Guangdong Cuisine Characteristics

Guangdong (广东 guang 3dong1) is located on the southern coast of China. Guangdong shares its geographical borders with Fujian, Jiangxi, Hunan, Guangxi, Hong Kong, Macau and Hainan provinces and autonomous regions.

Capital: Guangzhou

Other major cities: Dongguan, Foshan, Huizhou, Jiangmen, Shenzhen, Shunde, Taishan, Zhongshan and Zhuhai.

Geographical conditions:

Subtropical climate and vast coastline of South China Sea.

Main styles within Guagdong cuisine (广东菜 guang 3 dong1 cai4 or 粵菜 yue cai4)

• Hong Kong
• Dim Sum (its is more like a tradition, like Spanish tapas rather than style of cuisine)
• Chaozhou (fish and seafood. A combination of Fujian and Guangdong styles)
• Guangzhou
• Dongjiang (salted dishes)
• Hainan (famous Hainan chicken!)

Local popular ingredients:

• Guangdong cuisine represent by far the most variety of ingredients used in cooking
• In the past this region had a bad reputation among the foreigners for eating of all kinds of animals and organs, which created a great deal of prejudice

Popular cooking methods:

• Roasting, stir-frying, sauteing, deep-frying, braising, stewing and steaming
• Emphasis on a taste of primary ingredients. Spices and seasoning are used in a very moderate way.
• Mixing of western cooking techniques and methods with traditional Chinese

Cooking focus on:

• Lightness and freshness