It is said that there are five kinds of special snacks in Chaoshan. What are they?

There is a saying in Guangdong that "food is in Guangzhou and taste is in Chaoshan", which shows the position of Chaoshan cuisine in Cantonese cuisine.

Chaoshan area is surrounded by mountains and seas, with rich products. Whether it is seafood, chickens, ducks and geese, pigs, cattle and sheep, all kinds of ingredients are available.

Chaozhou-Shantou cuisine pays attention to the use of spices and cooking skills to stimulate the freshness of ingredients, mainly salty. For example, the famous fish rice is simply to cook fresh marine fish with sea salt, and then let it cool before eating. It is original, very fresh, sweet and delicious.

When it comes to food that can represent the taste of Chaoshan, everyone in Chaoshan has their own ranking list. Personally, I think the following five kinds of food can best represent the taste of Chaoshan. Let's see if you have eaten it.

Halogen geese can be seen everywhere in Chaoshan area, and Chenghai Lionhead Goose is the most famous.

Generally speaking, it is necessary to choose old geese that have been raised for about three years as raw materials and marinate the whole goose in marinade for about one and a half hours. This marinated soup is made of soy sauce, rock sugar, cinnamon, Amomum villosum, cardamom, star anise, southern ginger, rice wine, garlic, mushrooms and so on. Every chef has his own version.

Every year during Mazu's birthday in March of the lunar calendar, Shantou will hold a "Goose Race". Every family will put the salted fat goose on the table and compete with each other to see who's bigger and fatter. This is also the yearning and hope of family members and travelers who go out to sea to make a living.

Pig's foot rice originated from longjiang town, Huilai County, Jieyang City, and is a very delicious home-cooked dish.

Although pork knuckle rice originated in longjiang town, it became famous in the Pearl River Delta region such as Guangzhou and Shenzhen.

During the rapid development of the Pearl River Delta around 2000, some Huilai compatriots came out to open trotters shops in developed cities such as Guangzhou and Shenzhen to make a living.

Because pig's feet rice is delicious, cheap and full, it quickly gained a foothold in the Pearl River Delta region and started a signboard, so that there is still a saying that "there are endless pig's feet rice in the village" in Guangzhou and Shenzhen.

When many people mention Chaoshan cuisine, the first thing that comes to mind is chaoshan beef meatball and beef hotpot.

Beef hot pot began to appear and develop in the 1940s. After decades of development, Chaoshan beef hotpot is now very professional, and each part of beef has a clear division of labor. Which part of the meat should be rinsed for how long to achieve the best taste, and it is accurate to the second.

Helping to bring beef balls is the task that these Chaoshan people who are developing abroad will receive every year before the festival. Good beef balls are made from fresh beef ham. After the fascia is removed, it is crushed by machine, then special seasoning is added, and then the ball is extruded into water at a specific temperature for molding. The beef balls made in this way are delicious, juicy inside and full of meat.

Sugar cakes in Chaoshan are generally used for wedding, having children, adult ceremony and other festive occasions. , occasionally buy congou. There are many kinds of sugar cakes in Chaoshan, such as mung bean cakes in Huilai and sugar onion pancakes in Shantou.

Sugar onion pancake

Sugar onion pancake

Since its birth, the sugar cakes in Chaoshan have always followed the ancient practice and have not changed much. Even the outer packaging is antique, with local characteristics of Chaoshan.

Although a new generation of children, including most post-90s generation, have little interest in candy cakes in Chaoshan hometown, and fewer and fewer people make candy cakes, I still hope that this festive and sweet food can be continued and carried forward.

In my opinion, bean paste is definitely one of the most representative Chaoshan flavor seasonings.

Of course, the bean paste here refers to Puning bean paste, which originated in Hongyang Town, Puning, and was made of high-quality soybeans with seasonings such as flour and salt, naturally fermented and dried.

This kind of bean paste is very versatile, and there are almost no dishes that it can't add in Chaoshan area. For example, you can add fried vegetables, roast chicken or boiled fish.