Format and Food Rating

Before I rattle on, I will like to talk a little on the format of this blog. The bulk of it will be paragraphs and pictures of the food in a particular food outlet. It will then be followed by the "most important" aspect - food rating. I've decided to adopt the following (might modify as I go on):

1. Taste - out of 10
2. Ambience - out of 10
3. Service - out of 10
4. Average spending - $$$ per pax

It will be ended with the address of the outlet and other related informations.

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.

Introduction cum FAQs

Hi, welcome to my food blog. This blog came about from the motivation of a couple of my friends from Singapore, China and Hong Kong. I am currently doing my Masters in Hong Kong and being a food lover, I will leave my "food"prints around this Asia's World City. As I am finishing up my Masters soon (end of 2008), I will like to document my food expedition (in Hong Kong and around the region) into a blog. To the best of my knowledge, there isn't a well documented food blog on Hong Kong (http://www.openrice.com/, if you consider it as one). Before I move on, here are some FAQs that may flash through your mind:

1. How different is this blog from others? I mean, food blogs are everywhere ...

This blog is more of a documentation of my food adventure in Hong Kong and the nearby region. I will not only write about my experiences in the various food outlets, I will also try to include some history and interesting facts when possible.

2. Does this blog focuses only on chinese food?

I will tend to say, yes. In fact, it focuses mainly on cantonese food. I am a great lover of cantonese food (especially dim sum!) and I realize that there is generally a lack of information for the westerners. The information came mainly from the Hong Kong tourism website and these places are mainly the more expensive ones. Initially, I tend to blog only on good dim sum places but I decided to give a more comprehensive coverage. From time to time, I will also talk about other types of food as Hong Kong is well known for its cosmopolitan dining experience.

3. What is your motivation behind writing this blog?

The motivation came from a couple of my friends from Singapore, China and Hong Kong. In addtion, over the years, friends from Singapore visiting Hong Kong asked me for food recommendations. I get typical questions like this - "Eh, I will be visiting HK for 5D4N; I will be spending one day in HK island, one day in Disney, one day in Kowloon etc. Can you recommend me some good food along the way?" Recommending is only half the story; ordering the right food is the key. This blog thus serves as a platform for me to share my experiences and recommendations. Potential "food trails" will be included as I progress.

4. Why should we believe in you?

Well, you don't have to. I am not an authority like Chua Lam or others. I am sharing my experiences and if you have faith in it, you can try them out when you visit Hong Kong in your next trip. Besides, a handful of my experiences were done with like-minded individuals; these places were thus "tried and tested"

5. Acknowledgements:

I will like to thank many friends who have joined me for the food adventure for the past 18 months, especially Wai Zin, Jiahao, Jiahuan, Peishan and Stella. Many thanks to Jun Wen for designing the bloghead and helping to layout the information nicely.