What Is Cantonese Cuisine

China offers eight types of traditional cuisines, and among those is Cantonese cuisine, which is one of the more internationally-recognized types of Chinese food.

Cantonese cuisine comes from the Guangdong province of China. The most distinctive thing about Cantonese cuisine is its freshness, as its uses many fresh ingredients or seasonal ingredients. Additionally, Cantonese cuisine has quite a mild taste, unlike Szechuan cuisine, for example, which is spicy and flavorful.

Cantonese cuisine uses a variety of cooking methods, though steaming and stir frying are the most favored. Boiling, charcoal grilling, and braising are other popular techniques in Cantonese cooking.

Many Cantonese chefs prefer to keep the natural flavors of the ingredients and look to deliver a dish with well-balanced flavors that isn't greasy. When chefs do use spices, herbs, or seasonings in Cantonese cuisine, they do so sparingly so as not to take away the natural taste of the ingredients.

Typical and traditional dishes of Cantonese cuisine are sweet and sour pork, bite-sized wontons, and steamed spare ribs with pickled plum and soybean paste.