China has a lot more than eight different cuisines, but these are the 8 great ones. The following video digs a little deeper into Sichuan, Guangdong, Hunan, Shandong, Anhui, Fujian, Zhejiang, and Jiangsu Cuisines. It includes their distinctive characteristics, flavors, history, special ingredients, popular dishes, and others.

Cantonese Cuisine

If you’ve ever eaten Chinese food outside of China, chances are you had Cantonese cuisine. Cantonese or 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. Scholars categorize Guangdong cuisine into three major groups based on the region’s dialect: Cantonese, Hakka and Chaozhou cuisines. On the other hand, the Teochew cuisine and Hakka cuisine of Guangdong are considered their own styles, as is neighboring Guangxi’s cuisine despite eastern Guangxi being considered culturally Cantonese due to the presence of ethnic Zhuang influences in the rest of the province. Cantonese cuisine is one of the Eight Culinary Traditions of Chinese cuisine. Its prominence outside China is due to the large number of Cantonese emigrants. Chefs trained in Cantonese cuisine are highly sought after throughout China. Until the late 20th century, most Chinese restaurants in the West served largely Cantonese dishes.

Compared to other Chinese regional cuisines, the flavours of most traditional Cantonese dishes should be well-balanced and not greasy. Apart from that, spices should be used in modest amounts to avoid overwhelming the flavours of the primary ingredients, and these ingredients in turn should be at the peak of their freshness and quality. There is no widespread use of fresh herbs in Cantonese cooking, in contrast with their liberal use in other cuisines such as Sichuanese, Vietnamese, Lao, Thai and European. Garlic chives and coriander leaves are notable exceptions, although the former are often used as a vegetable and the latter are usually used as mere garnish in most dishes. Now click the following link and enjoy watching the video on Cantonese cuisine.