How to Throw the Most Amazing Frozen Dim Sum Party

When I was growing up, a celebratory brunch or lunch in my Chinese family meant only one thing: squeezing around a large round table with a lazy Susan groaning with dim sum. We loved the bustling restaurants where dim sum carts raced around the room and offered a wide selection of sweet and savory bites, but it’s a lot harder to find cart-style dim sum now. A few years ago when there was a pause in in-person dining, I threw a Christmas Day dim sum brunch for family instead that was received with rave reviews. The best part? I didn’t make a single thing from scratch besides a dipping sauce. Here’s how I did it.

My dim sum party prep was just all shopping: I purchased a variety of frozen dim sum from stores and restaurants so all I had to do was finish cooking or heating things up. I’m a professional recipe developer, but even I don’t have the time or energy to make a bunch of dim sum from scratch. Instead, I first turned to the freezer aisle of grocery stores and online grocery delivery services. They now offer so much more than the Ling Ling Chicken and Vegetable Potstickers we used to buy at Costco, like har gao (shrimp dumplings) and even soup dumplings.

To round things out, I also bought frozen dim sum from restaurants. Many have jumped enthusiastically into the frozen food game, meaning I could support local businesses in a new way and purchase the exact same dim sum they served to cook at home. A lot of frozen restaurant dim sum actually emerged during quarantine, when the restaurants had to pivot from in-house dining to takeout.

San Francisco’s Mamahuhu restaurants chose to make modern gluten-free potstickers in fun flavors like tofu & mushroom and chicken & broccoli. “Potstickers in particular really resonated with us because it’s such a staple on Chinese American restaurant menus, and freezing is such an awesome technology to lock in flavor and deliciousness,” says co-founder Anmao Sun. In New York, Vanessa’s Dumpling House is a favorite of Emily Gerard, writer and food producer at the Today Show. She says they have “affordable and reliably delicious dumplings — and I can’t stop in for a takeout order without bringing a bag of frozen dumplings to stock my freezer! They’re the best emergency meal.” 

For my dim sum brunch, I steamed and pan-fried my store-bought purchases, and we feasted on fresh dim sum with pots of fragrant tea to wash it all down. It was the easiest gathering I’d hosted in a long time, thanks to frozen dim sum, and you can do it too. Here’s a step-by-step guide that covers everything you need to know, including what to buy and how much, plus some tips for cooking and serving. 

Dim sum restaurants serve steamed dim sum hundreds, if not thousands, of times a day out of small steamers. A large percentage of dim sum is steamed, like rice rolls, bouncy-textured shui mai, tender black bean pork spareribs, and more. (I highly recommend investing in a home steamer setup for a successful dim sum party. See tips below.) Ones to try are as follows:

Crispy dim sum contrasts the soft textures of steamed dim sum to make the whole dim sum spread more fun and interesting. They can be baked like egg tarts, deep-fried like spring rolls or sesame balls, or pan-fried just so the outside is crispy like potstickers or turnip cakes. Read the packages while shopping and selecting — many dim sum now have air fryer instructions (meaning no stovetop frying!), so you know if you need to stock up on frying oil. Ones to try are as follows:

Whether you like plush, snowy-white steamed buns or the shiny browned baked buns, bao are a dim sum party must-have. The fillings can range from vegetables to ground meats or even lean into sweets territory with red bean paste. If the buns are on the larger size, cut them in half before serving in case people are worried about filling up too much on buns. Ones to try are as follows:

There’s usually a caddy of sauces on each table when you go out for dim sum, so offer some sauce options beyond just basic soy sauce. It’s easy to do; most can be store-bought.

• Dumpling sauce: This is the one sauce I’ll make. It’s an easy all-purpose homemade dipping sauce made with soy sauce, vinegar, sesame oil, and a little chile-garlic sauce.
• Black vinegar: Chinese black vinegar with some thinly shredded ginger on top is a classic choice for serving with soup dumplings.
• Chili crisp: Pick up your favorite brand (Lao Gan Ma is our favorite) or make your own.
• Chili-garlic sauce: It’s like chili crisp without the extra crispy bits in it for a more pure chili and vinegar taste. Sambal oelek is similar and also delicious.
• Chinese hot mustard: A much more potent, sinus-clearing mustard than European-style mustards like Dijon. Chinese hot mustard is thinner and a little goes a long way, so start with a dab when eating. It’s great with richer foods like fried spring rolls. 

A phrase my Cantonese family uses when talking about going out to dim sum is to go “yum cha,” which means to drink tea. Tea is a big part of the dim sum experience, and it’s one of the few times you’re asked for your tea preference when you eat at a Chinese restaurant. Here are some beverage options that work well with dim sum:

• Pu-ehr tea: A fermented Chinese black tea.
• Jasmine tea: A black or green tea infused with jasmine.
• Oolong tea: A semi-oxidized tea that falls somewhere between black and green tea in flavor.
• Chrysanthemum tea: This is a floral naturally non-caffeinated tea. You can get tea that is actually whole flowers that “bloom” when you steep them!
• Sparkling wine is a fun non-traditional pairing I like with dim sum.

Here’s how much I would aim to get for a dim sum party for eight to 10 people:

• 2 to 3 steamed dim sum
• 2 to 3 crispy dim sum
• 1 to 2 buns
• At least 3 sauces
• At least 2 beverages

• 1 to 2 of each kind of steamed or crispy dim sum
• 1 of each kind of bun

1. Clean out or eat up some of the things in your freezer before you go shopping. The beauty of a frozen dim sum party is that you’re only heating things up, but it also means you’ll need lots of freezer space. 
2. Invest in a steamer. A wide, flat steamer that fits over a wok or large pan is key to cooking steamed dumplings and dim sum. If you’ve got the storage space or have a big crowd to feed, opt for a double steamer basket that sits over a wok or large pan so you can steam a lot of food at once.
3. Use steam paper. These pre-cut parchment paper rounds have holes in them and make sure the delicate wrappers on steamed dumplings don’t stick to the steamer. (You can always hack it instead by cutting out parchment paper rounds and cutting little holes in them — think: paper snowflakes!) You can buy rounds in various sizes to fit your steamer, including ones sized for individual buns. Bonus: You can also use these papers in air fryers!
4. Dim sum is best served piping hot, so steam or cook in a few batches so they are served fresh. This also means you can gauge your guests’ appetites and cook only what you need; the rest can stay frozen for another meal.
5. Don’t forget the servingware. While not strictly necessary, chopsticks and individual little dipping bowls (like ones used for sushi) for the sauces make a dim sum party a bit more fun.

What’s your favorite frozen dim sum? Tell us about it in the comments below.