March 21st, 2005Yam cha in Guangzhou part 1
After those few days spent in Guangzhou, I learned that tea drinking is a big thing over there.
Native Guangzhou people are known in China for their love for tea. Drinking tea is like a symbol of their everyday life and it has to be in teahouses. :flowers: Drinking tea at home simply doesn’t count.
It’s not surprising that the number of teahouses in Guangzhou is the largest in China.
On my first morning in Guangzhou, Rosemary’s cousin said: ‘Let’s have tea’. I thought that she meant let’s drink tea in her house but she went to change and put on her shoes. Rosemary and I did the same and followed her out. She took us to a teahouse near her place.
There were many people there, having tea and eating dimsum. It was more like some kind of social occasion. Rosemary’s cousin said that the Cantonese call it yam cha which literally means to drink tea. However, it also includes the dim sum. From what I understood, drinking tea without having dim sum is not yam cha. Dim sum are savoury little snacks, usually steamed, deep fried, or boiled.
More definitions of dim sum here.
Rosemary and I didn’t know what to order so we asked her cousin to do it.
The waitress filled our tea cups and then took the order.
The food didn’t take long to arrive and Rosemary’s cousin told us to dig in. I didn’t eat immediately. I took out my camera and took pics. Rosemary’s cousin seemed amused by that.
I’m not very adventurous when it comes to food so I was a bit wary when I saw the waitress bring the chicken feet. I tentatively took a bite and it was surprisingly good. Okay let’s dig in. :laugh:
Our food.
This dish is called ha gao. It is a steamed thin rice-flour wrapping filled with minced shrimp and some minced meat.
We also had Cha shao bao (steamed barbecue pork buns) and some other baozi. I don’t remember what it was.
I’m not sure what this dish is. Some kind of potato dish? 
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Ah,’dim sum’ is the Cantonese pronunciation of 点心,snack.
Nice cuisine adventure!
Dim Sum rocks my world! XD I like that yam with a crispy thingy on the outside! lovely!
Hey cool! I just ate some soup-based ha gao this morning. BTW it’s pronounced more like “yum cha.”
that’s what my cantonese friend was saying but I’m hakka…so I wrote it the hakka way. To hakka people we pronounce yam cha same as cantonese people pronounce yum cha. It’s only the way of writing which is different. I got search results for both ‘yam cha’ and ‘yum cha’ in google so I guess it should be okay.
I want ha gao! Had it only once so far.
I really need to find a dim sum place in Shanghai.
I love the ha gao. They have it in Singapore too. Eat it whenever i see it. hehe
you commented at 8:54 am ? Aren’t you in class at Huxi right now? Computer class?
If you know where I can find ha gao in Shanghai, let me know please .
it was so yummy…wanna eat again:)
Seems like they have great food in Sg. Des keeps talking about the food he misses and I feel like eating too. :laugh:
yum. The food looks good! I would have skipped the chicken legs though
I tried once but didn’t like it hehee.
Heh, I especially like the tea picture
Ah tea drinking, this is normal drink for them during the meal but have you tried the real tea drinking?
‘kung fu cha’ ask your friends to elaborate on it.
@Mikez: Cantonese pronounciation of ‘dim sum’ is ‘dim sam’!
btw Lynn, if ur sis haven’t told you yet – The cyclone alert has just been switched to level 2.
wow aline. the food you had looks so delicious
except i don’t eat chicken feet. it’s been a while since i had yam cha. hehe. take care!
the chicken feet looks nasty to me
that’s what i think too… but they don’t taste bad…
my friends don’t know about that tea but i read about it online..ah well.. i’ll just wait until the next time i go to Guangzhou or HK.
As far as my favorite Dim Sum treats goes, my heart wavers between the Shao Mai and and Pai Gu (Steamed Ribs). Interestingly, Shao Mai is also a component of Chengdu Xiao Chi which is to say that it is a well-loved dish in many regions in China. Some Pai Gu tends to be too fatty or too hard to chew but good steamed pork ribs actually melt in your mouth.
yummy, i love going to yum cha! i didn’t know drinking tea there was a big thing there, when i get a chance i’ll definately visit Guangzhou.
People in HK dont have enough time to appreciate kung fu cha but my mom know how to prepare it – she also has the special ‘kit’.
Btw, i was watching the government’s budjet on tv and they said a Chinese Union will be created to promote chinese language!
hehe i go to ‘yam cha’ here too sometimes. ha gao, siu mai etc
Aline, hey there! YOUR entry made me soooo hungry! i love ha gao, siu mai, lo mai kai and a nice CUPPA coffee. hah.
Psshtt.. I don’t like tea.. haha.. I’m familiar that Chinese loves drinking tea especially in the afternoon from the book I’ve read ..
lolz.. 
Yum Cha is the act of eating, usually Dim Sum, in a Restaurant. You are expected to have Chinese Tea with your Tim Sum. Yum Cha is “drinking tea” in Cantonese.
Tim Sum means “Touch Heart” literally; and is the generic term for all those deliciuous small dishes.
Mike.