Dish Stories
The stories behind the dishes
Where har gow, siu mai, char siu bao, cheung fun and Peking duck come from, and how to enjoy them the traditional way.
Banquet Classic
Peking Duck in Vancouver: History, Carving & How to Eat
Peking duck is a Beijing roast duck prized for its thin, lacquered, crackling skin, carved at the table and wrapped in crepes with scallion, cucumber and sweet bean sauce. At Neptune Palace in Vancouver and Burnaby it opens both six-person set menus, followed by the duck meat in lettuce wraps.
Seafood Luxury
Abalone in Cantonese Cooking: Dried, Fresh & Banquet Meaning
Abalone is a sea snail prized in Cantonese cooking for its dense, tender bite and its ability to soak up rich braising sauces. Served dried or...
Dim Sum Classic
Steamed Beef Meatballs with Aged Tangerine Peel
Cantonese steamed beef meatballs (ngau yuk kau, 牛肉球) are made from finely chopped beef beaten until springy, seasoned with aged tangerine peel...
Dim Sum Classic
Black Bean Spareribs: Steamed Pork Ribs in Douchi
Steamed spareribs in black bean sauce (si jap pai gwat, 豉汁蒸排骨) are small pieces of pork rib marinated with fermented black beans, garlic and a...
Siu Mei
Cantonese BBQ: Char Siu, Roast Duck & Crispy Pork Belly
Cantonese BBQ, or siu mei, is the family of roast meats hung in the windows of Cantonese restaurants: honey-glazed char siu, aromatic roast duck...
Live Seafood
Cantonese Lobster: Noodles, E-fu & Double Lobster
Cantonese lobster is live lobster chopped and wok-cooked or steamed within minutes, then served with ginger and scallion, superior broth or...
Dim Sum Classic
Char Siu Bao: Steamed and Snow-Top BBQ Pork Buns
Char siu bao (叉燒包) are Cantonese buns filled with diced barbecued pork in a glossy sweet-savoury sauce. The classic steamed version is soft and...
Dim Sum Classic
Cheung Fun: Silky Cantonese Steamed Rice Rolls
Cheung fun (腸粉) are Cantonese steamed rice rolls: a thin sheet of rice batter steamed until silky, wrapped around a filling such as shrimp, beef...
Regional Dim Sum
Chiu Chow Dumplings (Fun Gor): A Teochew Dim Sum
Chiu Chow dumplings (fun gwo, 潮州粉粿) are translucent, crescent-shaped dumplings from the Teochew region of eastern Guangdong. The chewy starch...
Cantonese Comfort
Clay Pot Rice (Bo Zai Fan): Cantonese Rice and Its Crust
Clay pot rice (bou zai faan, 煲仔飯) is a Cantonese dish of rice cooked in a small earthenware pot, with toppings such as Chinese sausage or...
Sweet Dim Sum
Egg Tarts: Hong Kong Style vs Macau Portuguese Tarts
The Cantonese egg tart (daan taat, 蛋撻) is a small pastry shell filled with smooth, lightly sweet egg custard, baked until just set. Hong...
Dim Sum Classic
Har Gow: The Crystal Shrimp Dumpling of Dim Sum
Har gow (蝦餃) is a steamed Cantonese dumpling of whole shrimp wrapped in a thin, translucent wheat-starch skin, folded into fine pleats. Commonly...
Modern Dim Sum
Lava Custard Bun (Liu Sha Bao): Salted Egg Yolk Custard
A lava custard bun (lau sa bau, 流沙包) is a soft steamed bun filled with a sweet-and-salty custard made from salted duck egg yolks, which turns...
Dim Sum Classic
Lo Mai Gai: Sticky Rice Steamed in Lotus Leaf
Lo mai gai (糯米雞) is glutinous rice cooked with savoury fillings such as chicken, pork and mushroom, wrapped in a lotus leaf and steamed until...
For the Curious
Phoenix Claws: Why Dim Sum Loves Chicken Feet
Phoenix claws (鳳爪) are chicken feet that are fried, soaked, braised and then steamed in a savoury sauce until the skin turns puffy and tender....
Sweet Dim Sum
Sesame Balls (Jin Deui): Crisp, Hollow and Sweet
Sesame balls (jin deui, 煎堆) are fried spheres of glutinous rice dough coated in sesame seeds. As they fry, the dough puffs into a hollow shell...
Dim Sum Classic
Siu Mai: The Open-Top Pork and Shrimp Dumpling
Siu mai (燒賣) is an open-topped steamed dumpling of chopped pork and shrimp in a thin yellow wrapper, usually crowned with roe or a dot of colour....
Live Seafood
Cantonese Steamed Whole Fish: Technique & Meaning
Cantonese steamed whole fish (清蒸魚) is a live fish steamed briefly, then topped with ginger and scallion, bathed in sizzling oil and finished with...
Banquet Centrepiece
Cantonese Roast Suckling Pig: The Banquet Centrepiece
Roast suckling pig is a young pig roasted whole until its skin turns a glossy, crackling red, served as the opening centrepiece of Cantonese...
Dim Sum Classic
Turnip Cake: Pan-Fried Daikon Radish Cake (Lo Bak Go)
Turnip cake (lo bak go, 蘿蔔糕) is a Cantonese savoury cake of shredded daikon radish and rice flour, usually studded with Chinese sausage and dried...
Jiangnan Classic
Xiao Long Bao: Soup Dumplings at the Dim Sum Table
Xiao long bao (小籠包) are small steamed dumplings filled with pork and a hot, savoury broth. They come from the Shanghai and Jiangnan region, not...