{"id":6456,"date":"2019-11-18T00:33:24","date_gmt":"2019-11-18T00:33:24","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/chinesemoment.com\/chinese-culture\/yue-cai-cantonese-cuisine\/"},"modified":"2019-11-18T00:33:24","modified_gmt":"2019-11-18T00:33:24","slug":"yue-cai-cantonese-cuisine","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/chinesemoment.com\/vi\/yue-cai-cantonese-cuisine\/","title":{"rendered":"\u7ca4\u83dc Cantonese Cuisine"},"content":{"rendered":"
China’ s southern city of Shunde(\u987a\u5fb7) joined the UNESCO Creative Cities Network as the city of gastro<\/em>nomy on Monday.<\/p>\n

Shunde has long been widely regarded as the basis for exquisite Canto<\/em>nese cuisine and the cradle of Canto<\/em>nese cuisine chefs. While the cuisine of Guangzhou has been historically very minimalist in terms of flavorings, food from Shunde is known for its liberal use of ingredients such as sun dried tangerine peel and dates, resulting in simple but powerful flavors.<\/p>\n

Chinese Eight Regio<\/em>nal Cuisines(\u4e2d\u56fd\u516b\u5927\u83dc\u7cfb zh\u014dng guó b\u0101 dà cài xì )<\/p>\n

Chinese cuisine includes a variety of different flavors due to China’s vast geography and diverse nationalities. Local dishes with their own distinctiveness can be roughly divided into eight regio<\/em>nal cuisines.<\/p>\n

Canto<\/em>nese Cuisine (\u7ca4\u83dc yuè cài\uff09<\/p>\n

Canto<\/em>nese cuisine is one of the Eight Chinese Culinary Traditions. Taking root in the southern province of Guangdong, this cooking style is characterized by gentle spices, fresh ingredients and slow, careful preparation.<\/p>\n

Taken overseas with them by early Chinese emigrants, Canto<\/em>nese cuisine has become one of the most widely eaten cuisines in the world — extending its territory to Chinatowns in countries far and wide.
 
Because of Guangdong’s role as a trading post, many im<\/em>ported foods and ingredients found their way into its cuisine. Many cooking methods are used, with steaming and stir-frying the most common thanks to their co<\/em>nvenience and speed. Other techniques include shallow frying, double steaming, braising, and deep frying.
 
Distinct from other types of Chinese cooking in its light seasoning, Canto<\/em>nese cuisine places a strong emphasis on freshness. For traditio<\/em>nal Canto<\/em>nese chefs, the flavors of a finished dish should be non-greasy and balanced. Spices should also be used in modest amounts to avoid overwhelming the flavors of the primary ingredients, which in turn should be at the peak of their freshness and quality.<\/p>\n

Guangzhou has become known as the Chinese food capital because of the freshness and light seaso<\/em>ning in a huge variety of popular and exotic ingredients. With so many choices of exquisite tastes and flavors, the Canto<\/em>nese people are thought to have the most sensitive taste buds, and co<\/em>nsider themselves co<\/em>nnoisseurs of taste.<\/p>\n

Yum cha is at the heart of Canto<\/em>nese people’s life. They would be happy to spend the whole day enjoying endless cups of tea and beautifully-made dim sum.<\/p>\n

Yum cha(\u559d\u8336 h\u0113 chá ) in Canto<\/em>nese literally means "to drink tea". But it is more defined by ritual than the simple act of drinking a beverage. Mai Guang-fan is vice president of the China Cuisine Association and an expert on Canto<\/em>nese culinary culture.<\/p>\n

"Yum cha is also called Tan Cha by Canto<\/em>nese people, and means to enjoy a cup of tea. It means relaxing and enjoying aromatic tea and fine food with friends or family, making up for lost time and solidifying relationships."<\/p>\n

Yum cha isn’t just a<\/em>bout sipping tea and spending time with friends–it’s also intertwined with another distinctive Canto<\/em>nese culinary tradition —the co<\/em>nsumption of dim sum.<\/p>\n

Dim sum(\u70b9\u5fc3 di\u01cen x\u012bn ), which literally means "to touch the heart", has come to mean a light snack. Flour-ba<\/em>sed snack foods are actually not unique to Canto<\/em>nese cuisine. Shanghai has xiao long bao, steamed pork dumplings, and in Sichuan chao shou, or wontons, are popular. What sets Canto<\/em>nese dim sum apart, though, is the extraordinary variety of dishes and the list keeps growing.
 
Dim sum is usually steamed or fried, though there are other methods. The dim sums are usually small and normally served as three or four pieces in one dish. It’s customary to share dishes among all the diners on one table. Because of the small portions, people can try a wide variety of food.
 
In traditio<\/em>nal yum cha restaurants, dim sums are served on trolleys. Instead of reading a menu then placing an order, diners order what they like on the trolley. The cost of the meal is calculated ba<\/em>sed on the number and size of dishes left on the table at the end.<\/p>\n

Yum cha is a special dining custom for Canto<\/em>nese people and an im<\/em>portant part of the local culture. The whole tradition refreshes the palate and is steeped in culture. Mai Guangfan again.<\/p>\n

"Yum cha and eating dim sum has been a major dining tradition among Canto<\/em>nese people for generations. Originally people drank tea and ate some small dishes before they went to work in the morning. Gradually, this eating habit became a happy and boisterous social ritual, which brings people together. There is a sense of sharing and camaraderie that comes with the food. "<\/p>\n

As an ex<\/em>pression of Canto<\/em>nese cultural identity, yum cha has its own rules of etiquette to follow, just as many other Chinese culinary schools do. They include pouring tea for elders and social superiors, tapping the table as a sign of thanks, leaving the last piece of each order as a sign of abundance and in deference to others, etc. These details are essential to a culinary tradition that elevates ceremony, and is sometimes more im<\/em>portant than the food itself.<\/p>\n

Canto<\/em>nese people also have a deep passion for soup(\u6c64 t\u0101ng ). The soup is usually a clear broth prepared by simmering meat and other ingredients, and cooked on a mild heat for hours.
 
Unlike other Chinese cuisines, the Canto<\/em>nese usually serve soup before a meal. The soup-drinking tradition is said to be related to the regio<\/em>nal climate in Guangdong, which is a moist heat.<\/p>\n

It is believed by many Canto<\/em>nese people that soup plays a role in "clearing" heat, nourishing beauty, strengthening physical health, and preventing and curing diseases. Chinese herbal medicines are sometimes added to the clay pot, to make the soup nutritious and healthy.<\/p>\n

Zheng Yao-rong is a Canton native and co<\/em>nnoisseur of the local cuisine.<\/p>\n

"Canto<\/em>nese people feel the health benefits of soup in different seasons are really im<\/em>portant. Different soup is cooked in different seasons using the best seaso<\/em>nal ingredients available, catering to people’s varying tastes and needs. For Canto<\/em>nese people, slow-cooked soup is not an appetizer to introduce a meal or fill the stomach but an im<\/em>portant food therapy. Soup will help warm the empty stomach first to trigger its digestive functions; relieving the stomach and bowels from the pressure of having to digest the dishes that follow: since the stomach co<\/em>ntains soup, you won’t wolf down your food, and will naturally chew and swallow more slowly."<\/p>\n

The soup isn’t made randomly. Ingredients are usually matched according to their medicinal effects and seaso<\/em>nal changes to help people become physically fit and prevent and cure diseases.<\/p>\n

Even special cooking equipment is required. A clay pot is usually preferred for a slow-cooked soup. Clay is a naturally porous material and is believed to enable even heat distribution. Flavors are thus developed slowly and blend with all the ingredients as they cook.
 
It may look complicated to make Canto<\/em>nese soup, requiring so many different ingredients, a precise amount of water, precise heating control, enough cooking time, etc. But to the Cantonese, making a savory and healthy soup is easy — the key is to cook with care.<\/p>\n

And that’s also the key for Canto<\/em>nese fare to become one of the most revered Chinese cuisines, with local chefs using care and creativity to follow old traditions and extract the best flavors from available ingredients.
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