The source of Cantonese people drinking morning tea can be traced back to the Tongzhi period of Xianfeng. As one of the treaty ports, Guangzhou's trades in tea, porcelain, and silk were developed, and tea became a common and inexpensive drink, and derived the form of a tea house. This kind of restaurant, called "One Cent", has simple facilities, only a wooden shed and a few tables and benches to serve guests, providing tea and three taels of refreshments for passers-by to rest and chat, a cup of tea is only sold for one cent (1 yuan = 1000 cents), and the guests are endless. With the economic prosperity driving the development of food, the form of tea houses and tea houses has gradually evolved, the scale has become larger, and the food served has become more and more abundant, and the habit of drinking morning tea has become a common practice among Cantonese people.

Later, the habit of Cantonese people drinking tea and eating dim sum was carried forward by Hong Kong people. Today, Hong Kong is a glorious place of Cantonese cuisine, with many time-honored restaurants still preserving some of the traditional refreshments that have been almost lost, and the endless creative dim sum from star-rated hotels has captured the stomachs of tourists from all over the world.

As a brand of Langham Hotels, Tang Court's brother restaurant, Ming Court, is not bad. There are many similarities between the dim sum lists of Tang Pavilion and Ming Pavilion, and the dim sum production of the two is also comparable. However, Tang Pavilion's production stability is better, and Ming Pavilion is second.

Most Cantonese restaurants in Hong Kong add "fashion" ideas to the tradition. For example, adding black truffle, truffle paste, foie gras, fruits, gold leaf, etc. to food has significantly improved both appearance and taste. Amaranth stargazer dumplings are a new attempt. This kind of fine seafood is generally only used for steaming, Ming Ge makes it into dumpling meat filling, and adds fresh and crisp amaranth, when tasting, the fish meat is tender and delicious, and the crushed vegetables taste crisp, the two complement each other and are very harmonious. Pumpkin is added to the crystal dumpling wrapper, which has a natural orange color after steaming, and the shape of the dumpling is pinched into a vivid carp, and the addition of the scallop also adds sweetness to the meat filling. However, Mingge's fish maw shrimp dumplings are more chicken. Generally speaking, the filling of ordinary shrimp dumplings is nothing more than pork, fresh shrimp, and some will also add bamboo shoots. Ming Ge tried to add fish maw to the shrimp dumplings in the hope of enhancing the smooth taste. In fact, fish maw is tasteless, not easy to taste, more of a gimmick, but guests have to pay for expensive ingredients, which is not cost-effective.

In addition to that, Mingge's quicksand bag had to be tasted. If quicksand bags want to achieve the top level, first, the egg yolk should be selected well, and second, the proportion with butter, sugar, corn starch, etc. should be appropriate. Butter is also indispensable, the melting point of butter is very low, there is a solidification phenomenon below 40 °C, it is cooked to a fluid state by steaming over high heat, and it tastes good when it is served hot. Mingge's quicksand bun is miniature in size, the skin is smooth and full, and as soon as it is broken, the hot egg yolk filling flows out, and the quicksand effect is full of points. When you bite into it, the soft skin and milky filling blend together, and you can eat the flavor of salted egg yolk, sweet and salty, and the taste is wonderful. Some restaurants in the mainland use custard buns as quicksand buns, and the filling is solidified; Either there is too much white sugar and it is not steamed thoroughly, and it can be eaten grainy; Or it is served on the table when it is cold, and the taste is greatly reduced.

Located at Cordis, Mong Kok, Hong Kong, Ming Court is a quiet place to enjoy a meal in the bustling city. The hotel is full of art, and the restaurant also has some art collections, so take some time to take a look. The waiters are highly professional, fast and sophisticated, fluent in Chinese and English, and will offer to help store large luggage. The restaurant opens about an hour earlier than Lung King Heen, and the lunch market is often full, but the table spacing is reasonable and the dining is comfortable.

*Encyclopedia of Knowledge:

Some of the content is related to customs, and it is enough to understand it as an anecdote, but it is not necessary to do it.

1. About time

Different tea houses have different opening hours. Traditional tea houses usually open early, such as Lin Heung House in Hong Kong, which opens from 6 p.m. and serves morning tea until 4 p.m. Star-rated hotels generally do not have morning tea, refreshments and lunch should be the same, and the business hours on Saturdays and Sundays will be one or two hours earlier. A dim sum shop like Tim Ho Wan can eat dim sum from morning to night.

2. About tea selection

There are many types of tea, the common ones are black tea, pu'er, chrysanthemum, shou mei, incense pieces (generally jasmine), Tieguanyin, etc. Drinking tea depends on personal preference, and there is nothing special about it. Most restaurants offer premium tea, and the table fee varies according to the type of tea, and is charged per person.

3. About ordering

Generally, there are two ways to order, one is the modern buffet, which is to give you a menu to check the dim sum you want to eat, and hand it to the waiter to wait for the food to be served. The words "small point, middle point, big point, apex, feature, super point, fine point" are printed next door to the name of the dim sum, and the price increases in turn.

The other is the traditional "cart boy", which is commonly found in old-fashioned tea houses, where the waiter pushes a small cart of refreshments around the hall to sell, and the customer only needs to stop the customer, choose the dim sum they want to eat, and let them stamp the dim sum paper.

4. About hot dishes

Lao Guang should wash the tableware with hot tea before tea, and the tea house will generally provide a transparent plastic bowl, which can be poured directly into it after rinsing.

5. About pouring tea

The order of pouring tea is generally to put others before yourself, and you can pour it until it is full. When someone pours you tea, you generally have to tap the table with your index finger and middle finger to express your gratitude, which is the "knocking ceremony".

6. About Tim Cha

If you need to add tea, Lao Guang has a customary habit of "uncovering the lid and refilling the water", just open half of the teapot lid on the dining table and put it on the teapot, and the waiter will help you add hot water when he sees it. If the business is too busy and negligent, you need to take the initiative to signal the waiter.