The variety of Chinese food in Vancouver is staggering. Here’s a quick guide

Metro Vancouver is a centre of some of the best Chinese food in the world.

A long history of Asian immigration and Pacific Rim business ties have created a vibrant and diverse Chinese Canadian community. That large and sophisticated market expects the highest standards from Chinese restaurants.

At the same time, talented chefs have been quick to apply Chinese techniques to live Pacific seafood, fresh produce from B.C. farms, and locally raised poultry and livestock.

The variety of regional Chinese restaurants in Vancouver is staggering, with each style finding its own clientele and remaining true to its own palate.

Regional flavours and techniques are so sharply distinct from one another that even Chinese diners have trouble navigating the different styles. The breadth and depth of quality of our restaurants is a blessing, but it can also be intimidating.

Here’s a primer to help you explore the area’s Chinese restaurants.

The earliest Chinese immigrants to Canada came from Guangzhou, so Cantonese is the most widespread style of Chinese food in Vancouver.

Techniques developed to bring out the delicate flavours of farmhouse ingredients from the Pearl River Delta in Guangzhou found an immediate home with Fraser Valley produce. Presentation is simple, saucing is tightly minimal and the rounded flavours of superior stock (made from chicken, pork, cured ham and dried seafood) underpins many dishes.

This labour-intensive yet light-handed approach is most evident with Cantonese dim sum. Originally developed as tea-house snacks, dim sum showcases precise pastry work and dumplings that burst with immediate deliciousness.

Vancouver is the Goldilocks of dim sum dining — big enough to support the work of specialized chefs, while not being so big to support outsourced mass production. Dishes are made fresh daily, each piece prepped by hand, and then steamed, deep fried, or seared in a wok to order.

Dynasty Seafood Restaurant (108-777 W. Broadway, Vancouver) has arguably the best dim sum in Vancouver with beautifully resonant truffled mushroom dumplings, crisp lemon-scented barbecue pork pastries, and floral-punchy black pepper pork pastries.

Vegetarians can select from sautéed Buddha’s feast of mixed vegetables, mushrooms, and rice vermicelli, sweet and sour mushrooms, or deep-fried pepper salt tofu. The food and service attracts a clientele that reflects a cross section of Vancouverites, so reservations are a must.

The ultimate Cantonese farm-to-table restaurant may be Richmond’s Bamboo Grove Restaurant (6920 No. 3 Rd., Richmond).

Opened in 1963 as a classic take out chop suey house, it quietly serves some of the most sophisticated dishes around. Local geoduck clams are stir fried with silky scrambled eggs, black cod steamed to a lush tenderness with black beans, and wok ‘exploded’ fresh B.C. sea cucumber with scallions.