Cantonese cuisine includes Guangzhou cuisine, Chaozhou cuisine and Dongjiang (Hakka) cuisine, which is usually represented by Guangzhou cuisine. Guangzhou cuisine not only combines the local flavor characteristics of the Pearl River Delta, such as "South (Shanghai), Fan (Chongqing), Shun (Germany) and Zhong (Mountain)", but also combines the strengths of Beijing, Jiangsu, Yangzhou, Hangzhou, Shandong and other provinces and western cuisines, forming its own family.
As one of the four major cuisines in China, Cantonese cuisine enjoys a high reputation for its unique style and flavor. The characteristics of Cantonese cuisine mainly include the following aspects:
1, the biggest feature of Cantonese cuisine is its complex selection of materials and rich dishes. It has a wide range of materials and exquisite materials. Snakes, insects, rats, ants, birds and animals, delicacies, Chinese and foreign food, everything, can be called the most in the country. These raw materials, once cooked by the chef skillfully, make every diners applaud and sigh as exotic treasures.
Like eating snakes. People in Guangzhou have been eating snakes for more than 2000 years, and there are dozens of ways to eat snakes. Anything you can think of can make delicious snake dishes. I dare to eat anything, but Guangzhou people are open-minded and innovative in food culture.
2. The second characteristic of Cantonese cuisine is its light taste. Cantonese cuisine can be summarized as "fresh, tender, smooth and fragrant". This is the fundamental reason why Cantonese cuisine is so popular. There are many kinds of Cantonese condiments, including sour, sweet, bitter, spicy, salty and fresh. But generally, only a small amount of ginger, onion and garlic are used as "materials", and less spicy spices such as peppers are used, which will not be salty and sweet.
Cantonese cuisine emphasizes color and needs wok gas (refers to heating the wok with a torch, adding oil, and boiling the oil, so that the fried dishes are fragrant), and the heat is just right. Cantonese cuisine pursues the original flavor and fresh fragrance of raw materials, such as fresh seafood and game, which should be cooked immediately after slaughter. People in Guangzhou eat chicken, but boiled chicken is their favorite.
Just soaked in white brine, without any ingredients, but the skin is smooth, the meat is white and fragrant, and the bones are full of flavor. This pursuit of lightness, freshness and original flavor not only conforms to the climate characteristics of Guangzhou, but also meets the requirements of modern nutrition. It is a relatively scientific food culture.
3. The third feature of Cantonese cuisine is that it is good at change, well-made and innovative. Cantonese cuisine has the advantage of hybridization. Because the formation history of Cantonese cuisine is the intersection of Chinese and foreign food cultures and the continuous innovation combined with regional climate characteristics.
Guangdong people are open-minded, dogmatic and always good at imitating and innovating, so they are rich in changes and unconventional in the development of dishes and snacks; Well-made and rich in variety. Cantonese cuisine also pays attention to changing with the seasons, with light summer and autumn and heavy winter and spring. The dishes at the banquet were crowned with nice names, such as three snakes with old cats.
Up to now, there are more than 5400 kinds of Cantonese cuisine, 1000 kinds of snacks and hundreds of kinds of snacks. There are hundreds of kinds of chicken gizzards alone. Almost every famous restaurant and restaurant has its own "signature chicken" to attract customers. The famous ones are Qingping Chicken, Wenchang Chicken, Taiye Chicken, Dongjiang Salt Baked Chicken, Oriental Shi Jia Chicken, Tao Tao Ginger Onion Chicken and so on.
As one of the eight Chinese cuisines, Cantonese cuisine occupies a very important position. It not only represents the eating habits of Cantonese people, but also represents the food culture that has been circulating for thousands of years there, and is an indispensable part of China food culture.