San-ding Bun

The san-ding bun is a flagship of Yangzhou dim sum, its filling combining three diced ingredients—chicken, pork and bamboo shoot—tender, firm and sweet-crisp respectively, wrapped in a soft, faintly sweet dough.

It grew out of Yangzhou's morning-tea tradition and is a signature of old teahouses such as Fuchun. The careful proportioning of the "three dices" and the fine knife work make it a model of Huaiyang pastry.

Eaten hot as a morning-tea item, it is usually served alongside Kuilongzhu tea and braised tofu strips—a fixture of the local "water wrapped in skin" breakfast.

Its charm is that each of the three fillings keeps its own flavour while blending together—savoury with a returning sweetness—paired with airy leavened dough for a mouthful of Huaiyang refinement.