Hong Kong Dim Sum Names with Jyutping Audio

Yum cha is a Hong Kong tea-house meal: you tick dishes on a paper slip, a pot that keeps getting refilled, and names said in Cantonese. Unlike cha chaan teng slang, this is not a set of kitchen codes. You say the real dish names. The work is hearing them over clatter, then repeating them with stable tones.

Each line below has Jyutping playback. Mandarin speakers often misread the characters. Shadow the audio before you guess from the spelling.

What 飲茶 is

飲茶 (jam2 caa4)

Meaning: To yum cha—drink tea and eat dim sum.

In Hong Kong this is the meal, not a polite sip. “Let’s yum cha” means baskets, conversation, and tea until you leave.

Steamed classics

1. 蝦餃

Meaning: Shrimp dumpling.

The test dish. A thin wheat wrapper, a whole shrimp, and a tone trap: 餃 is gaau2, not a Mandarin jiao. If this one is clear, the rest of the menu gets easier.

2. 燒賣

Meaning: Siu mai—open-top pork-and-shrimp dumpling.

Yellow wrapper, pork, shrimp, often a fish-roe dot. In Hong Kong 賣 is maai6. Do not borrow Mandarin shaomai tones onto it.

3. 叉燒包

Meaning: Char siu bun.

Soft bao, barbecue pork, a split top. Three even syllables—practise caa1 vs siu1 without rushing the baau1.

4. 鳳爪

Meaning: Steamed chicken feet.

Usually in black-bean sauce. The name is a metaphor, not a joke menu. If texture is the issue, skip it; the pronunciation is still worth owning: fung6 zaau2.

5. 豉汁排骨

Meaning: Spare ribs in black-bean sauce.

A wet, salty steamer. Say the full name; shortening it to 排骨 on a mixed slip can get you the wrong ribs.

6. 牛肉球

Meaning: Steamed beef balls.

Springy, often with watercress. 球 is kau4—keep it low and falling, or it collides with other gau/kau words on the same table.

7. 糯米雞

Meaning: Lo mai gai—sticky rice in lotus leaf.

A heavy dish: glutinous rice, chicken, mushroom, sausage. Unwrap at the table. 糯 is no6; dropping the initial is a classic lazy-sound slide.

Rice rolls and pan-fried

8. 腸粉

Meaning: Rice noodle roll.

Sheets of rice batter, steamed, folded, with soy at the table. Fillings are said plainly: shrimp, beef, or char siu. 腸 is coeng4—same vowel family as 牆, not 床.

9. 炸兩

Meaning: You tiao wrapped in a rice roll.

A Hong Kong breakfast-into-yum-cha hybrid. Two syllables, checked tone on 炸: zaa3 loeng2.

10. 蘿蔔糕

Meaning: Pan-fried radish cake.

Turnip cake on English menus. The pan-fried squares are the yum-cha default; the steamed slab is what you buy at new year. 蔔 is baak6—entering tone, short and clipped.

Sweets

11. 奶黃包

Meaning: Custard bun.

Lava versions spill; classic ones do not. Same baau1 as 叉燒包, different middle syllable—train the pair back to back.

12. 馬拉糕

Meaning: Malay sponge cake.

Brown sugar, bounce, usually cut in squares. 馬拉 is a loan; keep maa5 laai1 from collapsing into Mandarin mala.

13. 蛋撻

Meaning: Egg tart.

Hong Kong tart: shortcrust or puff, torch optional. 撻 is taat1—another clipped entering tone. Do not stretch it into English “tart.”

Tea: the other half of 飲茶

14. 斟茶

Meaning: Pour tea.

When someone fills your cup, tap the table with two fingers—an old thanks that keeps both hands free. Empty pot: leave the lid ajar so staff know to refill.

15. 普洱

Meaning: Pu’er—the default tea-house pot.

Standard Jyutping is pou2 ji5. Many waiters say something closer to nei5 / lei4. Learn the written form; do not freeze when the floor pronunciation slides.

16. 菊普

Meaning: Pu’er with chrysanthemum.

A house combination: floral lift on a dark tea. Two syllables. If the pot is too strong, this is the usual pivot.

17. 一盅兩件

Meaning: One pot of tea, two dim-sum dishes.

Old advertising language that still names the whole ritual. Shadow it as a rhythm drill: jat1 zung1 loeng5 gin6.

Shadow the names together

You do not need every dish on day one. These two lines are enough to hear the rhythm.

What these names train

Tea-house Cantonese is living speech. Houses differ. Your goal is not insider coolness. It is to hear the dish name and keep the tones stable.

FAQ

Cart or paper slip?
Hong Kong tea houses now almost always use a paper order slip. Push carts are rare—mostly a few old shops or tourist rooms. This page practises the names on that slip.

Is dim sum the same as cha chaan teng food?
No. Overlap is small. For kitchen codes and pineapple buns, use the cha chaan teng slang article.

How do I avoid lazy pronunciation?
Shadow the Jyutping audio here first—especially 糯, 腸, and 餃. Then listen in the restaurant. Field accents can be wide; your foundation should not be.

What next for listening practice?
Try street snacks for stall orders, Cantonese tongue twisters for speed, or annotate your own yum-cha notes with the Jyutping converter.