Chaoshan Cuisine / Teochew Cuisine – Popular in Chaozhou & Shantou in South China
Chaoshan cuisine, also Teochew cuisine is a branch of Cantonese cuisine which has its own style and is reputed the highest-end cuisine in China. Chaoshan dishes are exquisite, fresh, mild and healthy and rich in food materials. Special cooking techniques like brining, alive marinating are applied to create delicious dishes like Chaoshan Brined Meat and Alive Marinated Shrimp.
Chinese Name: 潮汕菜，潮菜，潮州菜
English Names: Chaoshan cuisine, Teochew cuisine, Chaozhou cuisine
Popular in: Chaozhou, Shantou in Guangdong Province, China
Time of Origin: Han Dynasty (202 BC - 220 AD)
Flavors: mild and fresh
Famous Chaoshan Dishes: Chaoshan Brined Meat, Chaoshan Beef Hot Pot, Jiazi Fish Ball
Famous Snacks: Shumai, Mazu Palace Zongzi, Teochew Porridge
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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.
Special Cooking Techniques: 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.
Notable Dishes in Sichuan Cuisine
Chaoshan Brined Meat
Chaozhou Brined meat is always served on festival days and special occasions like wedding. The brine sauce is made of water, salt, bean paste, ginger and many other spices. Goose, duck and eggs are the popular materials to be brined.
Oyster Omelette
This is a traditional snack popular in Chaoshan and Taiwan. It is often sold at roadside stalls or in night market and is often eat together with fish sauce. The main ingredients are tapioca starch, green onion, oyster and egg.
Chaoshan Beef Hot Pot
The soup of Beef Hot Pot, not like spicy Sichuan Hot Pot, is relatively mild. The main ingredients come from different parts of the cow and they require different boiling time. It is said that only 30% part of a cow can be served as the ingredients for beef hot pot.
Jiazi Fish Ball
Jiazi fish ball is a traditional snack originates in Jiazi County in Shanwei not far from Chaozhou and Shantou. There is a famous fishing port in this small county. The fish ball is made of the fresh fish fished in Jiazi Port that day. It tastes chewy and refreshing.
This aromatic porridge is a Chaoshan staple. Various sea food like shrimp, crab, fish slices and geoduck clam can be boiled in the rice porridge. It tastes fresh, mild and delicious.
Beef Kway Teow
Koay teow is actually rice noodles. Although called soup, it is always served as a staple food for breakfast. The soup for boiling kway teow is often bone soup which makes the dish fresh, and beef and chewy beef ball is topped on it.
Read more about Teochew Food / Chaozhou Food: Famous Dishes & Restaurants
Chaoshan Cuisine Menu
| English | Chinese | Pinyin |
|---|---|---|
| Chaoshan Brined Meat | 潮汕卤味 | cháo shàn lǔ wèi |
| Oyster Omelette | 蚝烙 | háo lào |
| Chaoshan Beef Hot Pot | 潮汕牛肉火锅 | cháo shàn niú ròu huǒ guō |
| Jiazi Fish Ball | 甲子鱼丸 | jiǎ zǐ yú wán |
| Teochew Porridge | 潮汕砂锅粥 | cháo shàn shā guō zhōu |
| Beef Kway Teow | 牛肉粿条汤 | niú ròu guǒ tiáo tāng |
| Bitter Mellon and Sparerib Soup | 苦瓜排骨汤 | kǔ guā pái gǔ tāng |
| Stir-fried Beef with Chinese Kale | 芥兰炒牛肉 | jiè lán chǎo niú ròu |
| Stir-fried Chinese Kale with Mushroom | 厚菇芥菜 | hòu gū jiè cài |
| Sichuan Style Fried Chicken with Peppers | 川椒鸡 | chuān jiāo jī |
| Patriotic Soup | 护国菜 | hù guó cài |
| Sweet Taro Paste with Gingko | 白果甜芋泥 | bái guǒ tián yù ní |
| Turnip Cake | 菜头粿（萝卜糕） | cài tóu guǒ (luó bo gāo) |
| Crystal Ball | 水晶球 | shuǐ jīng qiú |
| Mazu Palace Zongzi | 老妈宫粽球 | lǎo mā gōng zòng qiú |
Best Chaoshan Cuisine Restaurants in China
Chao Shan LouChinese name: 潮膳楼 cháo shàn lóu
Adress: No. 22, Dongmen Street, Chaozhou, Guangdong
Hai Ji BeefChinese name: 海记牛肉店 hǎi jì niú ròu diàn
Adress: No. 014-016, Huanggang Road, Suite 6, Jinping District, Shantou, Guangdong
Chaofu RestaurantChinese name: 潮福 cháo fú
Adress: No. 40, 42, 44, Yale Street, Shangdu Road, Haizhu District, Guangzhou
Chaoshe RestaurantChinese name: 潮舍 cháo shě
Adress: No. 1, East Third Ring Middle Road, Chaoyang District, Beijing
See more: Chaozhou Restaurants in Beijing
Shanghai Jiafu Chaoshan RestaurantChinese name: 上海家府潮汕菜 chàng hǎi jiā fǔ cháo shàn cài
Adress: No. 3611, Zhangyang Road, Pudong New Area, Shanghai