Guangdong cuisine is unique among the Chinese cuisines. Its raw
materials, cooking methods, and flavorings all differ from the
other cuisines. Guangdong is located in southern China. Bordered by
the mountain ranges to the north and the South China Sea to the
south, it has long been separated from the hinterland. In ancient
times the Baiyue people lived there, but many immigrants from the
hinterland moved in during the Qin and Han Dynasties. The dietetic
culture of Guangdong has retained many eating habits and customs of
the ancient people, such as eating snakes. In short, to the people
of Guangdong, everything that walks, crawls, flies, or swims is
edible. Many of these strange foods no longer appeal to today's
refined tastes, and some have been eliminated out of respect for
the eating habits of people in other areas, but some strange foods
still remain.
The most famous dish, Dragon and Tiger Fight, is a dish of braised
snake and leopard. It has even been served as the main course at
important banquets. Other famous dishes are dragon, tiger, and
phoenix with chrysanthemum (snake, leopard, and chicken), braised
phoenix liver and snake slices (chicken liver and snake), and
stir-fried shredded snake meat in five colors.
Since the Ming and Qing Dynasties, Guangdong has become more
prosperous, and it has developed closer contacts with the
hinterland. As Western culture has been introduced, Guangdong
cuisine has absorbed the cooking skills of the West as well as the
cooking skills of other Chinese regions to develop its own unique
methods. The most characteristic cooking methods are cooking in
salt, cooking in wine, baking in a pan, and soft frying.
Cooking in salt means the preserved ingredient (a whole chicken,
for example) is buried in heated salt until it is well done. The
most famous of these dishes is Salt Cooked Chicken from
Dongjiang.
Cooking in wine means the main ingredient is steamed in alcoholic
vapor. The most typical dish is twin pigeons cooked in rose wine.
Two cleaned pigeons on two chopsticks are placed in an earthen bowl
so as to keep them away from the bottom. Place a cup of rose wine
between the pigeons, then put the bowl inside an iron pot and heat
the pot until the pigeons are well done. Half a cup of wine will
remain without the slightest smell of wine, but the pigeons will
have acquired an appealing fragrance of rose wine.
Baking in a pan means the ingredients are put in an iron pan with a
cast iron lid. The pan is covered with a red hot cast iron lid and
heated until the dish is done. A typical dish of this type is baked
egg.
Soft frying is another unique cooking method of the Guangdong
cuisine. The main ingredients are liquid or semi liquid, such as
fresh milk and minced chicken. The technique is: heat the pan over
a hot fire, then pour some oil in the pan to coat the bottom, Add a
little more oil and stir in the ingredients over a medium to low
fire. Typical dishes are stir fried fresh milk and stir fried
eggs.
Guangdong cuisine emphasizes seafood, and unique, mixed flavorings.
For example, one flavoring liquid is a mixture prepared from onion,
garlic, sugar, salt, and spices. The gravy is prepared from a
mixture of peanut oil, ginger, onion, Shaoxing rice wine,
crystallized sugar, anise, cassia bark, licorice root, clove,
ginger powder, dried tangerine peel, and Momordica grosuvenori.
Spiced salt is prepared from refined salt, sugar, powdered spices,
and anise. These flavorings, along with other favorite condiments
such as oyster sauce, fish sauce, clam oil, and curry, give
Guangdong cuisine its unique taste.
Guangdong cuisine is divided into three branches: Guangdong food is
traditional Guangdong cuisine; Chaozhou food is similar to Fujian
cuisine because Chaozhou neighbors Fujian Province. It stresses
seafood and many dishes are served in soup. Its flavors are thick,
delicious, and sweet. Cooks like to use fish sauce, hot sauce and
red vinegar. Dongjiang food, which is represented by Huizhou food,
emphasizes domestic animals and poultry. Its dishes are slightly
salty with simple sauces. Guangdong cuisine has been heavily
influenced by foreign cooking cultures.
