Genuine Cantonese Cuisine  

Guangzhou cuisine represents the most genuine Cantonese cuisine in the world because Guangzhou is where Cantonese cuisine first originated. Cantonese cuisine is one of the four main cuisine styles in China, and is also the most popular style of Chinese food to Westerners. In fact, most Chinese restaurants in Western countries serve authentic Cantonese cuisine, or dishes based on it. Here in the birthplace of Cantonese cuisine, Guangzhou, one can expect truly traditional Cantonese dishes, which have always been highly praised for their fineness and gracefulness in the appearance. Food in Guangzhou appeals to the senses through color, shape, aroma and taste. In short, food is both attractive and delicious in this gourmets' paradise.

Ingredients

Cantonese people are able to incorporate and exploit a wide variety of ingredients. In addition to the usual pork, beef, and chicken, Cantonese catering sometimes includes many other edible meats. Chicken feet, snakes, duck tongues, and snails are just a few examples. In fact, it is often agreed that "Cantonese people eat everything that swims except a submarine, everything that flies except an airplane, and everything with four legs except a table". Nevertheless, cooks in Guangzhou are able to make these organs into masterpieces of delicious dishes that are famous to the entire world.

Seasonings and Spices

Seasonings are effectively, yet subtly, incorporated into the traditional Cantonese food. Sauces made from ginger, garlic, onion, vinegar, and sugar are combined carefully to enhance flavors. Generally however, Cantonese dishes contain rather modest amounts of seasonings and spices to avoid overwhelming the original taste of the ingredient. An emphasis is placed on preserving the natural flavor of the food.

   Famous Dishes in Guangzhou  

A few particularly well-known dishes of Guangzhou dishes are:

Roast Suckling Pig (明爐乳豬) –

a roasted piglet of about 5 kg, usually have a distinctive golden yellow color of skin.

Dragon, Tiger and Phoenix with Chrysanthemum (龍虎鬥) –

stewed snake and wild cat.

White Cut Chicken (白切雞) –

sliced chicken cooked in a large pot of water with a slice of ginger. The chicken has a light, almost white color as a result.

Shark Fin Soup (魚翅羹) –

Genuine shark fin soup or stew is a delicacy made with shark fins obtained from a shark species.

   Famous Restaurants in Guangzhou  

Taotao Ju (陶陶居)

Taotao Ju is among the most famous restaurants in Guangzhou, and also has one of the longest histories in the city. One cannot miss its well-known chicken.

Guangzhou Jiujia (廣州酒家)

Guangzhou Jiujia is another celebrated restaurant. It serves 108 dishes in total; each one represents the most genuine Cantonese cuisine. Jiaji Duck, wenchang chicken and fried duck palm are particularly popular.

Longfei Jiujia (龍飛大酒店)

Longfei Jiujia is a famous restaurant for those who like to try unique catering of Guangzhou. This restaurant that serves many dishes made from the organs of a snake, such as its eyes, tongue, brain, liver, skin and bones. The unique and delicious taste is the reason that the restaurant to becomes very renowned.

   Seafood  

Fresh live seafood is especially appetizing in Guangzhou due to many reasons. First, Guangzhou neighbors a large water body, the South China Sea; fresh seafood is therefore readily available. Also, cooks would try to obtain the freshest seafood because it is odorless and is tasty without adding much seasoning. Only little amounts are added to render the natural sweetness. For instance, a negligible amount of soy sauce, ginger, and spring onion would be added to a steamed fish. In addition, most would agree that seafood tastes particularly excellent when cooked by steaming, the traditional Cantonese style. One simply has to give the freshest seafood a try.

   Snacks  

Guangzhou's dim sum is the most famous in the world and is also probably the tastiest and the most genuine. Besides serving superior Chinese tea, some dim sum restaurants would serve more than 1000 types of dim sum snacks. These snacks are famous for their careful and graceful preparation, just like the other dishes in Guangzhou. Common dim sum snacks include shrimp dumpling (蝦餃), Shaomai (燒賣), char siu baau (叉燒包), rice noodle rolls (腸粉), and phoenix talons (鳳爪). As a tradition in Guangzhou, elders usually gather for dim sum after morning exercises, often enjoying the morning newspapers. Families would also enjoy dim sum together during weekends as they treat this get-together at dim sum as a family day.

Other than dim sum snacks, one can also find yummy snacks sold on the streets. These include noodles, deep-fried snacks, pastry, soups, porridge, and more. Double-skin milk (雙皮奶) is a Cantonese snack that is especially famous in both Guangzhou and Macau. Pre-heated milk would be cooled to fabricate two external layers of frozen mixture of egg white and milk. After more mixing, the pure white, but semisolid double-skin milk would be ready to eat. Not only does it taste soft and sweet, but it also contributes to a healthy diet.

   Tropical Fruits   

There are approximately 500 kinds of fruits in Guangzhou. Among them, litchis, bananas, papayas and pineapples are the most popular. Longan, carambola, sugar canes, coconuts, mangos, and watermelons are also very famous in Guanzhou. All of these tropical fruits are both sweet and healthy. Further, because of the tropic climate, fruits are also abundant throughout the whole year.