Chaoshan cuisine, also known as Chiuchow cuisine, Chaozhou cuisine or Teo-swa cuisine, originated from the Chaoshan region in the eastern part of China's Guangdong Province, which includes the cities of Chaozhou, Shantou and Jieyang. Chaoshan cuisine bears more similarities to that of Fujian cuisine, particularly Southern Min cuisine, due to the similarity of Chaoshan's and Fujian's culture, language, and their geographic proximity to each other.[1] However, Chaoshan cuisine is also influenced by Cantonese cuisine in its style and technique.[1]
Chaoshan cuisine is well known for its seafood and vegetarian dishes. Its use of flavouring is much less heavy-handed than most other Chinese cuisines and depends much on the freshness and quality of the ingredients for taste and flavour. As a delicate cuisine, oil is not often used in large quantities and there is a relatively heavy emphasis on poaching, steaming and braising, as well as the common Chinese method of stir-frying. Chaoshan cuisine is also known for serving congee (糜; mí; or mue), in addition to steamed rice or noodles with meals. The Chaoshan mue is rather different from the Cantonese counterpart, being very watery with the rice sitting loosely at the bottom of the bowl, while the Cantonese dish is more a thin gruel.
Authentic Chaoshan restaurants serve very strong oolong tea called Tieguanyin in very tiny cups before and after the meal. Presented as gongfu tea, the tea has a thickly bittersweet taste, colloquially known as gam gam (甘甘; gān gān).
A condiment that is popular in Fujian and Taiwanese cuisine and commonly associated with cuisine of certain Chaoshan groups is shacha sauce (沙茶酱; 沙茶醬; shāchá jiàng). It is made from soybean oil, garlic, shallots, chilies, brill fish and dried shrimp. The paste has a savoury and slightly spicy taste. As an ingredient, it has multiple uses: as a base for soups, as a rub for barbecued meats, as a seasoning for stir-fried dishes, or as a component for dipping sauces.
In addition to soy sauce (widely used in all Chinese cuisines), the Chaoshan diaspora in Southeast Asia use fish sauce in their cooking. It is used as a flavouring agent in soups and sometimes as a dipping sauce, as in Vietnamese spring rolls.
Chaoshan chefs often use a special stock called superior broth (上汤; 上湯; shàngtāng). This stock remains on the stove and is continuously replenished. Portrayed in popular media, some Hong Kong chefs allegedly use the same superior broth that is preserved for decades. This stock can as well be seen on Chaozhou TV's cooking programmes.
There is a notable feast in Chaoshan cuisine called jiat dot (食桌; shízhuō; 'food table'). A myriad of dishes are often served, which include shark fin soup, bird's nest soup, lobster, steamed fish, roasted suckling pig and braised goose.
Chaoshan chefs take pride in their skills of vegetable carving, and carved vegetables are used as garnishes on cold dishes and on the banquet table.
Chaoshan cuisine is also known for a late night meal known as meh siao (夜宵; yèxiāo) or daa laang (打冷; dǎléng) among the Cantonese. Chaoshan people enjoy eating out close to midnight in restaurants or at roadside food stalls. Some dai pai dong-like eateries stay open till dawn.
Unlike the typical menu selections of many other Chinese cuisines, Chaoshan restaurant menus often have a dessert section.
Many people of Chaoshan origin, also known as Teochiu or Chaoshan people, have settled in Hong Kong and places in Southeast Asia like Malaysia, Singapore, Cambodia and Thailand. Influences they bring can be noted in Singaporean cuisine and that of other settlements. A large number of Chaoshan people have also settled in Taiwan, evident in Taiwanese cuisine.[2] Other notable Chaoshan diaspora communities are in Vietnam, Cambodia and France. A popular noodle soup in both Vietnam and Cambodia, known as hu tieu, originated from the Chaoshan.[3] There is also a large diaspora of Chaoshan people (most were from Southeast Asia) in the United States - particularly in California. There is a Teochew Chinese Association in Paris called L'Amicale des Teochews en France.
Boiled noodles, dried and mixed with variety sauce such as soy sauce, chilli sauce and lard topped with vegetables, sliced onion, minced pork, mushrooms and fish balls or fishcakes.
A hearty soup that, at its simplest, consists of meaty pork ribs in a complex broth of herbs and spices (including star anise, cinnamon, cloves, danggui, fennel seeds and garlic), boiled together with pork bones for hours. Dark and light soy sauce may also be added to the soup during the cooking stages. Some Teochew families like to add extra Chinese herbs such as yuzhu (rhizome of Solomon's seal) and juzhi (buckthorn fruit) for a sweeter, slightly stronger flavoured soup. The dish is usually eaten with rice or noodles (sometimes as a noodle soup), and often served with youtiao. Garnish includes chopped coriander or green onions and a sprinkling of fried shallots. A variation of bak kut teh uses chicken instead of pork, which then becomes chik kut teh. Bak kut teh is particularly popular in Southeast Asian countries such as Singapore and Malaysia.
Braised varieties
滷味
卤味
lǔwèi
lo bah
Teochew cuisine is noted for its variety of braised dishes, which includes geese, duck, pork, bean curd and offal.
A savoury fried cake, made of white radish and rice flour. It is commonly stir-fried with soy sauce, eggs, garlic, spring onion and occasionally dried shrimp.
A traditionally deep-fried chicken dish, usually accompanied with leafy green from lysimachia clethroides, known as pearl vegetable (珍珠菜). However, lysimachia clethroides's leaves are unavailable to use in culinary outside of China, but basil, spinach, or other leafy green vegetables can be substitutes to them in preparation of the dish.[4]
Cup-shaped steamed rice cakes topped with chopped preserved/salted radish.
Crystal balls
水晶包
水晶包
shuǐjīng bāo
zhui jia bao
A steamed dessert with a variety of fillings such as yellow milk (奶黄; 奶黃; nǎihuáng; ni ng), yam paste (芋泥; yùní; or ni) or bean paste made from mung beans or azuki beans. They are similar to mochi.
Fish balls / fishcakes / fish dumplings
魚丸 / 魚粿 / 魚餃
鱼丸 / 鱼粿 / 鱼饺
yúwán / yúguǒ / yújiǎo
her ee / her kueh / her kiaw
This fish paste made into balls, cakes and dumplings can be cooked in many ways but are often served in Teochew-style noodle and soups.
Flavored-potted goose
滷水鵝
卤水鹅
lǔ shuǐ é
lou zui gho
A well-known braised goose dish, often accompanised by tofu.
Fried bean curd
炸豆腐
炸豆腐
zhà dòufu
za dao hu
A simple deep fried tofu dish, and was later adopted by Guangzhou's residents. First, deep-fry slices of fresh firm tofu until they are golden, and then serve with salted water dip (ingredients are boiling water, salt, and chopped Chinese chives).[5] In modern times, some Teochew people now use the air fryer to prepare them for convenience and reduction of the amount of fat and calories in the food.
Fried beef balls
炸牛肉丸
炸牛肉丸
zhà niúròu wán
za ghu bak ee
A simple deep-fired beef ball dish serves with dipping sauce such as shacha sauce or salted water dip (ingredients are boiling water, salt, and chopped Chinese chives). In modern times, some Teochew people now use the air fryer to prepare them for convenience and reduction of the amount of fat and calories in the food.
Fish ball noodle soup
魚丸麵
鱼丸面
yúwán miàn
her ee mee
Any of several kinds of egg and rice noodles may be served either in a light fish-flavoured broth or dry, along with fishballs, fishcakes, beansprouts and lettuce.
A type of steamed dumplings. This is usually filled with dried radish, garlic chives, ground pork, dried shrimp, shiitake mushrooms and peanuts. The dumpling wrapper is made from a mixture of flour or plant starches mixed together with water. In Cantonese, these are called chiu chow fun guo (潮州粉果; Cháozhōu fěnguǒ), in which the Chinese character 粿 is replaced by 果.
Head mustard with mushrooms
厚菇大芥菜
厚菇大芥菜
hòugū dà jiècài
gao gou dua gai cai
A dish of brassica juncea (Chinese mustard) and shiitake (Chinese black mushrooms) in a soup. Originally a vegetarian soup, it often added with diced pork belly and other ingredients.
A dish of flat, broad rice sheets in a soup made from dark soy sauce served with pig offal, braised duck meat, various kinds of bean curd, preserved salted vegetables and braised hard-boiled eggs.
Tieguanyin is one of the most popular Teochew teas. However, the Teochew people prefer their own brand of Oolong tea, which is the hong wang dan cong teh (凤凰单丛茶; 鳳凰單丛茶; fènghuáng dāncóng chá).
A dish of omelette cooked with fresh raw oysters, tapioca starch and eggs. Teochew-style oyster omelette is usually deep fried and very crisp. Dip condiments are fish sauce and pepper or chili sauce.
A fresh (non-fried) spring roll usually eaten during the Qingming Festival. The skin is a soft, thin paper-like crepe made from wheat flour. The filling is mainly finely grated and steamed or stir-fried turnip, yam bean (jicama), which has been cooked with a combination of other ingredients such as bean sprouts, French beans, and lettuce leaves, depending on the individual vendor, along with grated carrots, slices of Chinese sausage, thinly sliced fried tofu, chopped peanuts or peanut powder, fried shallots and shredded omelette. Other common variations of popiah include pork (lightly seasoned and stir-fried), shrimp or crab meat. It is eaten in accompaniment with a sweet sauce (often a bean sauce, a blended soy sauce or hoisin sauce or a shrimp paste sauce).
Pork jelly
豬腳凍
猪脚冻
zhūjiǎo dòng
ter ka dang
Braised pig's leg made into jelly form, sliced and served cold.
Pink hue rice flour skin wrapped with flavorful glutinous rice. Pressed on a nicely designed peach shaped wooden mould, and then steam the dumpling to perfection. You can eat it freshly steamed, or pan-fried.[6]
Salted vegetable duck soup
鹹菜鴨湯
咸菜鸭汤
xiáncài yātāng
kiam cai ak terng
A soup boiled with duck, preserved salted vegetable, tomatoes and preserved sour plum.
Mixed pork and prawn paste (sometimes fish), seasoned with five-spice powder, wrapped and rolled in a bean curd skin and deep-fried or pan-fried. It is sometimes referred to as Teochew-style spring roll in restaurant menus.
Steamed chives dumplings
韭菜餜
韭菜馃
jiǔ cài guǒ
gu chai gue
They are sometimes sautéed to give them a crispy texture.
Steamed goose
炊鵝
炊鹅
chuī é
chue gho
Taro paste
芋泥
芋泥
yùní
orh ni / orh nee
A traditional Teochew dessert made primarily from taro. The taro is steamed and then mashed into a thick paste, which forms the base of the dessert. Pumpkin is also added for sweetness and to create a smoother consistency. Lard or fried onion oil is then added for fragrance. The dessert is traditionally sweetened with water chestnut syrup, and served with ginkgo nuts. Modern versions of the dessert include the addition of coconut cream and sweet corn. The dessert is commonly served at traditional Teochew wedding banquet dinners as the last course, marking the end of the banquet.
Teochew chicken
潮州雞
潮州鸡
Cháozhōu jī
Teochew koi
A dish of sliced chicken
Teochew cold crab
潮州凍蟹
潮州冻蟹
Cháozhōu dòngxiè
Teochew ngang hoi
The whole crab is first steamed then served chilled. The species of crab most commonly used is Charybdis cruciata.
A dish where fresh, thinly sliced ingredients are placed into a simmering flavourful broth to cook and then dipped into various mixed sauces, usually with Shacha and soy sauce as its main components. Ingredients often include leafy vegetables, yam, tofu, pomfret and other seafood, beef balls, fish balls, pork balls, mushrooms and Chinese noodles, among others. Teochew hot pot, like other Chinese hot pots, is served in a large communal metal pot at the center of the dining table.
Teochew rice noodle soup
潮州粿條
潮州粿条
Cháozhōu guǒtiáo
Teochew kuay teow
A quintessential Teochew-style noodle soup that is also particularly popular in Vietnam and Cambodia (known respectively as hu tieu and kuy teav), through the influx of Teochew immigrants. It is a dish of yellow egg noodles and thin rice noodles served in a delicate, fragrant soup with meatballs, other various meats, seafood (such as shrimp), fried fishcake slices, quail eggs, blanched Chinese cabbage and sometimes offal. The soup base is typically made of pork or chicken bones and dried squid. Just before serving, the noodle soup is garnished with fried minced garlic, fried shallots, thinly sliced scallions and fresh cilantro (coriander) sprigs. For those who enjoy their noodle soup with added depth, the solid ingredients may be dipped into Shacha sauce or Teochew chilli oil.
A rice soup that has a more watery texture as compared to the Cantonese congee. It is commonly served with various salty accompaniments such as salted vegetables (kiam chai), preserved radish (chai por), boiled salted duck eggs, fried salted fish and fried peanuts.
A raw fish salad whose typical ingredients include fresh salmon, white radish, carrot, red pepper (capsicum), ginger, kaffir lime leaves, Chinese parsley, chopped peanuts, toasted sesame seeds, Chinese shrimp crackers or fried dried shrimp, and five-spice powder, with the dressing primarily made from plum sauce. It is customarily served as an appetiser to bring good luck for the new year and is usually eaten on the seventh day of the Lunar New Year.
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.
Shanghai cuisine, also known as Hu cuisine, is a popular style of Chinese food. In a narrow sense, Shanghai cuisine refers only to what is traditionally called Benbang cuisine which originated in Shanghai. In a broader sense, it refers to complex styles of cooking developed under the influence of neighboring Jiangsu and Zhejiang provinces.
Youtiao, known in Southern China as Yu Char Kway, is a long golden-brown deep-fried strip of wheat flour dough of Chinese origin and also popular in other East and Southeast Asian cuisines.
Chaoshan or Teoswa is a cultural-linguistic region in the east of Guangdong, China. It is the origin of the Min Nan Chaoshan dialect (潮汕话). The region, also known as Chiushan in Cantonese, consists of the cities Chaozhou, Jieyang and Shantou. It differs linguistically from the rest of Guangdong province which was historically dominated by Yue speakers, followed by Hakka and Leizhou Min speakers. However, Mandarin has recently become the dominant language in the region. It is historically important as the ancestral homeland of many Viets, Thais, Cambodian, Singaporeans, Malaysians and Indonesians of Chinese descent.
Fujian cuisine or Fujianese cuisine, also known as Min cuisine, is one of the native Chinese cuisines derived from the cooking style of China's Fujian Province, most notably from the provincial capital, Fuzhou. "Fujian cuisine" in this article refers to the cuisines of Min Chinese speaking people within Fujian. Other cuisines in Fujian include Hakka cuisine, and the ethnic minority cuisines of the She and Tanka people. Fujian cuisine is known to be light but flavourful, soft, and tender, with particular emphasis on umami taste, known in Chinese cooking as xianwei, as well as retaining the original flavour of the main ingredients instead of masking them.
Singaporean cuisine is derived from several ethnic groups in Singapore and has developed through centuries of political, economic, and social changes in the cosmopolitan city-state.
Malaysian Chinese cuisine is derived from the culinary traditions of Chinese Malaysian immigrants and their descendants, who have adapted or modified their culinary traditions under the influence of Malaysian culture as well as immigration patterns of Chinese to Malaysia. Because the vast majority of Chinese Malaysians are descendants of immigrants from southern China, Malaysian Chinese cuisine is predominantly based on an eclectic repertoire of dishes with roots from Fujian, Cantonese, Hakka and Teochew cuisines.
The city of Ipoh is the administrative capital of the Malaysian state of Perak and is famous for its cuisine. Its food culture is driven by its majority Chinese population who are largely of Cantonese and Hakka descent. There is also Malay and Indian food in Ipoh; the nasi kandar served by a prominent local Mamak stall is nicknamed nasi ganja due to its supposed addictive properties. Specialty foods from neighbouring towns are also available in Ipoh.
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, known as Nyonya cuisine by the Peranakan.
Filipino Chinese cuisine is a style of Filipino cuisine influenced from Chinese cuisine.
Shahe fen (沙河粉), or simply he fen (河粉), is a type of wide Chinese noodle made from rice. Its Minnan Chinese name, translated from the Mandarin 粿條 (guotiao), is adapted into alternate names which are widely encountered in Southeast Asia, such as kway teow, kwetiau, and kuetiau. Shahe fen is often stir-fried with meat and/or vegetables in a dish called chao fen. While chao fen is a transliteration of Mandarin, chow fun from Cantonese is the name most often given to the dish in Chinese restaurants in North America.
Japanese Chinese cuisine, also known as Chūka, represents a unique fusion of Japanese and Chinese culinary traditions that have evolved over the late 19th century and more recent times. This style, served predominantly by Chinese restaurants in Japan, stands distinct from the "authentic Chinese food" found in areas such as Yokohama Chinatown. Despite this difference, the cuisine retains strong influences from various Chinese culinary styles, as seen in the Shippoku cooking style.
The Teochew people, Swatow people or Chaoshan people is anyone native to the historical Chaoshan region in south China who speak the Chaoshan Min language. Today, most ethnic Teochew people live throughout Chaoshan and Hong Kong, and also outside China in Southeast Asia, including in Singapore, Malaysia, Thailand, Cambodia, Vietnam, and the Philippines. The community can also be found in diasporas around the world, including the United States, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, and France.
Fun guo, or Chaozhou fun guo (潮州粉粿), sometimes spelled fun quor, fun gor, fen guo, Chiu Chow dumpling, Teochew dumpling, or fun kor, is a variety of steamed dumpling from the Chaoshan area of coastal eastern Guangdong, a province in Southern China. Fun guo looks very similar to har gaw in Cantonese-style dim sum.
Kwetiau goreng is an Indonesian style of stir fried flat rice noodle dish. It is made from noodles, locally known as kwetiau, which are stir fried in cooking oil with garlic, onion or shallots, beef, chicken, fried prawn, crab or sliced bakso (meatballs), chili, Chinese cabbage, cabbages, tomatoes, egg, and other vegetables with an ample amount of kecap manis. In Asia, kwetiau is available in two forms, dried and fresh. Its recipe is quite similar to another Chinese Indonesian favourite, mie goreng, with the exception of replacing yellow wheat noodles for flat rice noodles.
Hao kuih is a special snack originating in Shantou, Guangdong Province, China. It is known for its shape and flavor. First appearing in Chaoyang District in Shantou, Hao kuih is generally not well known beyond the Chaoshan community.
Chinese regional cuisines are amongst the many different cuisines found in different provinces and prefectures of China as well as from larger overseas Chinese communities.
Char kway teow is a stir-fried rice noodle dish from Maritime Southeast Asia of southern Chinese origin. In Hokkien and Teochew, char means 'stir-fried' and kway teow refers to flat rice noodles. It is made from flat rice noodles or kway teow of approximately 1 cm or about 0.5 cm in width, stir-fried over very high heat with garlic, light and dark soy sauce, chilli paste, whole prawns, shelled blood cockles, chopped Chinese chives, slices of Chinese sausage, and bean sprouts. Other common ingredients include fishcake and belachan.
Teochew porridge is a Teochew rice porridge dish often accompanied with various small plates of side dishes. Teochew porridge is served as a banquet of meats, fish egg, and vegetables that is eaten with plain rice porridge. It may be simply prepared plain, or include sweet potatoes. The rice grains, while softened from cooking, are still whole and not in an overly starchy state. Because the porridge is served plain, it is suitable to accompany salty side dishes. The recipe originated in Chaozhou and was later modified by early immigrants prepared in Malaysia and Singapore over the generations to suit local tastes.
References
1 2 Chang, Kwang-chih (1977), Food in Chinese culture: anthropological and historical perspectives, Yale University Press
↑ The globalization of Chinese food. Wu, David Y. H., Cheung, Sidney C. H. Honolulu: University of Hawaiʻi Press. 2002. ISBN9780824825829. OCLC48176894.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: others (link)
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