Cantonese or Guangdong cuisine,also known as Yue cuisine is the cuisine of Guangdong province of China,particularly the provincial capital Guangzhou,and the surrounding regions in the Pearl River Delta including Hong Kong and Macau. Strictly speaking,Cantonese cuisine is the cuisine of Guangzhou or of Cantonese speakers,but it often includes the cooking styles of all the speakers of Yue Chinese languages in Guangdong. Scholars categorize Guangdong cuisine into three major groups based on the region's dialect:Cantonese,Hakka and Chaozhou cuisines. On the other hand,the Teochew cuisine and Hakka cuisine of Guangdong are considered their own styles,as is neighboring Guangxi's cuisine despite eastern Guangxi being considered culturally Cantonese due to the presence of ethnic Zhuang influences in the rest of the province. Cantonese cuisine is one of the Eight Culinary Traditions of Chinese cuisine. Its prominence outside China is due to the large number of Cantonese emigrants. Chefs trained in Cantonese cuisine are highly sought after throughout China. Until the late 20th century,most Chinese restaurants in the West served largely Cantonese dishes.
Chinese cuisine encompasses the numerous cuisines originating from China,as well as overseas cuisines created by the Chinese diaspora. Because of the Chinese diaspora and historical power of the country,Chinese cuisine has influenced many other cuisines in Asia and beyond,with modifications made to cater to local palates. Chinese food staples such as rice,soy sauce,noodles,tea,chili oil,and tofu,and utensils such as chopsticks and the wok,can now be found worldwide.
Double steaming,sometimes called double boiling,is a Chinese cooking technique to prepare delicate food such as bird's nest soup and shark fin soup. The food is covered with water and put in a covered ceramic jar and the jar is then steamed for several hours. This technique ensures there is no loss of liquid or moisture from the food being cooked,hence it is often used with expensive ingredients like Chinese herbal medicines.
Hong dou tang is a popular Chinese dish served in Mainland China,and Taiwan. It is categorized as a tang shui 糖水or sweet soup. It is often served cold during the summer,and hot in the winter. Leftover red bean soup can also be frozen to make ice pops and is a popular dessert. A similar dessert 紅豆沙in Hong Kong is commonly mistaken by people outside Hong Kong as the same dessert,of which the latter one has a very different texture.
Glutinous rice is a type of rice grown mainly in Southeast and East Asia,and the northeastern regions of South Asia,which has opaque grains,very low amylose content,and is especially sticky when cooked. It is widely consumed across Asia.
A mooncake is a Chinese bakery product traditionally eaten during the Mid-Autumn Festival (中秋節). The festival is about lunar appreciation and Moon watching,and mooncakes are regarded as a delicacy. Mooncakes are offered between friends or on family gatherings while celebrating the festival. The Mid-Autumn Festival is widely regarded as one of the four most important Chinese festivals.
Sweet and sour is a generic term that encompasses many styles of sauce,cuisine and cooking methods. It is commonly used in East Asia and Southeast Asia,and has been used in England since the Middle Ages. Sweet and sour sauces remains popular in Asian and Western cuisines.
Tong sui,also known as tim tong,is a collective term for any sweet,warm soup or custard served as a dessert at the end of a meal in Cantonese cuisine. Tong sui are a Cantonese specialty and many varieties are rarely found in other regional cuisines of China. Outside of Cantonese-speaking communities,soupy desserts generally are not recognized as a distinct category,and the term tong sui is not used.
Chinese Indonesian cuisine is characterized by the mixture of Chinese with local Indonesian style. Chinese Indonesians,mostly descendant of Han ethnic Hokkien and Hakka speakers,brought their legacy of Chinese cuisine,and modified some of the dishes with the addition of Indonesian ingredients,such as kecap manis,palm sugar,peanut sauce,chili,santan and local spices to form a hybrid Chinese-Indonesian cuisine. Some of the dishes and cakes share the same style as in Malaysia and Singapore which are known as the Nonya cuisine by the Peranakan.
A rice cake may be any kind of food item made from rice that has been shaped,condensed,or otherwise combined into a single object. A wide variety of rice cakes exist in many different cultures in which rice is eaten and are particularly prevalent in Asia. Common variations include cakes made with rice flour,those made from ground rice,and those made from whole grains of rice compressed together or combined with some other binding substance.
Tangyuan is a traditional Chinese dessert made of glutinous rice shaped into a ball that is served in a hot broth or syrup. They come in varying sizes,anything between a marble to a ping pong ball,and are sometimes stuffed with filling. Tangyuan is traditionally eaten during the Lantern Festival,but because its name is a homophone for union and symbolizes togetherness and completeness,this dish is also served at weddings,family reunions,Chinese New Year,and the Dōngzhìfestival.
Jiandui is a type of fried Chinese pastry made from glutinous rice flour. The pastry is coated with sesame seeds on the outside and is crisp and chewy. Inside the pastry is a large hollow,caused by the expansion of the dough. The hollow of the pastry is filled with a filling usually consisting of lotus paste,or alternatively sweet black bean paste,or red bean paste. They are also sometimes referred to as sesame balls.
Sachima is a sweet snack in Chinese cuisine made of fluffy strands of fried batter bound together with a stiff sugar syrup,and of an appearance somewhat similar to American Rice Krispies Treats. It originated in Manchuria and is now popular throughout China. Its decoration and flavor vary in different regional Chinese cuisines,but the appearance of all versions is essentially the same.
Chè is any traditional Vietnamese sweet beverage,dessert soup or stew,or pudding. Chè includes a wide variety of distinct soups or puddings. Varieties of Chècan be made with mung beans,black-eyed peas,kidney beans,tapioca,jelly,fruit,and coconut cream. Other types are made with ingredients such as salt,aloe vera,seaweed,lotus seed,sesame seed,sugar palm seeds,taro,cassava and pandan leaf extract. Some varieties,such as chètrôi nước,may also include dumplings. Chè are often prepared with one of a number of varieties of beans,tubers,and/or glutinous rice,cooked in water and sweetened with sugar. In southern Vietnam,chè are often garnished with coconut creme.
Chinese desserts are sweet foods and dishes that are served with tea,along with meals or at the end of meals in Chinese cuisine. The desserts encompass a wide variety of ingredients commonly used in East Asian cuisines such as powdered or whole glutinous rice,sweet bean pastes,and agar. Due to the many Chinese cultures and the long history of China,there are a great variety of desserts of many forms.
Red bean paste or red bean jam,also called adzuki bean paste or anko,is a paste made of red beans,used in East Asian cuisine. The paste is prepared by boiling the beans,then mashing or grinding them. At this stage,the paste can be sweetened or left as it is. The color of the paste is usually dark red,which comes from the husk of the beans. In Korean cuisine,the adzuki beans can also be husked prior to cooking,resulting in a white paste. It is also possible to remove the husk by sieving after cooking,but before sweetening,resulting in a red paste that is smoother and more homogeneous.
Huangjiu,meaning yellow wine,is a Chinese alcoholic beverage,and is most popular in the Jiangnan area. Huangjiu is brewed by mixing boiled grains including rice,glutinous rice or millet with qūas starter culture,followed by saccharification and fermentation at around 13-18 °C for fortnights. Its alcohol content is typically 8%-20%.
Phuket cuisine and local food is the combination of many cultural food habits,whether they be Chinese,Malaysian or Thai. Some Phuket local food tastes sweet,such as Chinese Hakka cuisine,but it can also be spicy,such as in Thai cuisine and Malay cuisine.
