Teochew cuisine

Teochew cuisine, also known as Chiuchow cuisine, Chaozhou cuisine or Teo-swa cuisine, originated from the Chaoshan region in the eastern part of China's Guangdong Province, which includes the cities of Chaozhou, Shantou and Jieyang. Teochew cuisine bears more similarities to that of Fujian cuisine, particularly Southern Min cuisine, due to the similarity of Teochew's and Fujian's culture, language, and their geographic proximity to each other. However, Teochew cuisine is also influenced by Cantonese cuisine in its style and technique.

Teochew cuisine
Chinese	潮州菜
Transcriptions Standard Mandarin Hanyu Pinyin Cháozhōu cài Yue: Cantonese Jyutping ciu4 zau1 coi3 Southern Min Teochew Peng'im diê5 ziu1 cai3
Chaoshan cuisine
Chinese	潮汕菜
Transcriptions Standard Mandarin Hanyu Pinyin Cháoshàn cài Yue: Cantonese Jyutping ciu4 saan3 coi3 Southern Min Teochew Peng'im diê5 suan1 cai3

Background

Teochew cuisine is well known for its seafood and vegetarian dishes. Its use of flavouring is much less heavy-handed than most other Chinese cuisines and depends much on the freshness and quality of the ingredients for taste and flavour. As a delicate cuisine, oil is not often used in large quantities and there is a relatively heavy emphasis on poaching, steaming and braising, as well as the common Chinese method of stir-frying. Teochew cuisine is also known for serving congee (糜; mí; or mue), in addition to steamed rice or noodles with meals. The Teochew mue is rather different from the Cantonese counterpart, being very watery with the rice sitting loosely at the bottom of the bowl, while the Cantonese dish is more a thin gruel.

Authentic Teochew restaurants serve very strong oolong tea called Tieguanyin in very tiny cups before and after the meal. Presented as gongfu tea, the tea has a thickly bittersweet taste, colloquially known as gam gam (甘甘; gān gān).

A condiment that is popular in Fujian and Taiwanese cuisine and commonly associated with cuisine of certain Teochew groups is shacha sauce (沙茶酱; 沙茶醬; shāchá jiàng). It is made from soybean oil, garlic, shallots, chilies, brill fish and dried shrimp. The paste has a savoury and slightly spicy taste. As an ingredient, it has multiple uses: as a base for soups, as a rub for barbecued meats, as a seasoning for stir-fried dishes, or as a component for dipping sauces.

In addition to soy sauce (widely used in all Chinese cuisines), Teochew people also use fish sauce in their cooking.

Teochew chefs often use a special stock called superior broth (上汤; 上湯; shàngtāng). This stock remains on the stove and is continuously replenished. Portrayed in popular media, some Hong Kong chefs allegedly use the same superior broth that is preserved for decades. This stock can as well be seen on Chaozhou TV's cooking programmes.

There is a notable feast in Teochew cuisine called jiat dot (食桌; shízhuō; 'food table'). A myriad of dishes are often served, which include shark fin soup, bird's nest soup, lobster, steamed fish, roasted suckling pig and braised goose.

Teochew chefs take pride in their skills of vegetable carving, and carved vegetables are used as garnishes on cold dishes and on the banquet table.

Teochew cuisine is also known for a late night meal known as meh siao (夜宵; yèxiāo) or daa laang (打冷; dǎléng) among the Cantonese. Teochew people enjoy eating out close to midnight in restaurants or at roadside food stalls. Some dai pai dong-like eateries stay open till dawn.

Unlike the typical menu selections of many other Chinese cuisines, Teochew restaurant menus often have a dessert section.

Many people of Teochew origin, also known as Teochiu or Teochew people, have settled in Hong Kong and places in Southeast Asia like Malaysia, Singapore, Cambodia and Thailand. Influences they bring can be noted in Singaporean cuisine and that of other settlements. A large number of Teochew people have also settled in Taiwan, evident in Taiwanese cuisine. Other notable Teochew diaspora communities are in Vietnam, Cambodia and France. A popular noodle soup in both Vietnam and Cambodia, known as hu tieu, originated from the Teochew . There is also a large diaspora of Teochew people (most were from Southeast Asia) in the United States - particularly in California. There is a Teochew Chinese Association in Paris called L'Amicale des Teochews en France.

Notable dishes

English	Traditional Chinese	Simplified Chinese	Pinyin	Chaoshan transliteration	Description
Bak chor mee	肉碎麵	肉碎面	ròusuì miàn	bak chor mee	Boiled noodles, dried and mixed with variety sauce such as soy sauce, chilli sauce and lard topped with vegetables, sliced onion, minced pork, mushrooms and fish balls or fishcakes.
Bak kut teh	肉骨茶	肉骨茶	ròugǔchá	bak kut teh	A hearty soup that, at its simplest, consists of meaty pork ribs in a complex broth of herbs and spices (including star anise, cinnamon, cloves, danggui, fennel seeds and garlic), boiled together with pork bones for hours. Dark and light soy sauce may also be added to the soup during the cooking stages. Some Teochew families like to add extra Chinese herbs such as yuzhu (rhizome of Solomon's seal) and juzhi (buckthorn fruit) for a sweeter, slightly stronger flavoured soup. The dish is usually eaten with rice or noodles (sometimes as a noodle soup), and often served with youtiao. Garnish includes chopped coriander or green onions and a sprinkling of fried shallots. A variation of bak kut teh uses chicken instead of pork, which then becomes chik kut teh. Bak kut teh is particularly popular in Southeast Asian countries such as Singapore and Malaysia.
Braised varieties	滷味	卤味	lǔwèi	lo bah	Teochew cuisine is noted for its variety of braised dishes, which includes geese, duck, pork, bean curd and offal.
Chai tau kueh	菜頭粿	菜头粿	càitóu guǒ	chai tau kueh	A savoury fried cake, made of white radish and rice flour. It is commonly stir-fried with soy sauce, eggs, garlic, spring onion and occasionally dried shrimp.
Sichuan pepper chicken	川椒雞	川椒鸡	chuān jiāo jī	cuêng ziê goi	A traditionally deep-fried chicken dish, usually accompanied with leafy green from lysimachia clethroides, known as pearl vegetable (珍珠菜). However, lysimachia clethroides's leaves are unavailable to use in culinary outside of China, but basil, spinach, or other leafy green vegetables can be substitutes to them in preparation of the dish.
Chwee kueh	水粿	水粿	shuǐguǒ	chwee kueh	Cup-shaped steamed rice cakes topped with chopped preserved/salted radish.
Crystal balls	水晶包	水晶包	shuǐjīng bāo	zhui jia bao	A steamed dessert with a variety of fillings such as yellow milk (奶黄; 奶黃; nǎihuáng; ni ng), yam paste (芋泥; yùní; or ni) or bean paste made from mung beans or azuki beans. They are similar to mochi.
Fish balls / fishcakes / fish dumplings	魚丸 / 魚粿 / 魚餃	鱼丸 / 鱼粿 / 鱼饺	yúwán / yúguǒ / yújiǎo	her ee / her kueh / her kiaw	This fish paste made into balls, cakes and dumplings can be cooked in many ways but are often served in Teochew-style noodle and soups.
Flavored-potted goose	滷水鵝	卤水鹅	lǔ shuǐ é	lou zui gho	A well-known braised goose dish, often accompanised by tofu.
Fried bean curd	炸豆腐	炸豆腐	zhà dòufu	za dao hu	A simple deep fried tofu dish, and was later adopted by Guangzhou's residents. First, deep-fry slices of fresh firm tofu until they are golden, and then serve with salted water dip (ingredients are boiling water, salt, and chopped Chinese chives). In modern times, some Teochew people now use the air fryer to prepare them for convenience and reduction of the amount of fat and calories in the food.
Fried beef balls	炸牛肉丸	炸牛肉丸	zhà niúròu wán	za ghu bak ee	A simple deep-fired beef ball dish serves with dipping sauce such as shacha sauce or salted water dip (ingredients are boiling water, salt, and chopped Chinese chives). In modern times, some Teochew people now use the air fryer to prepare them for convenience and reduction of the amount of fat and calories in the food.
Fish ball noodle soup	魚丸麵	鱼丸面	yúwán miàn	her ee mee	Any of several kinds of egg and rice noodles may be served either in a light fish-flavoured broth or dry, along with fishballs, fishcakes, beansprouts and lettuce.
Fun guo	粉粿	粉粿	fěnguǒ	hung gue	A type of steamed dumplings. This is usually filled with dried radish, garlic chives, ground pork, dried shrimp, shiitake mushrooms and peanuts. The dumpling wrapper is made from a mixture of flour or plant starches mixed together with water. In Cantonese, these are called chiu chow fun guo (潮州粉果; Cháozhōu fěnguǒ), in which the Chinese character 粿 is replaced by 果.
Head mustard with mushrooms	厚菇大芥菜	厚菇大芥菜	hòugū dà jiècài	gao gou dua gai cai	A dish of brassica juncea (Chinese mustard) and shiitake (Chinese black mushrooms) in a soup. Originally a vegetarian soup, it often added with diced pork belly and other ingredients.
Kway chap	粿汁	粿汁	guǒzhī	kueh chap	A dish of flat, broad rice sheets in a soup made from dark soy sauce served with pig offal, braised duck meat, various kinds of bean curd, preserved salted vegetables and braised hard-boiled eggs.
Mee pok	麵薄	面薄	miànbáo	mee pok	A popular noodle dish served with minced pork, braised mushrooms, fishballs, dumplings, sauce and other garnish.
Oolong tea	烏龍茶	乌龙茶	wūlóng chá	Ou-leeng teh	Tieguanyin is one of the most popular Teochew teas. However, the Teochew people prefer their own brand of Oolong tea, which is the hong wang dan cong teh (凤凰单丛茶; 鳳凰單丛茶; fènghuáng dāncóng chá).
Oyster omelette	蠔烙	蠔烙	háolào	or lua	A dish of omelette cooked with fresh raw oysters, tapioca starch and eggs. Teochew-style oyster omelette is usually deep fried and very crisp. Dip condiments are fish sauce and pepper or chili sauce.
Pan-fried marinated fish	烳醃魚	烳腌鱼	pǔyānyú	pu iem he	A pan-fried dish of marinated fish, typically using a larimichthys crocea as the main ingredient but can use other alternatives such as a white croaker, Japanese sea bass or other types of bass, or tilefish.
Patriotic soup (Protect the Country Dish)	護國菜	护国菜	hùguó cài	hu gog chai	Developed during the Mongol conquest of the Song dynasty and named by Song's last emperor Zhao Bing. A simple soup boiled with stir-fried leaf vegetable (commonly sweet potato leaves since the Ming dynasty but also can use amaranth, spinach, ipomoea aquatica or other leafy greens as alternatives) and edible mushrooms (preferably straw mushrooms) and broth (vegetable, chicken, or beef).
Pig's organ soup	豬雜湯	猪杂汤	zhūzátāng	ter zap terng
Popiah	薄餅仔	薄饼仔	báobǐngzǎi	po piah	A fresh (non-fried) spring roll usually eaten during the Qingming Festival. The skin is a soft, thin paper-like crepe made from wheat flour. The filling is mainly finely grated and steamed or stir-fried turnip, yam bean (jicama), which has been cooked with a combination of other ingredients such as bean sprouts, French beans, and lettuce leaves, depending on the individual vendor, along with grated carrots, slices of Chinese sausage, thinly sliced fried tofu, chopped peanuts or peanut powder, fried shallots and shredded omelette. Other common variations of popiah include pork (lightly seasoned and stir-fried), shrimp or crab meat. It is eaten in accompaniment with a sweet sauce (often a bean sauce, a blended soy sauce or hoisin sauce or a shrimp paste sauce).
Pork jelly	豬腳凍	猪脚冻	zhūjiǎo dòng	ter ka dang	Braised pig's leg made into jelly form, sliced and served cold.
Prawns sautéed with olive vegetables	欖菜焗蝦	榄菜焗虾	lǎncàijúxiā	lam cai ju he	A dish of deep-fried prawns
Red peach cake	紅桃粿	红桃粿	ng tao guoo	ung toh kway	Pink hue rice flour skin wrapped with flavorful glutinous rice. Pressed on a nicely designed peach shaped wooden mould, and then steam the dumpling to perfection. You can eat it freshly steamed, or pan-fried.
Salted vegetable duck soup	鹹菜鴨湯	咸菜鸭汤	xiáncài yātāng	kiam cai ak terng	A soup boiled with duck, preserved salted vegetable, tomatoes and preserved sour plum.
Spring rolls with prawn or minced meat fillings	蝦卷 / 燒卷 / 五香	虾卷 / 烧卷 / 五香	xiājuǎn / shāojuǎn / wǔxiāng	heh gerng / sio gerng / ngo hiang	Mixed pork and prawn paste (sometimes fish), seasoned with five-spice powder, wrapped and rolled in a bean curd skin and deep-fried or pan-fried. It is sometimes referred to as Teochew-style spring roll in restaurant menus.
Steamed chives dumplings	韭菜粿	韭菜粿	jiǔ cài guǒ	gu chai gue	They are sometimes sautéed to give them a crispy texture.
Steamed goose	炊鵝	炊鹅	chuī é	chue gho
Taro paste	芋泥	芋泥	yùní	orh ni / orh nee	A traditional Teochew dessert made primarily from taro. The taro is steamed and then mashed into a thick paste, which forms the base of the dessert. Pumpkin is also added for sweetness and to create a smoother consistency. Lard or fried onion oil is then added for fragrance. The dessert is traditionally sweetened with water chestnut syrup, and served with ginkgo nuts. Modern versions of the dessert include the addition of coconut cream and sweet corn. The dessert is commonly served at traditional Teochew wedding banquet dinners as the last course, marking the end of the banquet.
Teochew chicken	潮州雞	潮州鸡	Cháozhōu jī	Teochew koi	A dish of sliced chicken
Teochew cold crab	潮州凍蟹	潮州冻蟹	Cháozhōu dòngxiè	Teochew ngang hoi	The whole crab is first steamed then served chilled. The species of crab most commonly used is Charybdis cruciata.
Teochew hot pot / Teochew steamboat	潮州火鍋	潮州火锅	Cháozhōu huǒguō	Teochew zuang lou	A dish where fresh, thinly sliced ingredients are placed into a simmering flavourful broth to cook and then dipped into various mixed sauces, usually with Shacha and soy sauce as its main components. Ingredients often include leafy vegetables, yam, tofu, pomfret and other seafood, beef balls, fish balls, pork balls, mushrooms and Chinese noodles, among others. Teochew hot pot, like other Chinese hot pots, is served in a large communal metal pot at the center of the dining table.
Teochew rice noodle soup	潮州粿條	潮州粿条	Cháozhōu guǒtiáo	Teochew kuay teow	A quintessential Teochew-style noodle soup that is also particularly popular in Vietnam and Cambodia (known respectively as hu tieu and kuy teav), through the influx of Teochew immigrants. It is a dish of yellow egg noodles and thin rice noodles served in a delicate, fragrant soup with meatballs, other various meats, seafood (such as shrimp), fried fishcake slices, quail eggs, blanched Chinese cabbage and sometimes offal. The soup base is typically made of pork or chicken bones and dried squid. Just before serving, the noodle soup is garnished with fried minced garlic, fried shallots, thinly sliced scallions and fresh cilantro (coriander) sprigs. For those who enjoy their noodle soup with added depth, the solid ingredients may be dipped into Shacha sauce or Teochew chilli oil.
Teochew-style congee	潮州糜	潮州糜	Cháozhōu zhōu	Teochew mue	A rice soup that has a more watery texture as compared to the Cantonese congee. It is commonly served with various salty accompaniments such as salted vegetables (kiam chai), preserved radish (chai por), black olive(烏橄欖), olive grits (橄欖糝), boiled salted duck eggs, fried salted fish and fried peanuts.
Teochew-style steamed pomfret	潮州蒸鯧魚	潮州蒸鲳鱼	Cháozhōu zhēng chāngyú	Teochew chue chioh her	Silver pomfret steamed with preserved salted vegetables, lard and sour plums.
Yusheng	魚生	鱼生	yúshēng	her sae	A raw fish salad whose typical ingredients include fresh salmon, white radish, carrot, red pepper (capsicum), ginger, kaffir lime leaves, Chinese parsley, chopped peanuts, toasted sesame seeds, Chinese shrimp crackers or fried dried shrimp, and five-spice powder, with the dressing primarily made from plum sauce. It is customarily served as an appetiser to bring good luck for the new year and is usually eaten on the seventh day of the Lunar New Year.

Gallery

• 
  "Flavor potted" goose (滷水鵝)
• 
  Taro paste (芋泥)
• 
  Crystal balls (水晶包)
• 
  Steamed fish (炊魚)
• 
  Oyster omelette (蚝烙)
• 
  Fried chive dumplings (韭菜粿)
• 
  Patriotic Soup (Protect the Country Dish (護國菜))
• 
  A dish of fried tofu (炸豆腐) with dipping sauce.
• 
  Teochew rice noodle soup (潮州粿條).
• 
  Sautéed prawns with olive vegetables (欖菜焗蝦) .
• 
  Teochew hotpot (潮州火鍋)
• 
  Sichuan pepper chicken (川椒雞)

See also

• List of Chinese dishes
• Teochew porridge
• Teochew people

External links

• Yeo's Teochew Popiah Recipe
• Jenius' Teochew peach shaped kueh Recipe Archived November 9, 2011, at the Wayback Machine