Origin & History of Chaoshan Cuisine
According to historical records, Teochew cuisine can be traced back to Han Dynasty (202 BC - 220 AD). The chefs in Guangdong had developed special cooking skills and was especially good at cooking sea food at that time. After the Tang Dynasty (618 - 907 AD), influenced by the cooking skills of the Central Plains, it developed rapidly. In the late Ming (1368 - 1644 AD) and early Qing dynasties (1644 - 1911 AD), Chaozhou cuisine entered its heyday, and in Chaozhou there showed up well-known restaurants, famous chefs and creative dishes. In modern times, Chaoshan cuisine has become a popular cuisine around the world, and the dishes are richer and the quality is higher. Today, Teochew cuisine has developed into one of the famous Chinese cuisine which plays an important position in the culinary culture of China and the world.
Features of Chaoshan Cuisine:
- Exquisite, Mild and Healthy - Chaoshan dishes, like Cantonese dishes, are crafted. The cuttings are exquisite, and the heat and seasonings are also paid much attention to, and the pursuit of appealing appearance is sought after. It is called the highest-end cuisine in China. Chaozhou dishes taste fresh, light and natural. In addition, Chaozhou cuisine is infinite in variety of dipping sauce. A large amount of dishes are served with different dipping sauce. Salty, spicy, sweet or sour, each has its own outstanding flavor. The southern ginger, plum paste, fish sauce, red oyster sauce, and osmosis sauce are specialties in Chaozhou.
- Rich in Food Materials - Fishing industry in Chaozhou and Shantou is prosperous, so the chefs cook seafood and fishes a lot and well. The vegetarian dishes in Chaozhou cuisine are many in kind. It is said that vegetarian dishes are accounts for 9.1% of the famous Chaoshan dishes. The famous vegetarian dishes include Patriotic Soup, Vegetarian Dish with Eight Ingredients, Radish and Scallop Ball. All of them are lightly seasoned, making them mild and healthy. In addition, there are many varieties of sweet ingredients being used, like sweet potatoes, taro, pumpkin, ginkgo, lotus seeds, mandarin orange, and pineapple.
- Brining, Alive Marinating - The cooking method of Chaozhou dishes is always diversified according to the characteristics of raw materials, such as braining, deep-frying, pan-frying, braising, alive marinating, stewing, roasting, smoking, steam stewing, dressing, etc. Among them, the chefs prefer brining and alive marinating a lot. Chaozhou brined meat is the signature dish in Chaoshan cuisine. Various meat are brined together with rich flavors. Alive marinating is also a specialty cooking method on sea food. The sea food like crab, shrimp, oyster and clam are marinated alive in special sauce seasoned with chili, vinegar, green onion, ginger, soy sauce and even Chinese liquor; the sea food cooked by this way is extremely umami.
