The atlas · A cuisine · Guangdong and Hong Kong, southern China
Cantonese
The cooking of Guangzhou and Hong Kong: very fresh things cooked briefly and seasoned lightly, so they taste of themselves.
Where it comes from
Guangzhou has been a trading port for centuries, and its markets are known for how much is sold live. The cooking follows from that: cook it briefly, season it lightly, let the freshness show. A steamed fish with ginger and spring onion is often called the test of a Cantonese kitchen.
Cantonese were among the first Chinese to emigrate in numbers, from the nineteenth century, so for much of the world 'Chinese food' long meant Cantonese food — chop suey, sweet and sour, dim sum. Hong Kong kept the old dishes and added its own: milk tea, egg tarts and the cha chaan teng café.
Where in it
- GuangzhouThe old trading city of Canton, where yum cha grew up in the teahouses and the markets sell things live: dim sum, roast meats, congee and noodle shops.Har gowSiu maiChar siuCongeeWonton noodle soup
- ShundeFish ponds and buffalo dairies south of Guangzhou, often called the home of Cantonese cooks and a UNESCO City of Gastronomy: known for freshwater fish and for milk puddings.Double-skin milkSteamed fish with ginger and spring onion
- Hong KongCantonese cooking with a colonial café culture laid over it: dim sum and roast meats, and the cha chaan teng's milk tea, egg tarts, pineapple buns and wonton noodles.Egg tartPineapple bunWonton noodle soup
- MacauFour centuries of Portuguese rule left bakeries and a Macanese creole cooking of its own; its Cantonese cafés give it pork chop buns and egg tarts with a scorched top.Pork chop bun
How it cooks
- Wok hei
- The 'breath of the wok' — the seared, smoky taste of food tossed fast over fierce heat.
- Steaming
- Fish, dumplings, spare ribs — cooked in moist heat so their own flavour leads.
- Siu mei
- Roasting and glazing: char siu, roast goose and duck, crackling pork, hung in the window of the roast shop.
- Lou fo tong
- Soups simmered for hours with meat, dried goods and roots, drunk with the meal.
Always in the kitchen
Cook from it
Tonight, with what's good in October
Its classics
CantoneseCongeeRice simmered in plenty of water until the grains break down into a smooth, silky porridge, with something savoury stirred in.No one here has made it yetCantoneseChar siuStrips of pork shoulder in a sweet soy marinade, roasted hot and glazed until the edges char.No one here has made it yet
CantoneseHar gowPrawns in a thin, translucent, pleated wrapper, steamed in a bamboo basket.No one here has made it yet
CantoneseSteamed fish with ginger and spring onionA whole very fresh fish, steamed just to the bone, then dressed with seasoned soy and ginger and spring onion scalded with smoking oil.No one here has made it yet
CantoneseWonton noodle soupThin, springy egg noodles and prawn wontons in a clear broth, finished with a few chives.No one here has made it yet
CantoneseEgg tartA small tart of short or flaky pastry filled with a smooth, just-set egg custard, eaten warm.No one here has made it yetCantoneseGinger and spring onion oilFinely chopped ginger and spring onion with salt, scalded with smoking oil — the sauce for white-cut chicken.No one here has made it yetCantoneseSiu maiOpen-topped dumplings of pork and prawn in a thin yellow wrapper, steamed, and often dotted on top with fish roe or a little carrot.No one here has made it yetCantoneseDouble-skin milkA smooth, lightly sweet milk pudding, set with egg white and steamed, with a skin that forms on top twice.No one here has made it yetCantonesePork chop bunA marinated pork chop, beaten thin and fried, pressed into a crusty split roll — Macau's favourite snack.No one here has made it yetCantonesePineapple bunA soft, sweet bread roll under a crackled, sugary crust — named for how the top looks, with no pineapple in it.No one here has made it yetHow it got here
1980s · from Lisbon to MacauThe custard tartThe Portuguese pastel de nata reached Macau's bakeries and became the scorched-topped Macanese tart — a cousin of Hong Kong's smoother dan tat.Egg tart →
Cooked here
No one here has cooked Cantonese yet.