Dim Sum: A Survival Guide

Siu mai, har gow, jar leung, sin jok guen. These are all types of dim sum. But do you know what they look like, and what’s in them? Can you pronounce their names in Cantonese, or recognize them on a menu? Can you confidently order dim sum for you and your friends — especially if any of them have dietary restrictions?

Australian-Chinese writer Liza Chu has a part-time career as a Hong Kong dim sum guide. She has distilled her knowledge of Cantonese cuisine and Chinese dining etiquette into this practical guidebook to delicious dim sum. Each photographed dish is identified with Chinese characters and a pronunciation guide. Icons alert those with allergies or special diets, and there’s a special listing of dim sum dishes most popular with children. Master chefs explain their cooking methods, and even the art of tea drinking is covered in detail.

Take this book to your nearest dim sum restaurant and let Liza show you how to yum cha like a local!

Liza Chu Sin-yee is a Hong Kong native who migrated to Australia with her family when young and began working in her family’s Chinese restaurant from the tender age of 13. Since then she has been fascinated by restaurant management and innovative cuisine.

After finishing her B.A. at Sydney University, she spent years living and sampling delicious cuisine in Japan and the United States. Later she returned to Hong Kong and now teaches Cantonese and local culture to newly arrived expats at the American Women’s Association. Her dim sum experiences with her students prompted the creation of her visual guidebook to local dining.