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naraburns  nihil supernum  1yr ago (text post)   4432 thread views

Friday Fun Thread for February 17, 2023

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I still think Cantonese is not really that heavily sauced in my opinion compared to the other cuisines of China. Things like steamed fish (which is steamed with only ginger and scallion, then more fresh ginger/scallion sizzled on top with hot oil and soy sauce placed on the side), steamed pork ribs (with douchi), blanched shrimp (literally just shrimp put in boiling water for a minute, no condiments until dippings) and the way Cantonese cuisine often prepares vegetables (blanching then frying with minimal sauce), for example, are really quite “bland”, in that they’re pretty sparing with the sauces and spices.

I do think there are other Chinese cuisines (Zhejiang and Huaiyang come to mind) that are similarly “bland”, but I would put Cantonese pretty up there. That’s not to say the “blander” Chinese cuisines are flavourless and second-rate; Cantonese can be very flavourful, just mostly relying on the flavors of its main ingredients.

Anecdotally, I’ve had more success getting Indian (and occasionally white) people to eat food from the inner provinces than Cantonese food, precisely because it’s more spiced and heavy-tasting.

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