Cantonese Cuisine (粤菜)

Cantonese Cuisine, also known as Yue Cuisine, is the culinary style of Canton Province, in the south of China. 

As the most familiar style in the UK, Cantonese cuisine has become synonymous with Chinese food here. Steaming and stir-frying dominate, creating healthy dishes low in saturated fats. 

Cantonese chefs prefer the flavours of a finished dish to be well balanced and not greasy. Garlic, soy sauce, spring onions, rice wine, sesame oil and ginger are frequently used ingredients. Apart from that, spices are 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.

Due to Canton's location on the southern coast of China, fresh seafood is prominent in Cantonese cuisine. Steaming is often favoured and only light seasoning is used to bring out the natural sweetness of the seafood.

Dim Sum (点心)

'To touch your heart', as it is literally translated, is an apt description of the delicate, hand-made dumplings, buns and other items that make up the dim sum menu.

This unique culinary art, from Canton in southern China, grew out of the tradition of 'yum cha', or tea drinking. Dim sum is believed to have its roots in travellers on the ancient Silk Road who would stop at tea houses for rest and sustenance.

Typical of the ethos behind much of the food from the region, Dim Sum focusses on clean, delicate flavours. It is traditionally accompanied by copious amounts of Chinese tea.