Cantonese techniques, dim sum categories and a searchable dish-name glossary
Cantonese cooking is built on restraint: steam, poach and simmer to keep the ingredient intact, then finish with a light soy or stock. This page separates the techniques from the dim sum taxonomy, and gives an English name for the dishes you are most likely to meet on a menu.
Flavor profile
Relative tendency only, scored 1 to 5.
Core techniques
Dim sum categories
Tap a category to filter the list.
Dish name glossary
Dish
English
Category
Note
No match. Try a shorter keyword.
Reading the menu
Steaming and poaching are the default, not the exception. A Cantonese menu lists the cooking method first, so 蒸 (steamed), 灼 (poached) and 煲 (clay-pot simmered) tell you more about the dish than the protein does.
Dim sum names are descriptive rather than poetic: 虾饺 is simply shrimp dumpling, 烧卖 is siu mai. Translate the shape and the filling, not the legend.