Touch of the heart

Throughout all the time growing up, there have been pluses and minuses to being Chinese-American. The questions of, "So where are you from? ... No, where are you REALLY from?" as if the answer of New York City was somehow wrong. But there were quite a few things that I found most precious. One of them is the value of food in a Chinese family. Food is the center of everything... family gatherings, a symbol of love, health, joy, etc. In a previous post, I think I even mentioned that my Dad still begins our phone conversations with, "Have you eaten [breakfast, lunch, dinner] yet?" because that's what most Chinese people do.

So when, a couple of weeks ago, I read this article about the nutritional content (read: unhealthiness) of dim sum, I was a little taken aback. Dim sum is special to me. Something I really enjoy. Fond memories of my childhood, going into Chinatown with my family. Eating. It's also one of the few places/times where my awful Chinese is passable (I speak, what I affectionately call, Restaurant Chinese).

Emails circulated about this article. People were upset. I think the pervasive comment was, "I'd really rather not know." I agree. Why make something that is so fun and wonderful and yummy turn bleak. Apparently, we weren't the only ones who were upset by this report. Dim sum is a way of life in Hong Kong. I saw it when I was there many years ago. We, in this country are used to government entities telling us how to eat. Most people generally ignore them. Culturally, I don't see food as quite an important part of life with most people as I have observed with most Asian families. So this type of government finger wagging generally doesn't bother people.

I just wonder who's going to rain on my sunny day next. But until that time, I'll enjoy another bo-lo-bao.