Dim Sum in China

spring roll

Light refreshments and pastry of great variety and meticulously made have a long history in China. The origin of Chinese pastry can be traced back to the Neolithic Age when the stone grinder was invented to make the grinding of grain possible. During the Spring and Autumn periods (770-476BC), there were oil-fried pastry and steamed pastries such as honey cake,Yishi,Shenshi(made of grounded grains of cereal crops), andJunu(a ring-shaped oil-fried food). 

Zongzi

Later, with the development of cooking utensils and kitchen wares, Chinese pastry gradually enriched its raw materials, techniques and varieties, and many popular local light refreshments appeared. In North China, there are dumplings, noodles, hand-pulled noodles, pancakes and steamed stuffed buns; in South China, there areShaomai, spring roll,Zongzi(pyramid-shaped glutinous rice dumpling wrapped in bamboo leaves),Yuanxiao(glutinous rice dumpling with special fillings) andYoutiao(deep fried dough stick). In addition, many light refreshments with local characteristics have been created, making use of particular local products and customs. Here taking Beijing as an example.

Yuanxiao

There are a great variety of snacks in Beijing. In addition to traditional ones, such asJiaoquan(slightly browned dough ring),Mi Mahua(honeyed twisted fried dough),Wandou Huang(pea flour cake),Ai Wowo(steamed corn bread flavored with aromatic herbs),Douzhi(a fermented Soya-bean milk),Chaogan(Quick-fried liver),Bingtanghulu(candied haws on a stick), and so on. Many other snacks have been introduced into the capital from different regions, making Beijing a place with mixture of snack foods from the north, south, east and west. 

Youtiao

You may have snacks in most restaurants, especially those that open in the morning serving breakfast. In the evening, there are two food streets bristling with small stalls selling various kinds of snacks. One is at Donghuamen (East Flowery Gate), an east-west street crossing Wangfujing and about a hundred yard west of the Palace Hotel. The other is at Longfusi Market Street near Dongsi. If you are tired of big meals in the hotels, you could go there to have some light snacks.

Touzhi

Below is a list of other places serving some of the most famous local pastries and light refreshments:

Shanghai:Xiekehuang(fried ovary and digestive glands of a crab), Nanxiang steamed bread, and Shaoxing chicken porridge.

Xiekehuang

Tianjin:Gabacai(a kind of crisp cake with vegetables),Goubulisteamed stuffed buns, ear-shaped fried cake, bread stewed with mini-fish,Bangchuipancake,Guifaxiang twisted fried dough, and spiced donkey meat.

Goubuli steamed stuffed buns

Sichuan: roast cake with egg,Long Chaoshou,Dandannoodles (a kind of noodles with peppery sauce), Lai'sTangyuan(glutinous rice dumpling), cold noodles with shredded chicken, transparentShaomai, Yibing ran-noodles,Fuqi(meaning "husband and wife", the inventor of this dish being a couple) sliced pig's lung, steamed beef with corn powder, andDengying(meaning "shade of a lamp") beef.

Fujian: oyster pancake, noodles to be eaten with the fingers, spiced pork trotters, andDingbianthick paste.

Zhejiang: buttered pancake, Double Ninth chestnut cake,Zhongzistuffed with fresh meat, noodles with shrimp and eel, Ninbo glutinous rice dumpling, black rice of eight treasures.

Shandong: oil-fried stuffed buns.

Shaomai

Guangdong: chicken cake, preserved egg shortbread, a-thousand-layer shortbread with frozen meat, Guangdong moon cake, lotus seed paste in crisp pastry, steamed hedgehog stuffed buns,Fenguo, dumplings with fresh shrimp filling, examination-success porridge, steamedShaomaiwith the ovary and digestive glands of crabs, and white rabbit shaped dumplings.

steamed stuffed buns filled with three kinds of diced delicacies

Jiangsu: baked wheaten cake with sesame and chopped scallion,Tangbao(small-sized steamed stuffed buns), steamed stuffed buns filled with three kinds of diced delicacies, andShaomaiwith the ovary and digestive glands of crabs.

Dajiujia

Anhui: Nuts and dried fruitLabaporridge,Dajiujia, Huizhou cake, and rice with bean curd peel. Hunan: new rice, rice-flour noodles, tortoise-mutton eight-treasure soup, and strong smelling bean curd.

Hubei: bean curd peel with three delicacies,Yunmengfried noodles with fish flavor, hot dried noodles, andDongpocake.

Xi'an: dried bread soaked in mutton (or beef) soup, and Qianzhou cake.

Yunnan:Guoqiaorice noodles, pot stewed beef with pastry, etc.

Knife-shaved noodles

Henan: bread with jujube, bread browned with white sugar, egg hop-pocket,Xuetea, and shredded chicken roll. Taiyuan:Kaolao, knife-shaved noodles, andJiupian.

Lanzhou: hand-stretched noodles, and oil-fried large pancake.

Xinjiang: roast pancake of wheat or corn flour, roast mutton (or beef) slices, rice eaten with fingers.

Taiwan: Du XiaoyueDanzainoodles, noodles with sliced eel, andJinzhuarice-flour noodles.

Hainan:Jiandui, rice cooked in bamboo utensils, etc.

Guangxi: Guilin rice-flour noodles with horse meat, pyramid-shaped meat dumpling wrapped in bamboo leaves, and fried earthworm-shaped noodles.

Guizhou: noodles with intestines,Si Wawa,Yelangdough fish, and steamed (or fried) glutinous rice paste wrapped in lotus leaves.

Apart from those enumerated above, many light refreshments with ethnic characteristics have been merged into the daily food of the ordinary Chinese, greatly enriching the contents of Chinese culinary culture.