Loose-leaf Green Tea

Drinking quality loose-leaf green tea can do wonders for your health, but the used up leaves don’t have to go to waste. Before they get tossed into the compost with the coffee grinds, take a moment for yourself and lay the damp leaves over your eye lids.

Middle-aged Chinese women often use this kind of remedy for a healthier, more youthful look around their eyes and hands. It’s not uncommon to see women aged 50+ to pour their Morning Tea (served at traditional brunch restaurants in Southern China) over their hands too!

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!

Maybe I avoided it because it was so Cantonese and I missed the Mandarin world a little. Making soup (煲汤) and Morning Tea (早茶) are very Cantonese and have slowly found their place among my all-time favorite Chinese weekend activities. Now, or when I’m ready to move on, they will join me as I explore the rest of China (and the USA).

Soup Ingredients

The one thing that worries me though, is that there are two ingredients that might not be available back home. One is fresh bamboo shoots and the other is fresh water chestnuts. Both must not come from a can… or else the whole thing is ruined, I think.

Stuff to Prepare: (see pic)
a large peeled, sliced carrot.
a fist-sized red onion, sliced.
a fist-sized potato cut into bite-sized chunks.
a full ear of corn, cut into 4 or 5 sections.
a “ham hock” or soup bone which has some meat and a lot of marrow. (Ask your butcher)
5-6 fresh water chestnuts, cut into halves or quarters depending on size.
3-4  fresh bamboo shoots, sliced in half.
salt.

1~  First prepare everything as you see in the pic above. It’s vital that everything is prepped in advance because all you have to do is throw everything in together!

2~ Take the chopped up ham hock chunks and pre-boil them for about 5 minutes. This cleans out the meat and keeps the soup free from some sneaky bugs… at least this is the typical way it is prepared in Guangdong.

Boiling Bones

3~ You’ll need a soup pot like the one in the picture, so visit an Asian market (or increasingly any Dollar Store) to buy a cheap one. They cost about $4 in China. Fill 3/4 with drinkable water.

4~ When the meat is pre-boiled, drain the gunky water out and drop the meat into the soup pot. This will become our stock and leave some tasty meat chunks to eat between mouth-fulls of veges!

5~ You can put all of the ingredients in at the same time if you want. They will boil together for about 30-45 minutes at least. Then make sure to pour in salt to taste. Don’t start with too much! (See pic)

I usually let the soup simmer after 45 minutes. It can stay simmering for hours if you want. If you want to keep the soup for later, just leave it on the stove top. You should put the leftover soup in containers and leave them in the refrigerator if you indeed to eat some the next day.

Salt to Taste!

Enjoy this traditional, very easy to make soup!

Ingredients for Garlic pork ribs

I’m finally letting this simple, but amazingly delicious recipe out of the bag! I would eat ribs everyday if I could because they are so freaking delicious. My favorite rib-dish is actually steamed and served more frequently at Zao Cha (早茶) or “morning tea,” which is most common in Southern China.  I have yet to find a more delicious way to cook pork ribs at home, but we will need to take a quick trip to the Asian Market first.

Start by preparing the following ingredients:
MEAT: Obviously, first comes the pork rib chunks. I buy them from a butcher’s market, which sells all cuts of meat in open air. The amount in the serving bowl to the right is about one full rib, which is about 8 inches long. You can get a 12 inch long rib chopped up for 2 people if this option is available. If you are not sure about portions, take a look at this article related to meat portion control.

Chilli powder, Corn starch, and Marinade

SEASONINGS: We’ll simply take the chopped up pork ribs, rinse them through water, and do a simple 1 minute-marinade. I like 李锦记 (Lee Kum Kee) Brand’s prepared “Black Bean and Garlic Sauce” marinade shown in the picture. (buy online) I also mix in some 玉米生粉 (Corn Starch), which is that bag with the ear of corn on it. Any corn starch will do. Notice that I don’t cake this onto the ribs; just put a shallow amount in your palm, with the marinade, and mix by hand a few minutes before cooking. I also put in Chilli powder according to taste. A spicy edge can enhance the flavor.

PLANTS: I’ve chosen to separate the shelved Seasonings from the fresh ones. As in the picture above, just cut a few slices of raw ginger, long segments of scallions, and loosely chopped up garlic. This should only take 1 minute.

1 ~ Warm up a frying pan/wok with corn oil (or whatever is available in the house). Throw in some of the garlic you chopped up with 1 or two slices of ginger. Shortly after you can throw in the scallions.

2 ~ Quickly throw in your marinaded pork ribs. Move them around in the pan to give them equal heat. If you find the frying pan is drying out, just add small amounts of water periodically. You’ll slowly develop a nice coating of sauce this way.

3 ~ Cover and let them cook for a few minutes, mixing them up with the sauce in the pan. Add water if needed. (The meat cooks rather quickly because it is not frozen and its rather thin on the bone. Cooking times may vary according to the thickness of your meat.)

4 ~ I usually pull them off after 4-5 minutes. If you want, choose a thick piece and pull it out. Slice it and check the middle.

Garlic Bean Pork Ribs with Rice

I eat this dish with white rice, as you can see from the picture of the final product. Also, it goes well with stir-fried green beans.  Notice that the vegetables and the rice portions are about 50% of the meal. (Try your best to make a habit of this!)

Enjoy!

Full Meal with Green Beans