Cantonese cuisine (Chinese: 粵菜; pinyin: yuè cài) originates from the region around Canton in southern China's Guangdong province. Of the various regional styles of Chinese cuisine, Cantonese is the best-known outside China; a "Chinese restaurant" in a Western country will usually serve mostly Cantonese food, or an adaptation thereof. The prominence of Cantonese cuisine outside China is likely due to the disproportionate emigration from this region, as well as the relative accessibility of some Cantonese dishes to foreign palates. Cantonese dishes rarely use much "hot" spice like chilli, unlike, for instance, Szechuan cuisine. Fujian cuisine is derived from the native cooking style of the province of Fujian, China. ... Hunan Cuisine, sometimes called Xiang Cuisine (湘菜 pinyin xiāng cài), consists of the cuisines of the Xiangjiang region, Dongting Lake and western Hunan Province, in China. ... Sichuan Cuisine or Szechuan Cuisine (川菜, pinyin: chuān cài), originating in the Sichuan province of western China, has an international reputation for being spicy and flavorful. ... Buddhist cuisine is known as 齋菜 (pinyin: zhāi ca ) among Chinese. ... Chiuchow cuisine or Teochew cuisine [[Chiuchow is the Cantonese pronunciation of the Chinese characters 潮州。In Southeast Asia where a large number of ethnic Chinese are of Chaozhou descent,the term Teochew, the pronuciation of the same Chinese characters in the Chaozhou dialect, is more commonly used. ... Hakka people are migratory tribes of ethnic Han people originated from central China. ... Hong Kong-style western cuisine (Chinese: 港式西餐; Cantonese IPA: , Jyutping: gong2 sik1 sai1 caan1; Mandarin Pinyin: GÇŽng ShÄ« XÄ« Cān) is a style of American and European cooking served by some Chinese restaurants, including cha chaan teng, in Hong Kong, as well as places where many Hong Kong residents... Due to the majority Muslim population in western China, many Chinese restaurants cater to Muslims or cater to the general public but are run by Muslims. ... With over 450 years of history, Macanese cuisine is unique to Macao. ... Mandarin cuisine or Beijing cuisine (Chinese: 京菜; pinyin: ) is a cooking style in Beijing, China. ... Also known as Dong Bei (Dong = East, Bei = North in Mandarin) cuisine, the food of Northern China relies heavily on preserved foods and hearty fare due to the harsh winters and relatively short growing seasons. ... Cuisine Shanghai does not have a definitive cuisine of its own, but refines those of the surrounding provinces (mostly from adjacent Jiangsu and Zhejiang coastal provinces). ... Several Taiwanese snacks bought from food stalls at the Shilin Night Market, Taipei. ... Yunnan cuisine is an amalgimation of Han and Chinese minority cuisines. ... American Chinese cuisine (什碎館 or 雜碎館) is a unique style of cooking served by Chinese restaurants in the United States. ... Canadian Chinese cuisine or Can/Chinese is a popular style of cooking exclusive to take-out and dine-in eateries found across Canada. ... Caribbean Chinese cuisine is a popular style of food resulting from a fusion of Chinese and West Indian cuisines. ... The cuisine of a country is generally a microcosm of the nation and Malaysian cuisine reflects the multi racial aspects of Malaysia. ... Peranakan, Baba-Nyonya (峇峇娘惹) and Straits Chinese (after the Straits of Malacca) (土生華人) are terms used for the descendants of the early Chinese immigrants to the Nusantara region, including both the British Straits Settlements of Singapore, Malacca and Penang and the Dutch-controlled island of Java among other places. ... Wikipedia does not yet have an article with this exact name. ... Pinyin (拼音, pÄ«nyÄ«n) literally means join (together) sounds (a less literal translation being phoneticize, spell or transcription) in Chinese and usually refers to HànyÇ” PÄ«nyÄ«n (汉语拼音, literal meaning: Han language pinyin), which is a system of romanization (phonemic notation and transcription to Roman script) for Standard Mandarin. ... Location within China Guangzhou (Simplified Chinese: 广州; Traditional Chinese: 廣州; pinyin: ; Wade-Giles: Kuang-chou; Jyutping: Gwong2zau1; Yale: GwóngjaÅ«) is the capital of the Guangdong Province in southern China. ... Guangdong (Simplified Chinese: 广东; Traditional Chinese: 廣東; pinyin: ; Wade-Giles: Kuang-tung; Postal System Pinyin: Kwangtung or Canton Province, Jyutping: gwong2 dung1), is a province on the south coast of the Peoples Republic of China. ... The chile pepper (also chili or chilli; from Spanish chile) is the fruit of the plant Capsicum from the nightshade family (Solanaceae). ... Sichuan Cuisine or Szechuan Cuisine (川菜, pinyin: chuān cài), originating in the Sichuan province of western China, has an international reputation for being spicy and flavorful. ...

There is a Cantonese saying: "Any animal whose back faces the sky can be eaten." (背脊向天，都可以食 or 背脊向天人可食) Cantonese cuisine includes almost all edible food in addition to the staples of pork, beef and chicken — snakes, snails, insects, worms, chicken feet, duck tongues, ox genitals, and entrails. One subject of controversy amongst Westerners is the raising of dogs as food in some places in China; however, dog is not a common restaurant food, and is illegal in Hong Kong (and will soon be in Taiwan). Cantonese (粵語/粤语, lit. ... For other members of the dog family, see Canidae. ...

Despite the countless Cantonese cooking methods, steaming, stir frying and deep frying are the most popular cooking methods in restaurants due to the short cooking time, and philosophy of bringing out the flavor of the freshest ingredients.

Elements of Cooking

Spices

Cantonese cuisine can be characterized by the use of very mild and simple spices in combination. Ginger, spring onion, sugar, salt, soy (soya) sauce, rice wine, corn starch and oil are sufficient for most Cantonese cooking. Garlic is used heavily in dishes especially with internal organs that have unpleasant odors, such as entrails. Five-spice powder, white pepper powder and many other spices are used in Cantonese dishes, but usually very lightly. Cantonese cuisine is sometimes considered bland by Westerners used to thicker, richer and darker sauces of other Chinese cuisines. Five-spice powder (五香粉, wǔxiāngfěn in hanyu pinyin) is a convenient seasoning for Chinese cuisine, particularly Cantonese cuisine. ...

Freshness

Spicy hot dishes are extremely rare in Cantonese cuisine. Spicy hot food is more common in very hot climates, such as those of Sichuan, Thailand, etc. where food spoils easily. Guangzhou has the richest food resources in China in terms of agriculture and aquaculture. The copious amount of fresh food and mild weather allows Cantonese cuisine to bring out, rather than drown out, natural flavors. Sichuan (Chinese: 四川; pinyin: ; Wade-Giles: Ssu-ch`uan; obsolete romanizations include Szechwan and Szechuan) is a province in central-western China with its capital at Chengdu. ... Location within China Guangzhou (Simplified Chinese: 广州; Traditional Chinese: 廣州; pinyin: ; Wade-Giles: Kuang-chou; Jyutping: Gwong2zau1; Yale: Gwóngjaū) is the capital of the Guangdong Province in southern China. ... Aquaculture is the cultivation of aquatic organisms, such as fish, shellfish, algae and other aquatic plants. ...

As an example of the high standard for freshness in Cantonese meals, cows and pigs used for meat are usually killed earlier the same day. Chickens are often killed just hours beforehand, and fish are displayed in tanks for customers to choose for immediate preparation. It is not unusual for a waiter at a Cantonese restaurant to bring the live flipping fish or the crawling lobster to the table to show the patron as proof of freshness before cooking. Binomial name Gallus gallus (Linnaeus, 1758) A chicken (Gallus gallus) is a type of domesticated bird which is often raised as a type of poultry. ... Subfamilies and Genera Neophoberinae Acanthacaris Thymopinae Nephropsis Nephropides Thymops Thymopsis Nephropinae Homarus Nephrops Homarinus Metanephrops Eunephrops Thymopides Clawed lobsters comprise a family (Nephropidae, sometimes also Homaridae) of large marine crustaceans. ...

Seafood

Due to Guangdong's proximity to the southern coast of China, fresh live seafood is a specialty in Cantonese cuisine. Many authentic restaurants maintain live seafood tanks. In the Cantonese viewpoint, strong spices are added only to stale seafood to cover the rotting odor. The freshest seafood is odorless, and is best cooked by steaming. For instance, only a small amount of soy sauce, ginger, and spring onion is added to a steamed fish. The light seasoning is used only to bring out the natural sweetness of the seafood. However, most restaurants gladly get rid of their stale seafood inventory by offering dishes loaded with garlic and spices. As a rule of thumb in Cantonese dining, the spiciness of a dish is usually inversely proportional to the freshness of the ingredients. Guangdong (Simplified Chinese: 广东; Traditional Chinese: 廣東; pinyin: ; Wade-Giles: Kuang-tung; Postal System Pinyin: Kwangtung or Canton Province, Jyutping: gwong2 dung1), is a province on the south coast of the Peoples Republic of China. ... Groups Conodonta Hyperoartia Petromyzontidae (lampreys) Pteraspidomorphi (early jawless fish) Thelodonti Anaspida Cephalaspidomorphi (early jawless fish) Galeaspida Pituriaspida Osteostraci Gnathostomata (jawed vertebrates) Placodermi Chondrichthyes (cartilaginous fish) Acanthodii Osteichthyes (bony fish) Actinopterygii (ray-finned fish) Sarcopterygii (lobe-finned fish) Actinistia (coelacanths) Dipnoi (lungfish) A fish is a poikilothermic (cold-blooded)* water-dwelling...

Soup

Another unique Cantonese specialty is slow-cooked soup. This is almost unheard of in any other Chinese cuisines. The soup is usually a clear broth prepared by simmering meat and other ingredients for several hours. Sometimes, Chinese herbal medicines are added to the pot. The ingredients of a rather expensive Cantonese slow cooked soup are: fresh whole chicken, dried air bladder of cod fish, dried sea cucumber and dried abalone (花膠海參鮑魚雞湯). Another more affordable example includes pork bones, watercress with two types of almonds (南北杏西洋菜豬骨湯), etc. The combinations are varied and numerous. Liquid in which meat, fish, cereal grains, or vegetables have been simmered and strained out. ... Orders Subclass Apodacea  Apodida  Molpadiida Subclass Aspidochirotacea  Aspidochirotida  Elasipodida Subclass Dendrochirotacea  Dactylochirotida  Dendrochirotida The sea cucumber is an echinoderm of the class Holothuroidea, with an elongated body and leathery skin. ... It has been suggested that haliotis be merged into this article or section. ...

The main attraction is the liquid in the pot, the solids are usually thrown away unless they are expensive ingredients like abalones or shark fins. A whole chicken may simmer in a broth for six hours or longer. The solids are usually unpalatable but the essences are all in the liquid. Traditional Cantonese families have this type of soup at least once a week. Though in this day and age, many families with both working parents cannot afford this tradition due to the long preparation time required. However, wealthy families with servants and cook still enjoy the luxury every day. For the same reason, not many restaurants serve this type of soup either. Even if they do, it can only be served as soupe du jour.

Hong Kong Style

Sometimes in the US, the term "Hong Kong Style" is used to distinguish this style of cooking from the more Americanized version most Americans are familiar with.

Cantonese desserts

While dessert in a Cantonese restaurant might be restricted to mango pudding or "tong sui" (糖水 literally, "sugar water"), a slightly sweet bean soup, there are Cantonese-style dessert cafes which specialize in sweets. They may or may not serve savory items.

Many of the desserts will be based on Sago, Tapioca, and fruits, and may contain ingredients such as snow frog fat (hasma). They will generally be lighter than desserts in Western cuisines. [1]

Preserved food

Though Cantonese cooks pay much attention to the freshness of their cooking ingredients, Cantonese cooking also uses a long list of preserved food items. This may be an influence from Hakka cuisine. Some items gain very intense flavors during the drying/aging/preservation/oxidation process, similar to Italian style sun-dried tomatoes' intensified flavor from drying. Some chefs combine both dried and fresh variety of the same items in a dish to create a contrast in the taste and texture. Dried items are usually soaked in water to rehydrate them before cooking, such as mushrooms. Or they are cooked with water over long hours until they are tender and juicy. For example, dried abalone and dried scallop have much stronger flavors than the fresh one without the undesirable strong fishy odor. Not only do preserved foods have a longer shelf life, sometimes the dried foods are preferred over the fresh ones because of their uniquely intense flavor or texture. Some favorite dried/preserved food products include: Hakka people are migratory tribes of ethnic Han people originated from central China. ...

• Dried winter mushroom (冬菇)
• Dried abalone (鮑魚)
• Dried scallop (瑤柱)
• Dried sea cucumber (海參)
• Dried air bladder from various fishes (花膠)
• Dried shrimp (蝦乾 or 蝦米)
• Dried shark fin (魚翅)
• Dried bird nest (燕窩)
• Dried Bok Choy (菜乾) - a kind of Chinese green vegetable
• Pickled Bok Choy (鹹酸菜 or 梅菜 or 霉菜)
• Pickled radish (菜脯)
• Fu Yu (腐乳) - Salted and fermented tofu
• Salted preserved fish (鹹魚)
• Salted preserved sausage (臘腸)
• Salted preserved duck (臘鴨)
• Salted preserved pork (臘肉)
• Salted egg (鹹蛋) - preserved in brine until the egg white turned watery and the yolk turned solid
• Thousand year old egg (皮蛋）- a duck egg preserved in lime until the egg white turned gelatinous and dark brown, the yolk dark green
• various dried fruits, herbs and flowers, etc.

Superfamilies and families Alpheoidea Alpheidae - snapping shrimps Barbouriidae Hippolytidae Ogyrididae Atyoidea Atyidae Bresilioidea Agostocarididae Alvinocarididae Bresiliidae Disciadidae Mirocarididae Campylonotoidea Bathypalaemonellidae Campylonotoidae Crangonoidea Crangonoidea Glyphocrangonoidea Galatheacaridoidea Galatheacarididae Nematocarcinoidea Eugonatonotidae Nematocarcinidae Rhynchocinetidae Xiphocarididae Oplophoroidea Oplophoridae Palaemonoidea Anchistioididae Desmocarididae Euryrhynchidae Gnathophyllidae Hymenoceridae Kakaducarididae Palaemonidae Typhlocarididae Pandaloidea Pandalidae Thalassocarididae Pasiphaeoidea Pasiphaeidae Physetocaridoidea Physetocarididae Procaridoidea... Genera Hydrochous Collocalia Aerodramus Schoutedenapus The birds called Swiftlets or Cave Swiftlets are contained within the four genera of Aerodramus, Hydrochous, Schoutedenapus and Collocalia. ... Binomial name Raphanus sativus L. bunch of radishes The radish is a root vegetable of the Brassicaceae family. ... Tofu, sometimes also called bean curd, is a food made by coagulating soy milk, and then pressing the resulting curds into blocks. ... Thousand-year eggs (皮蛋 pinyin: pídàn, 松花蛋 pinyin: sōnghūadàn) are a Chinese delicacy. ...

Sample Dishes

Some notable Cantonese dishes include:

• Dim Sum - (literally touch of heart), small dishes served with tea usually at brunch
• Shrimp wonton noodle soup (鮮蝦雲吞麵)
• Char shiu (叉燒) - BBQ pork usually with a red outer coloring
• Braised squabs (燒乳鴿)
• Ho Fun - Thin and flat rice noodles.
• Thick rice porridge with various toppings and deep-fried breadsticks (白粥,油條 or 油炸鬼)
• Pork rind curry (咖哩豬皮)
• Dace fish balls (鯪魚球)
• Steamed fish (清蒸魚)
• Steamed fish intestines (蒸魚腸)
• Salted preserved fish (蒸鹹魚)
• Steeped chicken (白切雞) or steamed chicken (蒸雞) served cold with ginger and spring onion oil dipping (薑蔥油)
• Slow cooked soups (老火湯)
• Shark fin soup (魚翅羹)
• Braised dried abalone (燜鮑魚)
• Herbal turtoise gelatin (龜苓膏)
• Various steamed desserts and sweet soups (糕點,糖水)
• Steamed shrimp dumplings (蝦餃 har gow)
• Lo mein (撈麵) - noodles served a unique way

Other favorites with unique Cantonese style: Dim sum (Chinese: 點心; Cantonese IPA: dɪm2sɐm1; Pinyin: diǎnxīn; Wade-Giles: tien-hsin; literally dot heart or order heart, meaning order to ones hearts content; also commonly translated as touch the heart, dotted heart, or snack), a Cantonese term, is usually a light meal or brunch, eaten sometime... A shrimp wonton in Cantonese style An age-old wonton noodles restaurant in Wan Chai, Hong Kong. ... Rice congee is a type of Asian rice porridge known as zhōu (ç²¥ or juk in several Chinese spoken variants and Korean, and pronounced kayu or okayu in Japanese) and called cháo in Vietnamese. ... Yóutiáo (油條; literally oil strip), or in Cantonese Yau Ja Gwai (油炸鬼; pinyin: yóuzháguǐ; Yale Cantonese: yau4 ja3 gwai2), are golden brown Chinese fried crullers. ... An Indian chicken curry A curry is any of a great variety of distinctively spiced dishes, best-known in Indian and Thai cuisine, but found in many other countries. ... Shark fin soup Shark fin soup (Chinese: é­šç¿…; Mandarin Pinyin Yú Chì; Wade-Giles: Yü Chih4; Cantonese IPA: ; Jyutping: jyu4 ci3; Japanese: ふかひれ; Kanji: 鱶鰭) is a dish commonly served in Chinese restaurants as part of a Chinese feast, usually at special occasions such as weddings and banquets as a symbol of... Gelatin (also gelatine) is a translucent brittle solid substance, colorless or slightly yellow, nearly tasteless and odorless, which is created by prolonged boiling of animal skin and connective tissue. ... A cook making hand-pulled noodles. ...

• Roasted suckling pig (乳豬)
• Roasted duck (燒鴨 or 火鴨)
• Braised crispy chicken (炸子雞)
• Soy sauce chicken (豉油雞)
• Beef entrails (牛雜)
• Beef stew (牛腩)
• Hot pot (火鍋 or 打邊爐)
• Pan-fried crispy noodles (港式煎麵) - two sides brown fried egg noodles
• Various dessert drinks served with shaved ice (刨冰)

Soy sauce (US) or soya sauce (UK) is a fermented sauce made from soybeans (soya beans), roasted grain, water and sea salt (US will use salt unless otherwise stated). ...

See also

• Hong Kong eating culture
• Chinese food therapy

Hong Kong, as the crossroads of eastern and western cultures, has developed a blend of eating habit incorporating Chinese, notably Cantonese, and western cuisines. ... Chinese food therapy is a practice of healing using natural foods instead of medications. ...

External link

• Chinese recipes