Among the eight major cuisines in China, Cantonese cuisine has a long history, but it is the latest to develop. Cantonese cuisine originates from the Pearl River Basin and is composed of Guangzhou, Dongjiang and Chaoshan flavors from Guangdong Province, and Cantonese cuisine has a great influence, radiating Guangdong, Fujian, Hong Kong, Macao, Taiwan and Chinese restaurants around the world.
Cantonese cuisine The latest of the eight major cuisines
The local flavors of China in the Qing Dynasty gradually stabilized, especially in the Qing Dynasty, the Kangqian prosperous era of China's economic and cultural prosperity appeared, and in this hundred years, China's local flavor dishes continued to integrate and flourish. These local flavors had a profound impact on later Chinese cuisine. Interestingly, most of these local flavors are related to the water system, in addition to the most representative is the Beijing cuisine of Beijing, the national political, economic and cultural center, the Haipai cuisine Huangpu River Basin of Shanghai, an important economic center of China, the Shandong cuisine of the Yellow River Basin, the Sichuan cuisine of the Yangtze River Basin, the Guangdong cuisine of the Pearl River Basin, and the Jiangsu cuisine of the Jianghuai River Basin.
Cantonese cuisine in the Pearl River Basin gradually flourished later than other cuisines, and as China was forced to open its treaty ports, a large number of immigrants, colonists and a large number of human resources were exported to Guangdong cuisine to usher in a golden period of integration and dissemination. Long-term economic exchanges and cultural exchanges with the West, absorbing the cooking methods and seasonings of Western food and Southeast Asian dishes. A large number of foreign restaurants also come to Guangzhou with the crowds heading south to Guangzhou, bringing local ingredients, cooking methods and flavors. Thus promoting the development of Cantonese cuisine.
The historical origin of Cantonese cuisine
The Tang Dynasty 'TongLi' records that Guangzhou was first called "Chu Ting". After Qin Shi Huang unified the whole country, Nanhai County was established in Lingnan in Guangzhou (then called Panyu), and it was not officially called Guangzhou until the Three Kingdoms period. Because it is located in the Pearl River Delta and has extensive water and land transportation, it has long been the political, economic and cultural center of Lingnan. During the Tang Dynasty, Guangzhou has become one of the world's famous ports, and its food culture is relatively developed.
Cantonese people have a very wide choice of food, there is a saying that says well, with legs do not eat tables and chairs benches, with hair do not eat chicken feather dusters, flying in the sky do not eat airplanes, running underground do not eat cars, swimming in the water do not eat ships, in addition, there is nothing dare not eat. Guangdong people dare to eat a long history, the Western Han Dynasty "Huainanzi" there is a record of "Cantonese people get tadpole snakes to think of the dish". In the Tang Dynasty Liu Ke's "Records of the Ridge Table", there are many ways to eat barbecue, and the way to eat oysters is introduced: "The big one is pickled for burning, and the small one is fried."
There is also such a more detailed record in the Southern Song Dynasty's "Lingwai Dai answer": the Cantonese people "deep and wide and xi copper people, do not ask birds, animals, insects and snakes, all eat it." There are good and bad smells. The mountain has a turtle sting, bamboo has a mouse name touch, tungsten crane foot, hunting and boiling, fish lips, living and balancing, called the soul of the fish, this is also its treasure. As for the snake that must be caught, it does not matter the length or short, and when it encounters a rat, it must be enforced, and it does not matter the size. The deception of bats is abominable, the clams are fearful, and the locusts are small, and they are taken and eaten. The poison of the hive, the filth of the worms, the fried pasta. The eggs of locusts, the wings of shrimp, and the freshness and food. It can be seen that a thousand years ago, Guangdong people were very eager to eat.
In the late Qing Dynasty, Guangdong cuisine was widely used in Kyoto, Gusu, Yangzhou flavors and Western cuisine, and became a self-contained, and the prosperity of the food market promoted the prosperity of Guangdong cuisine. "Food in Guangzhou" was also well-known at home and abroad during this period.
Cantonese cuisine's "four senses, five tastes and six tastes"
Eating in Guangzhou, you can see the exquisiteness of Cantonese cuisine. Cantonese cuisine pays attention to clear and not light, fresh and not vulgar, tender but not raw, oily but not greasy; both heavy and tender, smooth, and more concentrated, fresh, sweet, mellow, such a flavor structure can adapt to the tastes of all parties. There is also a summary of the taste of Cantonese cuisine: "five tastes" (fragrant, pine, smelly, fat, thick), six flavors (sour, sweet, bitter, salty, spicy, fresh) said.
In the long process of historical development, Cantonese cuisine has formed three major flavor genres. Guangzhou cuisine centered on Guangzhou, is the big brother of the three major schools of Cantonese cuisine, covering the most extensive areas including the Pearl River Delta and Zhanjiang, Shaoguan, Zhaoqing and other local flavors; Chaozhou cuisine brings together the fusion flavor of Fujian cuisine and Cantonese cuisine, and is a mixture of the three major flavor schools of Cantonese cuisine; and Hakka cuisine, also known as Dongjiang cuisine, is the Central Plains people who migrated to Guangdong, due to the geography, climate and property conditions of the mountainous areas around the Dongjiang River and the Central Plains, the food customs around the Dongjiang River still retain the food style of the Central Plains, and Hakka cuisine basically maintains the characteristics of the Central Plains. It is considered to be an importer of the three major flavor genres of Cantonese cuisine.
The three major genres of Cantonese cuisine have their own characteristics, and the biggest taste characteristic of Guangzhou cuisine is light, and there are many Western cuisine methods, paying attention to momentum and when dishes. Cooking methods are good at stir-frying, frying, frying, stewing, baking, boiling, stewing, buttoning, etc., the taste is fresh and tender and smooth, and its representative varieties are fried shrimp, hanging oven roasted duck, braised skirt wings and snake dishes that are fried or cooked or soup or soup.
Teochew cuisine is more mellow, sweet and fresh, paying attention to beets, soup dishes and vegetarian dishes, likes to use shacha sauce, fish sauce, red vinegar, bean paste and other seasoning, cooking methods to stew, stew, roast, stir-fry, stir-fry, steaming, soaking and so on. Representative dishes include fried shrimp dates, red stewed shark fin, roasted geese and geese, chicken with bean sauce, sweet wrinkled yarn meat, horseshoe puree, oil bubble snail balls and so on. In the minds of Chaoshan people, there is a big dish that must be mentioned, that is, lobster. Where there is no lobster at the feast, it is not a standard of grade. Whether it is the joy of housewarming, the wedding and funeral, or the import of Tim Ting, the opening ceremony kicks off is the fiery lobster dish.
Dongjiang cuisine is mainly made of meat, and there are very few seafood, as the Hakka kitchen proverb says: "No chicken is not clear, no duck is not fragrant, no meat is not fresh, no elbow is not thick." "It's all meat. The main ingredients are prominent, the taste is salty, the emphasis is on crisp and fragrant, and the cooking methods are diverse, especially the braised, stewed, stewed, incitement and other casserole dishes, with a simple shape and a strong local atmosphere. Its representative varieties include Hakka salt-baked chicken, rose wine baked double pigeon, Dongjiang nest whole chicken, flat rice crispy chicken, Dongjiang tofu, Dongjiang fish balls, plum vegetable buckle meat, refreshing beef balls and so on.
In short, Cantonese cuisine is exquisitely made, with a variety of colors, beautiful and novel, and some dishes absorb the specialties of Western dishes and form a unique style. In terms of cooking methods, he is good at frying, baking, baking, baking, boiling, steaming, frying, crisp, smoking, potting, etc. In the selection of animal raw materials, in addition to pigs, cattle, sheep, chickens, ducks, fish, snakes, monkeys, cats, rats, pangolins and other dishes are also used. Its unique culinary skills are unmatched by other cuisines. The seasoning of Cantonese cuisine is mainly light, crisp, refreshing and sweet, salty, sour, bitter, spicy, fresh and fragrant. Famous dishes include: roast suckling pig, crispy chicken, winter melon cup, grunt meat, leopard beaver braised three snakes, as well as the famous snake feast, in recent years the popular Jun'an steamed pig, Chaoshan lion head goose and so on.