Breakfast is the meal eaten in the morning. The word in English refers to breaking the fasting period of the previous night. There is a strong likelihood for one or more "typical", or "traditional", breakfast menus to exist in most places, but their composition varies widely from place to place, and has varied over time, so that globally a very wide range of preparations and ingredients are now associated with breakfast.
Dim sum is a large range of small dishes that Cantonese people traditionally enjoy in restaurants for breakfast and lunch. In the tenth century, when the city of Guangzhou (Canton) began to experience an increase in commercial travel, travelers concurrently began to frequent teahouses for small-portion meals with tea called yum cha, or "drink tea" meals. Yum cha includes two related concepts. The first is Yat jung Leung gin (一盅兩件), which translates literally as "one cup, two pieces". This refers to the custom of serving teahouse customers two pieces of delicately made food items, savory or sweet, to complement their tea. The second is dim sum (點心) and translates literally to "touching heart", the term used to designate the small food items that accompanied the tea drinking.
French toast is a dish made of sliced bread soaked in eggs and typically milk, then pan fried. Alternative names and variants include "eggy bread", "Bombay toast", "German toast", "gypsy toast", and "poor knights".
A croque monsieur is a hot sandwich made with ham and cheese. The dish originated in French cafés and bars as a quick snack. The name is based on the verb croquer and the word monsieur ("mister"). The sandwich's first recorded appearance on a Paris café menu was in 1910. Its earliest mention in literature appears to be in volume two of Proust's In Search of Lost Time in 1918.
Cha chaan teng, often called Hong Kong-style cafés in English, is a type of restaurant originated in Hong Kong. Cha chaan teng locations are commonly found in Hong Kong, Macau, and parts of Guangdong. Due to the waves of mass migrations from Hong Kong in the 1980s, they were established in major Chinese communities in Western countries such as Australia, Canada, the United Kingdom, and the United States. The cafés are known for eclectic and affordable menus, which include dishes from Hong Kong cuisine and Hong Kong-style Western cuisine. They draw comparison to Western Cafés due to their casual settings, as well as menus revolving around coffee and tea.
Egg foo young is an omelette dish found in Chinese Indonesian, British Chinese, and Chinese American cuisine. The name comes from the Cantonese language. Egg foo young is derived from fu yung egg slices, a mainland Chinese recipe from Guangdong.
The egg tart is a kind of custard tart found in Cantonese cuisine deriving from the English custard tart and Portuguese pastel de nata. The dish consists of an outer pastry crust filled with egg custard. Egg tarts are often served at dim sum restaurants and cha chaan tengs.
A pineapple bun is a kind of sweet bun predominantly popular in Hong Kong and also common in Chinatowns worldwide. Despite the name, it does not traditionally contain pineapple; rather, the name refers to the look of the characteristic topping.
The cocktail bun is a Hong Kong-style sweet bun with a filling of shredded coconut. It is one of several iconic types of baked goods originating from Hong Kong.
Char siu bao is a Cantonese barbecue-pork-filled bun (baozi). The buns are filled with barbecue-flavored cha siu pork. They are served as a type of dim sum during yum cha and are sometimes sold in Chinese bakeries. Cha siu refers to the pork filling; the word bao means "bun".
Paper wrapped cake is a type of Chinese pastry. It is one of the most common pastries served in Hong Kong. It can also be found in most Chinatown bakery shops. In essence, it is a chiffon cake baked in a paper cup.
Variations of cream buns exist all around the world. Typically they are made with an enriched dough bread roll that is split after baking and cooling and filled with cream.
A Denver sandwich, also known as a Western sandwich, consists of a Denver omelet, sandwiched between two pieces of bread.
An egg waffle is a spherical egg-based waffle popular in Hong Kong and Macau, and is an eggy leavened batter cooked between two plates of semi-spherical cells. They are usually served hot, and often eaten plain, although they may be served with fruit and flavors such as strawberry, coconut or chocolate. It is referred to by its original Cantonese name, gai daan jai (雞蛋仔), and in English, an egg puff, bubble waffle, eggette, pancake balls, pancake waffle, egglet, and puffle. They are sometimes referred to as Hong Kong cakes in Chinatowns across America, especially in New York. One piece of egg waffle can have around 20 to 35 small round 'balls'.
Tuna bun, Tuna fish bun is a Hong Kong-style fish bun. It is a bun that contains tuna paste. It is commonly found in Hong Kong.
Gua bao, also known as pork belly buns, ambiguously, bao, or erroneously as the bao bun is a type of lotus leaf bun from Fuzhou, the capital of Fujian province, with similar variants found elsewhere with sizeable Fuzhounese communities. It is a popular street food in Taiwan.
Beef bun is a type of Hong Kong pastry. It is one of the most standard pastries in Hong Kong and can also be found in most Chinatown bakery shops. The bun has a ground beef filling, sometimes including pieces of onions.
