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Staple ingredients

Being a coastal region, fresh seafood is a specialty in Cantonese cooking and many restaurants have live fish tanks. Freshness of ingredients is prized above all - meat is usually killed on the day of eating while fish is often brought still flapping to the table. A lush growing climate means tropical fruit, vegetables and white rice are usual accompaniments. The Cantonese are also inventive and happy to incorporate foreign ingredients in their cooking so coconut milk, rice noodles and curry powders show up in some dishes.

Cooking style

As such importance is given to fresh ingredients, Cantonese chefs would consider it a culinary sin to mask them with strong seasonings. Rather they aim to preserve and enhance the natural texture and taste with carefully chosen complements - ginger, spring onion, soy sauce and rice wine are the main flavourings. Seafood-based seasonings such as oyster sauce are also important. As spice is seen as a tool for disguising less than fresh food, spicy-hot food is very rare. This means the food is sometimes considered bland by those used to richer, thicker and darker sauces of other Chinese cuisines.

Steaming and stir-frying are the common cooking techniques and oil use is kept to a minimum. Cantonese cuisine is also famous for its roast meats such as pork and duck. Careful consideration is given to the ying yang balance of food and health, so Cantonese food is some of the healthiest.

Soup

A unique Cantonese specialty is serving a clear broth before the meal. It is made by simmering meat and other ingredients over a low heat for hours to infuse the flavours. Herbal medicines are often added as well. The solids are then strained off and the infused liquid drunk. As Chinese don’t like to have cold drinks with their food, it is a nutritious replacement for water. There is a Cantonese saying that to secure a husband, a Cantonese woman needs to first cook good soups.

Dim sum

Literally ‘dot on the heart’, these small dishes are usually served with tea as a daytime snack. Popular dishes include steamed shrimp dumplings, pork buns and steamed meatballs.

Popular regional dishes

Steamed fish, shrimp wonton noodle soup, and beef with oyster sauce are all well-known Cantonese dishes. Shark fin soup is a local delicacy, as is roast suckling pig. While Western versions often have little in common with the original, sweet and sour pork is also an authentic Cantonese specialty.

Try some recipes
• Stir-fried prawns with XO sauce
• Steamed eastern star grouper
• Roasted lung kong chicken