Cantonese and Southern Chinese Foods

People from Canton (now called Guangzhou) and nearby Toisan were the first Chinese to immigrate to the United States. They defined America’s understandings about Chinese food. At home and away, they like roasted meats, a minimum of sauces, and very fresh foods. Their primary cooking technique is stir-frying; but they also steam, steep, boil, roast, cook in soy sauce, clear-simmer, stew, deep-fry, blanch and/or cold-mix, salt, smoke, and pickle foods. Their main starch is rice and rice flour noodles. In China, these make up 70 percent of their calories; in the United States about 50 percent. At banquets or special meals, southerners love dishes such as birds’ nests, sharks’ fins, and others with expensive ingredients. Ordinary meals can include fried rice, egg rolls, and dim sum (little dishes that “dot the heart”) at breakfast and lunch.