Yum Cha: How to Order, Pour and Eat at a Cantonese Teahouse

Visitors say they are going for dim sum. Cantonese say they are going to yum cha, which means to drink tea. The difference is instructive. The small dishes that arrive in bamboo steamers are an accompaniment. The occasion is the tea, the table and the people round it, and it can last all morning.

Where it came from

The custom took shape in Guangzhou in the middle of the nineteenth century, in the reign of the Xianfeng emperor. Cheap establishments called one-cent houses offered tea and a place to sit. They grew into teahouses of several floors, where merchants did business and old men brought their caged birds. The formula was one bowl and two pieces: a bowl of tea and two items to eat. It travelled with Cantonese emigrants to Hong Kong and round the world.

The tea

The waiter asks first what tea the table will drink. The usual choices are bo lei, the dark fermented pu’er, which is thought to cut grease; tit kwun yam, a roasted oolong; sau mei, a mild white tea; jasmine; and chrysanthemum, which is often mixed with pu’er. A second pot of hot water comes with it, for topping up.

A few customs govern the pot. Pour for others before yourself, beginning with the eldest, and fill the cups about four fifths full. When someone pours for you, tap the table two or three times with two bent fingers. The gesture stands for a bow. The story told is that the Qianlong emperor, travelling in disguise, poured tea for his companions, who could not kneel without revealing him and knelt with their fingers instead. When the pot is empty, leave the lid ajar or set it on the handle, and it will be refilled without a word.

How to order

There are two systems. In the older one, trolleys are pushed round the room and the staff call out what they carry. Diners look, point, and have their card stamped. This dates from the 1960s and survives in a few traditional halls. Most restaurants now give out a sheet on which the table marks its choices, and the food is cooked to order, which is better for the food and worse for the theatre.

What to order

Four dishes are called the heavenly kings and are a fair test of a kitchen.

Har gow. Prawn dumplings in a translucent pleated wrapper.

Siu mai. Open dumplings of pork and prawn.

Char siu bao. Steamed buns filled with barbecued pork.

Egg tarts. Small custard tarts in flaky or shortcrust pastry.

After those: cheong fun, sheets of steamed rice noodle rolled round prawns or beef, with sweet soy; turnip cake, fried in slices; sticky rice steamed in a lotus leaf; spare ribs with black beans; and chicken feet braised with chilli and black bean, which are called phoenix claws. Order steamed things first and fried things after, and sweets last.

When and where

Yum cha is a morning and midday meal. Teahouses open at dawn for the old regulars, and the best time is before eleven, or on a weekday. On Sundays whole families go, and tables are shared.

In Guangzhou the old teahouses with gardens are in the Liwan district, and the hotels on and near Shamian Island, among them the White Swan, are known for their dim sum. The first Michelin Guide to Guangzhou gave all its stars to Cantonese kitchens. In Hong Kong the choice runs from clattering old halls to hotel dining rooms with harbour views, and the Michelin Guide lists both. For Cantonese cooking at its most serious, see our piece on The Chairman.