138 replies to this topic

[tongyan]

Cooking Techniques:
01. 炒 chăo pan-fry
02. 炸 zhá fry
03. 蒸 zhēng steam
04. 溜 liū remove from oil after frying and sauté with gravy
05. 蒸 zhēng steam
06. 烧 shāo roast

Spicy dishes are not as popular in Cantonese cooking. Spicy cooking are usually more popular in warmer climates. Guangzhou has the richest food resources in China in terms of agriculture and aquaculture. The large amounts of fresh ingredients, and a mild climate allows the Cantonese to use many of it without having it spoiled.

i know nothing about any type of cooking. but there is one "cooking method" on your list that i've never heard of in any cantonese dish (i could be just ignorant)

溜 liū remove from oil after frying and sauté with gravy <-- dunno what that is

many many other cooking methods like
煎 = pan-fry
煲 = boil/simmer
燉 = simmer/steam
炆 = other form of stewing
煮 = stew
灼 = lightly scald with boiling water
局 = bake

also... "Spicy cooking are usually more popular in warmer climates." I dunno where you live but hk and canton province in general is hot like hell, certainly hotter than all the places i've lived in within the u.s.
i think cantonese may be reluctant to use heavy spices because they believe in the freshness of the food. of the four tastes 甜酸苦辣 sweet, sour, bitter, hot there is one supreme in cantonese food - 鮮 the fresh taste. cantonese cooking believes spices are required only if your ingredients aren't fresh enough.

my two cents for the moment.

[yehzhaofeng]

溜 probably is the Cantonese equivalent of 走油.

Its basically the same. First fry, and then you can cook it with a sauce, or just pour sauce on the fried ingredients.


Thank you tongyuan. Yes, you are right, the most important tastes of Cantonese cooking can probably be summed up as, 甜酸苦辣.


食在廣州 is more of a Cantonese way of saying it. I think 食 is better than 吃.


I think a 4.99 Vietnamese Beef noodle can be more filling than a 16.99 Osaka Sushi plate. *$6 sashimi pieces

[AhMan]

Yezhaofeng, but if you happen to go pass their kitchen, which is next to a dress room

[kaixin]

Is dong-gua tong (winter melon soup) a Cantonese dish? I really like it.

In Guangzhou, there are certain food courts where you want to stay away from. I have seen them hang barbecued rats and dogs from these skewers on display. Makes me want to throw up thinking about it again. This was before the SARS thing years ago.

[Mok]

Is dong-gua tong (winter melon soup) a Cantonese dish?  I really like it.

It is indeed. Soups are a defining element of Cantonese cuisine and almost all Cantonese cooks have mastered a wide variety of soups as part of their culinary repertoire.

Haute cuisine aside, soups are popular as a dish in Cantonese meals. In my home soups are boiled every day from afternoon till they are served at dinnertime. By then it is really delicious.

Soups are really no-brainers to cook. I've even invented a few of my own. But no recipes forthcoming.

About Cantonese soups, we distinguish between the light and hearty, and what we call "guan" and "poh".

"Guan" is when the stock is brought to a bubbling boil on a high fire and then the fire lowered to let it simmer for however long the recipe dictates.

"Poh" is when the soup is cooked (poh) over a small fire for usually a minimum of half-a-day.

In Chef Chan's Restaurant, one of Singapore's premier Cantonese restaurants (other than my mum's fave Lei Garden), the soup is the first thing to get going in the kitchen and ingredients are added all through the day, all the while still cooking. Needless to say, the soup tastes the best at the end of the day. *yum*

Anyway that's my small contribution to the large, delicious world of Cantonese cuisine. Hopefully my culinary prowess hasn't faded yet due to lack of practice. I can still wield a mean cleaver though.

[kaixin]

^Thanks.

I am so tired of the American soups I have during lunch. Most of it is either tomato based, or worst of all the cheese/cream varieties.

I prefer Chinese and Cantonese 'tong' because they seem more light and healthy too.

Is watercrest soup also Cantonese?

[Mok]

^Thanks.

I am so tired of the American soups I have during lunch.  Most of it is either tomato based, or worst of all the cheese/cream varieties.

I prefer Chinese and Cantonese 'tong' because they seem more light and healthy too.

Is watercrest soup also Cantonese?

Yep, that would be Sai Yoon Choi Tong, sai yoon choi being watercress. But for me, it has a taste to get accustomed to. In other words, it's not really my favourite.

Cantonese seem to have the monopoly on soups, esp. herbal/tonic ones. When the time of the month's over for us ladies, it's usually Tong Kwai Tong for us, either double-boiled or conventionally brewed.

I can brew just about any soup you ask me to, in addition to inventing new ones. It's fun.

[snowybeagle]

Okay, here's my contribution to Cantonese cuisine (广东菜系 - 粤菜) (me being part Cantonese from the maternal side). Cantonese cuisine is oft equated to HK cuisine, but actually it's the other way round - HK cuisine is a subset of Cantonese cuisine.

Characteristics of the food (applicable to different dishes):

(1) 清淡 Delicate/Bland - Uses few seasonings and spices in order to preserve the natural flavours of the ingredients. Most of the time, only a few of the following additives would suffice - Ginger (姜), Scallion (葱), Sugar (糖), Salt (盐), Soy Sauce (酱油), Rice Wine (米酒), Starch (淀粉), and Cooking Oil (油).
Only in cooking the gizzards would Garlic (大蒜) be used. The Five Spices Powder (五香粉) and White Pepper Powder (白胡椒粉) are used, but seldom.

To those who are used to other Chinese cuisines, authentic Cantonese cuisine can be bland in comparison.

(2) 香脆 Cripsy
(3) 偏甜 Sweet

(4) 鲜味 Freshness - As mentioned by yehzhaofeng, the beef and pork usually come from cattle and hogs slaughtered the same day. Poultry comes from chicken, duck and geese killed just a few hours before. Fish, prawns and crab are kept alive in aquarium tanks in restaurants, sometimes shown to the customer just before cooking. Caveat to non-Cantonese - Don't try to impress Cantonese by bringing them to seafood restaurants! To Cantonese, the seasonings etc. used in a seafood dish are inversely proportional to the freshness of the seafood, and they don't like it. Chilly crabs from Singapore don't appeal..

Having said that, it must be pointed out that Cantonese also use a large amount of preserved (dried) foodstuff (乾貨) such as mushrooms (冬菇), scallops (瑤柱/干貝), sea-cucumbers (海參), dried shrimps (蝦米), "waxed" meat (臘肉/鴨), salted fish (鹹魚), century egg (皮蛋) and salted egg (鹹蛋) etc. However, these are complements rather than substitutes for fresh ingredients.


Cooking Techniques:
(1) 煎 jiān Pan-fry
(2) 烘 hōng Bake
(3) 烤 kăo Roast
(4) 煲 bāo Boiling in a claypot
(5) 烩 huì Frying, then braising with cornflour paste.


Major Centres:
(1) 广州 GuăngZhōu
(2) 潮州 CháoZhōu (usually recognised as a regional cuisine on its own)
(3) 东江 DōngJiāng - Eastern tributary of Pearl River in southern China, including Dongguan (東莞), Huizhou (惠州) and Heyuan (河源). It is the main source of fresh water of HK.


Other well-known characteristics of Cantonese cuisine is its use of exotic animals such as snakes, monkeys, cats, mouse and pangolin.
The dish 龙虎斗/龍虎鬥 LóngHŭDòu or literally Dragon-Tiger-Duel uses the meat from the snake and the leopard cat.

Many Cantonese dishes are cooked quickly to preserve the freshness of the ingredients and the natural flavours.

However, the hectic stressful living in HK also saw development of particular dishes to reinvigorate those who with long working hours or nocturnal activities - through porridges boiled for a long time, supposedly to reduce their heatiness.

Last but not least, sometimes, it helps a non-Cantonese Chinese customers to get better treatment in Cantonese eateries if they can fake a convincing Cantonese/HK accent.

[Liang Jieming]

I can brew just about any soup you ask me to, in addition to inventing new ones. It's fun.

Ah... the traditional path to the cantonese gentleman's heart. Lang tong!

My family has a strong tradition of soup at every meal... SaiYongChoyTong, TongKuahTong, LinNgauTong, FarSungTong, HamChoyTong, KaiKeokTong, FuChukTong, YeokChoiTong, HakKaiTong, FanCareTong, YeongYukTong, HakTouTong, LowWongKuahTong... yum yum yum. I used to have my univ quadmates in rez campout in my room waiting for my soups! I love soups!

[snowybeagle]

Cantonese seem to have the monopoly on soups, esp. herbal/tonic ones. When the time of the month's over for us ladies, it's usually Tong Kwai Tong for us, either double-boiled or conventionally brewed.

Monopoly? No way.

The Hokkiens also gulp down soups by the pots ... though their soups are different from Cantonese.

[Mok]

Ah... the traditional path to the cantonese gentleman's heart.  Lang tong! 

My family has a strong tradition of soup at every meal... SaiYongChoyTong, TongKuahTong, LinNgauTong, FarSungTong, HamChoyTong, KaiKeokTong, FuChukTong, YeokChoiTong, HakKaiTong, FanCareTong, YeongYukTong, HakTouTong, LowWongKuahTong... yum yum yum.  I used to have my univ quadmates in rez campout in my room waiting for my soups!    I love soups!

Yeah, i love soups too!

And despite your rather interesting variation on Cantonese romanisation, I actually recognised every single one of those soups. There's a lot to be said for soups and their place in the Cantonese heart.

BTW, almost all Cantonese chefs I can think of, from Chan Chen-hei to Sam Leong, are men. Maybe you can switch that first statement into the traditional path to the lady's heart. LOL

[Mok]

Monopoly? No way. 

The Hokkiens also gulp down soups by the pots ... though their soups are different from Cantonese.

Perhaps, but there's something about the Cantonese pysche that there's even a restaurant solely dedicated to Cantonese herbal/tonic soups.

[snowybeagle]

Perhaps, but there's something about the Cantonese pysche that there's even a restaurant solely dedicated to Cantonese herbal/tonic soups.

Rather than the Cantonese psyche, I think it's got to do with Chinese tradition of balancing the yin-yang and the climate of the region.

IIRC, most of the soups are supposed to reduce heatiness - not to mention many of the delicious Cantonese dishes, especially meaty ones, are fried or otherwise made heaty.

That's a reason I was told why Indians had yoghurts - it helps to reduce the heatiness of food like curries!

So the lesson is, understand a particular culture's cuisine as a whole rather than merely indulging in a particular aspect of it - one would be surprised how balanced the diets of traditional cultures can be when looked as a complete package.

Not sure if this idea of balanced diet is applicable to cuisine of American Deep South though ... #1 contributors to the coffers of heart specialists in America.

[Liang Jieming]

Yeah, i love soups too!

And despite your rather interesting variation on Cantonese romanisation, I actually recognised every single one of those soups. There's a lot to be said for soups and their place in the Cantonese heart.

hahahaha that's coz I don't care for the norm, rather preferring to spell them as they are pronounced in English!

BTW, almost all Cantonese chefs I can think of, from Chan Chen-hei to Sam Leong, are men. Maybe you can switch that first statement into the traditional path to the lady's heart. LOL

How do you think I got my current gf?

[kaixin]

My uncle also told me that when making soups, to never mix spinach and tofu together because one can easily get gallstones. Is that true?