Cantonese Cuisine (粵菜)

Cantonese cuisine is one of the eight major chinese cuisines (the other seven being Anhui, Fujian, Hunan, Jiangsu, Shandong, Sichuan and Zhejiang). It is most well known to the westerners and the chinese restaurants present in major chinatowns in western coutries are mainly cantonese based restaurants. There is also a historical origin to this - most of the early chinese immgirants came mainly from the Guangdong province in China. Perhaps the most well known cantonese food to the westerners is dim sum (點心), literally means "touch your heart".

Cantonese food focuses on the freshness of the ingredients and one of its strength lies in using the simplest ingredients to whip out the wonderful dishes. The control of the fire used in the cooking is especially important. Cantonese food is often perceived as bland; it is most likely due to geographical reasons and Guangdong is located in South China and eating food with too strong a flavour may not be beneficial for the health of the people. Of course one can argue that Hunan lies in the south as well but they are well know for their spicy food. I believe there are a combination of factors and at the moment, I don't have a perfect answer for this.

Cantonese cuisine is subdivided into three main categories, namely Guangzhou (廣州), Hakka (客家) and Chowzhou (潮州). The main focus of this blog will be the Guangzhou style cantonese food, which is found mainly in Guangzhou, Macau and Hong Kong.

What then, is the essence of Cantonese cuisine? The answer to this question varies from individuals to individuals as it is very subjective. To me, the essence of Cantonese cuisine is dim sum. Dim sum showcases the skill, ingenuity and effort of the chef. To some of my friends, the essence of Cantonese cuisine is soup. The soup or broth is boiled for several hours and it usually contains meat and occasionally, chinese herbs and wine. It goes in line with the saying that if a person can't produce a decent soup, he/she is not a true blue Cantonese.

The next question that might pop out is, where can I found the most authentic Cantonese food? Guangzhou or Hong Kong? Again, the answer depends. Cantonese food has its origin in Guangzhou (some said Panyu (番禺) and others said great chefs comes mainly from Shunde (順德)); there is a chinese saying that goes like this: "生在苏州，穿在杭州，吃在廣州，死在柳州" which translates to "be born in Suzhou; buy clothes in Hangzhou; enjoy delicacies in Guangzhou; be buried in Liuzhou". It indicates that Guangzhou is a well-known food capital of China even in the ancient time. A Hong Kong friend of mine remarked that during the Chinese Civil War, most of the chefs in Guangdong moved to Hong Kong and thus Hong Kong's Cantonese food is the most authentic. Haha. Well, for me, I enjoyed eating Cantonese food in both these places and thus explains this blog!

For the remaining of this blog, I will take you through a journey to some of the finest Cantonese cuisine in this region. It is my hope that you will enjoy the food as much as I do.