Cantonese or Guangdong cuisine, also known as Yue cuisine ( or ), is the cuisine of Cantonese people, associated with the Guangdong province of China, particularly the provincial capital Guangzhou, and the surrounding regions in the Pearl River Delta including Hong Kong and Macau.Hsiung, Deh-Ta. Simonds, Nina. Lowe, Jason. (2005). The food of China: a journey for food lovers. Bay Books. . p17. Strictly speaking, Cantonese cuisine is the cuisine of Guangzhou or of Cantonese speakers, but it often includes the cooking styles of all the speakers of Yue Chinese languages in Guangdong.
The Teochew cuisine and Hakka cuisine of Guangdong are considered their own styles. However, scholars may categorize Guangdong cuisine into three major groups based on the region's dialect: Cantonese, Hakka and Chaozhou cuisines. Neighboring Guangxi's cuisine is also considered separate despite eastern Guangxi being considered culturally Cantonese due to the presence of ethnic Zhuang influences in the rest of the province.
Cantonese cuisine is one of the Eight Great Traditions of Chinese cuisine, and chefs trained in Cantonese cuisine are highly sought after throughout China. Its prominence outside China is due to the large number of Cantonese emigrants; until the late 20th century, most Chinese restaurants in the West served largely Cantonese dishes.
Background Guangzhou (Canton) City, the provincial capital of Guangdong and the centre of Cantonese culture, has long been a trading hub, and many imported foods and ingredients are used in Cantonese cuisine. During the early to middle Qing dynasty period from 1757 to 1842, Guangdong, known as Canton at the time, was the only port where trade was permitted between Chinese and foreign merchants. Cantonese cooks aimed to serve European tastes in restaurants, lending to an ongoing European influence on Cantonese cuisine. Staples of the European nobility diet at the time, particularly turtle soup, were available to British merchants and dignitaries visiting Guangdong. The British taught Cantonese cooks how to make the dish, with the Caribbean sea turtle typically used in Europe replaced by the Chinese softshell turtle. Besides pork, beef and chicken, Cantonese cuisine incorporates almost all edible meats, including offal, chicken feet, duck's tongue, frog legs, snakes and snails. Lamb and goat are less commonly used than in the cuisines of northern or western China. Many cooking methods are used, with steaming and stir-frying favoured due to their convenience and speed.
Wok hay is the name given to the unique Cantonese cooking technique, emphasizing the energy, or hay, of the cooking vessel itself. Wok hay emphasizes the multiple flavors at play when cooking, using certain ingredients to balance the harshness of others. Additionally, dishes are typically cooked over a medium heat for a more prolonged period. A restaurant has "Wok hay" if their dishes taste good, and the opposite is also true. This concept lends to a sense of superiority among Cantonese cooks with respect to stir-fry technique. Other techniques include shallow frying, double steaming, braising and deep frying. Compared to other Chinese regional cuisines, the flavours of most traditional Cantonese dishes should be well-balanced and not greasy. Spices should be used in modest amounts to avoid overwhelming the flavours of the primary ingredients, which in turn should be at the peak of their freshness and quality. There is no widespread use of fresh herbs in Cantonese cooking, in contrast with their liberal use in other cuisines such as Sichuanese, Vietnamese, Lao, Thai and European. Garlic chives and coriander leaves are notable exceptions, although the former are often used as a vegetable and the latter are typically used as mere garnish in most dishes.
Guangzhou’s notability in its restaurants, teahouses, and snack shops was targeted by the reforms of the CCP, as top party leaders made efforts to transform Guangzhou from a center of culinary arts into an industrial powerhouse. Well-established culinary institutions were targeted as traditionalist remnants, replaced with communal-style eating halls. “Massification” became key to the reforming of Guangzhou’s culinary scene, with many delicacies such as sharkfin soup, bird's nest soup, and sea cucumber, which were often imported, ushered out of restaurants in favor of less expensive ingredients. Frugality was emphasized as a revolutionary ideal, with restaurants previously reserved for the wealthy elites now serving the working class, who had felt that these “Old Society” delicacies were withheld from them.
Foods
Sauces and condiments In Cantonese cuisine, ingredients such as sugar, salt, soy sauce, rice wine, corn starch, vinegar, scallion and sesame oil suffice to enhance flavour, although garlic is heavily used in some dishes, especially those in which internal organs, such as entrails, may emit unpleasant odours. Ginger, chili peppers, five-spice powder, powdered black pepper, star anise and a few other spices are also used, but often sparingly.
English Traditional Chinese Simplified Chinese Jyutping Pinyin Black bean sauce syun3 jung4 dau6 si6 zoeng3 suànróng dòuchǐjiàng Char siu sauce caa1 siu1 zoeng3 chāshāojiàng Chu hau paste cyu5 hau4 zoeng3 zhùhóujiàng Hoisin sauce hoi2 sin1 zoeng3 hǎixiānjiàng Master stock lou5 seoi2 lǔshuǐ Oyster sauce hou4 jau4 háoyóu Plum sauce syun1 mui4 zoeng3 sūméijiàng Red vinegar daai6 hung4 zit3 cou3 dàhóngzhècù Shrimp paste haam4 haa1 zoeng3 xiánxiājiàngShrimp paste block蝦膏虾膏haa1 gou1Xiāgāo Sweet and sour sauce tong4 cou3 zoeng3 tángcùjiàng
Dried and preserved ingredients Although Cantonese cooks pay much attention to the freshness of their primary ingredients, Cantonese cuisine also uses a long list of preserved food items to add flavour to a dish. This may be influenced by Hakka cuisine, since the Hakkas were once a dominant group occupying imperial Hong Kong and other southern territories.
Some items gain very intense flavours during the drying/preservation/oxidation process and some foods are preserved to increase their shelf life. Some chefs combine both dried and fresh varieties of the same items in a dish. Dried items are usually soaked in water to rehydrate before cooking. These ingredients are generally not served a la carte, but rather with vegetables or other Cantonese dishes.
Image English Traditional Chinese Simplified Chinese Jyutping Pinyin Notes Century egg pei4 daan2 pídàn Can be found served with roasted dishes, in congee with lean pork, and in a sweet pastry with lotus paste. Chinese sausage laap6 coeng2 làcháng Usually added to rice together with preserved-salted duck and pork.Dried sea snail螺頭 / 螺片螺头 / 螺片lo4 tau4 / lo2 pin2Luótóu/ luópiànUsually added to clear soup.Dried bok choy coi3 gon1 càigān Dried scallops gong1 jiu4 cyu5 jiāngyáozhù Usually added to clear soup. Dried shrimp haa1 gon1 xiāgān Usually de-shelled, sliced into half and added to vegetable dishes. Dried small shrimp haa1 mai5 xiāmǐ Usually mixed with stir-fried vegetables. Fermented tofu fu6 jyu5 fǔrǔ Fermented black beans dau6 si6 dòuchǐ Usually added to pork and tofu dishes. Mei cai mui4 coi3 méicài Usually cooked with pork or stir-fried with rice.Chai poh / Dried preserved radish coi3 pou2 càifǔ A key ingredient for making chai poh omelette.Preserved-salted duck laap6 aap2 làyā Usually eaten with rice in a family meal.Preserved-salted pork laap6 juk6 làròu Usually eaten with rice in a family meal. Salted duck egg haam4 daan2 xiándàn May be eaten as it is or mixed with stir-fried vegetables and steam dishes or cooked with cut pork in congee. Salted fish haam4 jyu2 xiányú Usually paired with steamed pork or added to fried rice together with diced chicken. Suan cai haam4 syun1 coi3 xiánsuāncài The key ingredient for making Haam Coi Pepper Hog Maw Soup (咸菜胡椒豬肚湯).Jinhua ham金華火腿金华火腿gam1 waa4 fo2 teoi2JīnhuáhuǒtuǐUsually added to clear soup.Tofu skin fu6 pei4 fǔpí Usually used as wrapping for ground pork dishes. It is fried in a similar manner as spring rolls.
Traditional dishes A number of dishes have been part of Cantonese cuisine since the earliest territorial establishments of Guangdong. While many of these are on the menus of typical Cantonese restaurants, some simpler ones are more commonly found in Cantonese homes. Home-made Cantonese dishes are usually served with plain white rice.
Name Image Traditional Chinese Simplified Chinese Jyutping Pinyin Cantonese-style fried rice gwong2 sik1 caau2 faan6 guǎng shì chǎofàn Choy sum in oyster sauce hou4 jau4 coi3 sam1 háoyóu càixīnSampan congee艇仔粥teng5 zai2 zuk1Tǐngzǐzhōu Congee with lean pork and century egg pei4 daan2 sau3 juk6 zuk1 pídàn shòuròuzhōu Steamed egg zing1 seoi2 daan2 zhēngshuǐdàn Steamed frog legs on lotus leaf ho4 jip6 zing1 tin4 gai1 héyè zhēng tiánjī Steamed ground pork with salted duck egg haam4 daan2 zing1 juk6 beng2 xiándàn zhēng ròubǐng Steamed spare ribs with fermented black beans and chilli pepper si6 ziu1 paai4 gwat1 chǐjiāo páigǔ Stewed beef brisket cyu5 hau4 ngau4 naam5 zhùhóu niú nǎn Stir-fried hairy gourd with dried shrimp and cellophane noodles daai6 ji4 maa1 gaa3 neoi2 dàyímā jiànǚ Stir-fried water spinach with shredded chilli and fermented tofu ziu1 si1 fu6 jyu5 tung1 coi3 jiāosī fǔrǔ tōngcài Sweet and sour pork gu1 lou1 juk6 gūlūròu Shunde-style fish slices seon6 dak1 jyu4 saang1 shùndé yú shēng
Deep-fried dishes
There are a small number of deep-fried dishes in Cantonese cuisine, which can often be found as street food. They have been extensively documented in colonial Hong Kong records of the 19th and 20th centuries. A few are synonymous with Cantonese breakfast and lunch, even though these are also part of other cuisines.
English Image Traditional Chinese Simplified Chinese Jyutping Pinyin Dace fish balls leng4 jyu4 kau4 Youtiao (sometimes called "Chinese donut" jau4 zaa3 gwai2 or
jau1 tiu2 Ox-tongue pastry牛脷酥ngau4 lei6 sou1niúlìsū Zaa leung zaa3 loeng2
Soups
Old fire soup, or lou fo tong (), is a clear broth prepared by simmering meat and other ingredients over a low heat for several hours. Chinese herbs are often used as ingredients. There are basically two ways to make old fire soup – put ingredients and water in the pot and heat it directly on fire, which is called bou tong (), literally boiling soup; or put the ingredients in a small stew pot, and put it in a bigger pot filled with water, then heat the bigger pot on fire directly, which is called dun tong (). The latter way can keep the most original taste of the soup.
Soup chain stores or delivery outlets in cities with significant Cantonese populations, such as Hong Kong, serve this dish due to the long preparation time required of slow-simmered soup.
English Traditional Chinese Simplified Chinese Jyutping Pinyin Cantonese seafood soup hoi2 wong4 gang1 hǎihuáng gēng Night-blooming cereus soup baa3 wong4 faa1 bou1 tong1 bàwánghuā bāotāng Snow fungus soup ngan4 ji5 tong1 yín'ěr tāng Spare ribs soup with watercress and apricot kernels naam4 bak1 hang6 sai1 joeng4 coi3 zyu1 gwat1 tong1 nánběixìng xīyángcài zhūgǔ tāng Winter melon soup dung1 gwaa1 tong1 dōngguā tāng
Seafood
Due to Guangdong's location along the South China Sea coast, fresh seafood is prominent in Cantonese cuisine, and many Cantonese restaurants keep aquariums or seafood tanks on the premises. In Cantonese cuisine, as in cuisines from other parts of Asia, if seafood has a repugnant odour, strong spices and marinating juices are added; the freshest seafood is odourless and, in Cantonese culinary arts, is best cooked by steaming. For instance, in some recipes, only a small amount of soy sauce, ginger and spring onion is added to steamed fish. In Cantonese cuisine, the light seasoning is used only to bring out the natural sweetness of the seafood. As a rule of thumb, the spiciness of a dish is usually negatively correlated to the freshness of the ingredients.