The Dim Sim

The dim sim isn’t the only evidence of Chinese-Australian cooking, but it’s arguably the most recognisable. Its history remains largely unknown to anyone who hasn’t fallen down the same internet rabbit holes I have, reading everything there is to read about dim sims — until now.

You can find a South Melbourne dim sim on the menu of almost every fish and chip shop, chicken shop, and, when a craving hits, even at my local bánh mì store.

My earliest memories of the South Melbourne dim sim are after Sunday soccer games. My parents would take my sister and me to the South Melbourne Market for their weekly shop. They’d leave us in the endless looping line at the dim sim stall with their order, and when we finally reached the front, we’d ask for four fried dim sims and potato cakes, drowning them in sauce because quantity control doesn’t exist when you’re under twelve.

When I buy them now, the nostalgia of those Sunday mornings rushes back. Sometimes I still drown the paper bag the same way I used to. I’m sure I’m not alone in that feeling.