3 Must-try Cantonese Dishes
Chinese cuisine was first introduced to the West through immigration during the gold rushes of the 1800s. Most immigrants travelling to the West came from the Southern Chinese province of Guangdong, which is the home of Cantonese cooking. This long history of Southern Chinese settlement in English-speaking countries means that you are spoiled for choice when it comes to finding authentic Cantonese food in Sydney. In northwest Sydney, our Hornsby restaurant serves a great variety of Cantonese dishes that cover all types of ingredients, from the sea to the land.
Pipi with XO chilli sauce & fried vermicelli
Seafood has long been a key player in authentic Cantonese food and cooking due to the proximity of the Guangdong region (the home of Cantonese cuisine) to the coast. At our Hornsby restaurant, one of the most popular seafood dishes is pipi with XO chilli sauce & fried vermicelli. Pipis are small clams that are mild in taste and slightly chewy in texture. This makes them the perfect vehicle for XO chilli sauce, which has a rich umami taste much like your favourite Malaysian dish.The sauce is particularly enjoyable when it soaks into the underlying bed of fried vermicelli – yum!
Sweet and Sour Pork
Sweet and sour pork is a classic for a reason. Traditionally, the sauce is made from ingredients that are common in Chinese cuisine, such as rock candy, dried preserved plums, hawthorn, and vinegar. These ingredients make up the sweet and sour profile of the thick sauce that coats the succulent, deep fried pork pieces. When quickly tossed with bite-sized pieces of pineapple and capsicum, all the ingredients create a perfectly irresistible symphony of colours, smells, textures, and flavours.
Steamed Free Range Chicken
This seemingly boring dish is perhaps the most perfect example of the philosophy behind authentic Cantonese food and cooking. Cantonese cooking aims to highlight the original flavour of the ingredients with gentle cooking techniques, such as steaming, poaching, and quick stir-frying. We can compare this to other Chinese cuisines, such as the Sichuanese cuisine, where strong flavours and aromatics are championed. So the next time you come visit our Hornsby restaurant, make sure you order this steamed free range chicken so that you can truly appreciate how simple cooking highlights its natural flavours.
