Drinking Tea has always been an important part in the daily routines of most Chinese people, but Morning Tea specifically has been enjoyed by Cantonese Chinese  for hundreds of years. Nowadays Morning Tea, Yum Cha, or Zao Cha are all ways to describe the activity Westerners might call “Brunch”,  and Dim Sum refers to the dishes that are served at this leisurely mealtime. As with much international Chinese culture, this tradition has it’s roots in Guangdong province, but is practiced regularly throughout Hong Kong, Macau, Singapore, and Chinatowns worldwide. Let’s take a look at what’s in store for first-time morning tea patrons!

Kungfu Tea at your Table

Kung fu Tea

Don’t miss the chance to Pao Cha with your hosts while you sip on piping hot kung fu tea in small tea cups. All Morning Tea establishments provide the option of small tea sets with boiling hot water that you can use to make tea at your table. Sometimes the tea alone costs as much as the food, but worth it for first-time visitors. A common favorite among Cantonese is Pu-er tea, which is a darker tea that reminds me of coffee. It’s known for aiding disgestion and doubles as a dieting tea.

An alternative to Kung Fu tea is just a simple pot of house brew that varies place to place. The cups are usually bigger too.

Steam Baskets

Dim Sum Buffet

Tea isn’t complete without a variety of Dim Sum. There are really too many options for me to list them all here, but most of them include dumpling-sized morsels served 3 or 4 in a basket. They include, but are not limited to: pork and shrimp dumplings, char siu buns, meat and vegie pot stickers, xiao long bao, man tou, chicken claws, steamed meatballs, spare ribs, sticky rice in lotus leaves, taro dumplings, turnip cakes, spring rolls, tofu skin, egg tarts, mango pudding, red bean buns, and much much more.

These dishes are hard to miss because they are served in iconic bamboo steam baskets. These are all collectively refered to as “Dim Sum”.

Porridge/Congee

Congee with Preserved Eggs

Soups, porridge, and congee are all very important too. In my humble opinion, Morning Tea isn’t complete without a choice of Congee (very wet cooked rice), which is best with pork slices, chives, ginger, and preserved eggs. Sometimes congee looks unappetizing, but I guarantee you will not regret trying it. You might come to love it, just as I did.

Deep fried bread is often used to accompany congee. Use the fried bread sparingly, as it isn’t a particularly healthy choice.

Other dishes

Sauteed Green Vegies

Besides the standard components of Morning Tea that I’ve mentioned above, you can also order full dishes that you might expect in Chinese restaurants, including boiled chicken and garlic or wok-fried bai cai with soy sauce. It’s always a good idea to order an extra full-sized dish just in case the dim sum doesn’t fill you up.

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That’s Morning Tea in a nut shell! Visit the links in this overview to learn more about the different parts of this traditional Chinese brunch and leave comments here after you try dim sum where ever you are!

A Delicious Hangover Cure

Head ringing after ringing in the new year? Drink your meals today. Eat soup, porridge, or noodles.

A traditional Korean hangover cure called “Haejangguk” and has been eaten since the late 1300s contains cabbage and ox blood in beef soup. Chinese often eat Congee(porridge) to fight a hangover or illness. A savory congee for lunch is a great choice.

Whatever you do, make sure you get extra liquids and vegetables in your diet today. Feel better!

Cooking Rice in Style

I’m a little embarrassed to say it, but today I finally bought a rice cooker! Maybe because I’ve been a bread person my whole life I never thought buying a machine specifically for cooking rice was important. But since I’ve been in Asia I have eaten rice just about everyday and loved it. After years of fluffy white rice at restaurants and friend’s houses, I’ve developed a taste for this healthy staple. But when it was time to start looking for one at the supermarket, what I wasn’t prepared for the endless choices in front of me.

There are TONS of rice cooker options on the shelves in Chinese supermarkets, but most of them look pretty ugly. And since I’m not a “heavy” rice eater, I figured the huge 5-6 liter mutha rice cookers wouldn’t be my thing. So, I set out to find a small one that would be an interesting addition to our kitchen here. That’s when I met “Robo”.

Robo Rice cooker!

Robo is my new rice cooker! She’s a Midea FD162 (1.6L) cooker with a steam tray. This kind of cooker is actually common for new mothers who want to make small amounts of rice and congee for their babies, but it’s just the right size for me! And although my girlfriend was worried that it would be too small, I was able to prove her wrong the first time we used it.

By using only 1/4 the capacity of Robo, we had enough rice for both of us to stuff our faces! I love this thing and I think it will stay in the family for a long, long time.

Although you won’t be able to find these 2 rice cookers on Amazon, maybe one of the 5,000+ other rice cookers on there will suite you!

Well, we all avoided those too-healthy things and stayed in the safe zone. Phew! But what is so scary about soy milk? I drink it a few times a week now that I’m in Asia. Its popular with children here too. Its part of a balanced breakfast, which also includes porridge(congee), hard boiled eggs, scallions and salty tubers. It’s delicious with a little bit of sugar too. (And I’m sure its healthier than coffee!)

As I enjoy the Asian diet everyday here, I find that a lot of my Western diet starts to disappear. I only eat toast with peanut butter because I miss home sometimes. I only eat a large hamburger or pizza when I go on a pricey date with my girlfriend. I eat chips with salsa or dip when I’m home for Christmas. Sandwiches have lost their flavor for me. Salad is also flavorless, and is nothing more than uncooked vegetables in my mind. I’m not a health nut, I just like Asian food better.