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

Chaoshan Cuisine
 
 

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

1

Chaoshan Brined Meat

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.

2

Oyster Omelette

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.

3

Chaoshan Beef Hot Pot

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.

4

Jiazi Fish Ball

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.

5
Teochew Porridge

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.

6

Beef Kway Teow

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 Lou
Chinese name: 潮膳楼 cháo shàn lóu
Adress: No. 22, Dongmen Street, Chaozhou, Guangdong

 Hai Ji Beef
Chinese name: 海记牛肉店 hǎi jì niú ròu diàn
Adress: No. 014-016, Huanggang Road, Suite 6, Jinping District, Shantou, Guangdong

 Chaofu Restaurant
Chinese name: 潮福 cháo fú
Adress: No. 40, 42, 44, Yale Street, Shangdu Road, Haizhu District, Guangzhou

 Chaoshe Restaurant
Chinese 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 Restaurant
Chinese name: 上海家府潮汕菜 chàng hǎi jiā fǔ cháo shàn cài
Adress: No. 3611, Zhangyang Road, Pudong New Area, Shanghai
 
- Last updated on Apr. 21, 2021 -