Yam Cha

Yum cha (飲茶) is a term in Cantonese which means "drink tea". It refers to the custom of eating small servings of different foods while sipping Chinese tea in Cantonese speaking areas of southern China. It is an integral part of the culinary culture of Guangdong Province, Hong Kong and Macau.

I had my first Yam Cha in Hong Kong in 2007 when conspiring against the rest of my family to have Chinese traditional food for lunch. It wasn't until I moved to Sydney I had it again. Since my arrival we have had it a few times at a place called Zilver, the food is excellent and just like in China the place is absolutely massive, and the lighting is a little on the bright side to be comfortable in a restaurant, and offcourse full of Chinese people which is a sign of being genuine.

Unlike most restaurants, you dont order your food. The staff is walking around the restaurants with trolleys full of small plates of freshly cooked delicious things. You point out what you like to have and the selection is huge, therefore you don't have to have the not so delicious things like steamed chicken feet or pigs lung (well... I have had the lung, that was not great, the chicken feet look really bad so I never dared trying them, but the people who have say they are fantastic. I think that's still a little to hard core for me to try, but maybe I will one day). All the food is for sharing and if you are a larger group of people you will be sitting at a table with a spinning center piece so you will always be able to access everything. One style of food served is Dim Sum, the steamed dumplings, buns and puffs and like them very much. There is a certain type of steamed dumpling containing soup inside. These originates from Shanghai, and It was a mystery to me how they managed to get the soup into the dumpling and then cook them. I had all these theories of them being cooked first and then filled with the soup using some kind of syringe. The answer is quite simple, its tucked inside the doe in a firm jelly form, and when heated up the jelly melts and turns into soup. Sorry, I get so carried away when talking about food... here are some pictures. Sorry they are not that good I was to busy focusing on the food. I whish I get to take you who have never been, one day.

Dave, Paul & Kat












Simon, Dave, Paul