Lo mai gai is mostly a southern Chinese food. It contains glutinous rice filled with chicken, Chinese mushrooms, Chinese sausage, scallions and sometimes dried shrimp. The ball of rice is then wrapped in a dried lotus leaf and steamed. In North America, banana, lily, or grape leaves may be used instead.

In Malaysia and Singapore, there are two variants of lo mai gai. The first is the original Cantonese version and the other a takeaway style served at coffee shops and speciality local dim sum shops.

• Rice noodle rolls or cheung fan : These are wide rice noodles that are steamed and then rolled. They are often filled with different types of meats or vegetables inside but can be served without any filling. Rice noodle rolls are fried after they are steamed and then sprinkled with sesame seeds. Popular fillings include beef, dough fritter, shrimp, and barbecued pork. Often topped with a sweetened soy sauce.
• Phoenix claws : These are chicken feet, deep fried, boiled, marinated in a black bean sauce and then steamed. This results in a texture that is light and fluffy (due to the frying), while moist and tender. Fung zau are typically dark red in color. One may also sometimes find plain steamed chicken feet served with a vinegar dipping sauce. This version is known as "White Cloud Phoenix Claws" 
• Steamed meatball : Finely-ground beef is shaped into balls and then steamed with preserved orange peel and served on top of a thin bean-curd skin.
• Spare ribs: In the west, it is mostly known as spare ribs collectively. In the east, it is Char siu when roasted red, or when roasted black. It is typically steamed with douchi or fermented black beans and sometimes sliced chilli.
• Lotus leaf rice : Glutinous rice is wrapped in a lotus leaf into a triangular or rectangular shape. It contains egg yolk, dried scallop, mushroom, water chestnut and meat (usually pork and chicken). These ingredients are steamed with the rice and although the leaf is not eaten, its flavour is infused during the steaming. Lo mai gai is a kind of rice dumpling. A similar but lighter variant is known as "Pearl Chicken".
• Congee : Thick, sticky rice porridge served with different savory items. The porridge one will see most often is "Duck Egg and Pork Porridge" 
• Sou : A type of flaky pastry. Char siu is one of the most common ingredient used in dim sum style sou. Another common pastry seen in restaurants are called "Salty Pastry" which is made with flour and seasoned pork.
• Taro dumpling : This is made with mashed taro, stuffed with diced shiitake mushrooms, shrimp and pork, deep-fried in crispy batter.
• Crispy fried squid : Similar to fried calamari, the battered squid is deep-fried. A variation of this dish may be prepared with a salt and pepper mix. In some dim sum restaurants,octopus is used instead of squid.
• Rolls
  • Spring roll : a roll consisting of various types of vegetables — such as sliced carrot, cabbage, mushroom and wood ear fungus — and sometimes meat are rolled inside a thin flour skin and deep fried.
  • Tofu skin roll : a roll made of Tofu skin
• Cakes 
  • Turnip cake : cakes are made from mashed daikon radish mixed with bits of dried shrimp and pork sausage that are steamed and then cut into slices and pan-fried.
  • Taro cake : cakes made of taro.
  • Water chestnut cake : cakes made of water chestnut. It is mostly see-through and clear. Some restaurants also serve a variation of water chestnut cake made with bamboo juice.