim sum while managing the real estate and resource constraints involved with push cart service.

[42] Modern dim sum can include dishes like abalone siu mai and barbecued wagyu beef bun.

[42] One restaurant in Hong Kong creates social media-friendly dishes by preparing dumplings and buns shaped to resemble animals.