Description
The southern culinary style of China includes the cooking of Kuangtang (Guangdong) province and surrounding areas, collectively known as Ling-nan in ancient times. The culinary capital of this area and probably of all China is Canton (Gaungzhou) which boasts more restaurants and more original dishes than any other city in China.
The southern region is geographically blessed with optimum conditions for supporting a gourmet cuisine. Rich soil, abundant rainfall and dense vegetation produce a broad range of exotic plants and animals unavailable elsewhere in China. Its location on the coast also gives access to fresh seafoods from the South China Sea.
Among the main ingredients which commonly appear on the southern menu are fish and crustaceans from the ocean and from the ponds and paddies come chicken and ducks. From the vegetable kingdom come an incredible variety of fresh vegetables: the green leafy varieties with crispy textures are especially favoured. Wild game provides yet another source of primary ingredients: civet, racoon, bear, elephant, snake, parrots, monkeys and many other creatures appear in the Cantonese kitchen. Cantonese chefs are masters of fragrant sauces and spicy dips, a custom which permits each
diner to control the flavours himself, Southern cooking places greater emphasis on the colour and overall
appearance of dishes than any other region of China and southern flavours are the least contrived relying
almost entirely on the fresh-natural flavours of the main ingredients and the skill required to bring
them out without resorting to heavy use of condiments. It is without doubt the most elaborate of Chinese regional cuisines and the most familiar to the Western world. This book gives readers a taste of the rich treasure trove of ingredients which has led logically to the evolution of China's most refined and diverse cuisine.
