Why does yum cha come in threes? Have you ever wondered this yourself?
We were loving the trolley service, loving the variety and loving every mouthful until a strange event occurred. The waitress slowly approached our table, as she had many times during the lunch service, and our eyes latched onto a lovely dish of steamed dumplings.
We made eye contact with her and politely asked for a bamboo steamed basket from her trolley. To our amazement she replied with 'No, you will not get anymore until you finish what you have'.
We burst out laughing. We could not believe our ears. Looking at our table, yes, we had a few dishes still there, and each one had one remaining item. Why? Simply because they were served as 3 pieces per plate and we only wanted one piece each. So logically we had a few dishes with a piece on each.
Nothing wrong with that. Is there? I mean we were paying for it so what is the problem? Clearly she had a problem.
We were so embarrassed that we literally stuffed the remaining assortment into our bowls, leaving the little dishes empty, and she replenished our table with requested item, replenished our tea and continued on her way.
To this day we laugh about it. However we still do not know the true answer as to why yum cha comes in threes. Sometimes four pieces, but never two. Not that I have ever seen. I am sure we are not the only couple who has experienced the 'I have a table full of one pieces' remaining. Are we?
Is it because the number three is lucky? Or is it based on the old times where families were only expected to have one child?
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