And a Note on Dim Sum (With a List of All the Dishes in this Book that Fall Into that Brunchtime Category)

Noodles and dumplings are primary feature foods at dim sum tea houses where Chinese gather to eat a midmorning or early afternoon meal, drink tea, and enjoy all the goodies that are too tedious to make at home. Dim sum is a style of eating more than a specific category of food, and while not a topic for this book, many of the recipes included here could be banded together to make a gala dim sum brunch. For brunchtime Chinese cooks, here is the menu from which to choose:

• all the “Little Dishes”, excepting Mongolian Stewed Garlic, which might create an unsocial situation for the rest of the day
• Ma-La Cold Chicken
• Cold Duck Salad with Two Sauces
• Crispy Pork Balls
• Curry Crescents
• Deep-Fried Shrimp Balls
• Gold Coin Shrimp Cakes
• Shrimp Rolls with Crisp Seaweed
• Spicy Shrimp Fritters
• Phoenix Tail Shrimp
• Walnut Chicken Slices
• Sesame Fish Slices
• Gold Coin Eggs
• Hakka Stuffed Tofu
• Moslem-Style Beef or Lamb Pot Stickers
• Hunan Pork Dumplings with Hot Sauce
• Shao Mai Dumplings
• Pan-Fried Meat Pies
• Baked Stuffed Buns
• Steamed Buns with Chicken and Black Mushrooms
• Steamed Buns with Minced Pork and Tree Ears
• Curried Vegetarian Buns
• Springrolls with Dijon Mustard Sauce