Food in guangzhou. Useful information about food in China

Guangzhou is one of the cities of the People's Republic of China. The cultural and gastronomic center of southern China. The unofficial name is "the culinary capital of the PRC".
Guangzhou residents are known as gourmet foodies. For this region of China, food is a cult. Every year, culinary competitions and festivals are held here, where the best chefs in Asia demonstrate their skills.

What is the distinctive feature of the national cuisine of China?

The inhabitants of the Middle Kingdom have 4 strict rules in food preparation:

• Careful processing of products.
• Fast heat (steam) food processing.
• Adding spices, hot sauces to all kinds of dishes.
• Combining food by color, size, taste.

The culinary art in the PRC has been brought almost to perfection. This is part of the culture, customs of this country.

• Pork is especially loved. It is fried over high heat with the addition of spices and aromatic herbs, served with a vegetable side dish.
• Pickled smoked duck (Peking) is one of the most popular dishes in China. This is the visiting card of the Celestial Empire, widely known throughout the world.
• Flour products (noodles, flat cakes, bread) have become part of national delights.
• Green tea is the most common drink. Making the right tea is a complex and multifaceted ritual. Any meal begins and ends with the use of aromatic hot tea.

Features of Shanghai cuisine.

Shanghai is often referred to as the "Second Paris". Such an honor is not easy to earn! A unique blend of Chinese and Western cuisine is a singular feature of Shanghai cuisine.
Shanghai restaurants delight their guests with excellent European dishes with unique notes of culinary China. No other region of the PRC has been able to create something similar.

Distinctive features of Shanghai cuisine:

• seasonal menu;
• many ways of cooking, the main ones are pickling, frying, steaming;
• minimum of hot seasonings, spices.

What is served in Guangzhou restaurants?

Cantonese cuisine is made up of many other Chinese cuisines. Guangzhou is the main one. How is Cantonese restaurant food different?

1. Light and fresh taste of the dish.
2. Only fresh ingredients.
3. A clear distribution of products: in summer - cold soups and vegetable snacks, in autumn - hot soups and seafood, in winter and spring - tonic food (meat stew, sweets, aromatic fish).

Traditional menu of a typical restaurant in Guangzhou:

• Pumpkin soup. Consists of 8 ingredients (ham, crab meat, frog meat, turkey or chicken and other meat products). Served in a pumpkin.
• Jumping Buddha soup. 28 different ingredients make this dish indescribable in taste and appearance.
• Radish pies.
• Dumplings with shrimps and oysters.
• Pork in honey and lemon sauce.
• Soup with egg noodles and vegetables.
• Baked chicken in salt and pepper.
• Wild cat and snake stew.
• Spicy wild dog stew.
• Fried rice with fish. Served on pickled lotus leaves.
• Roasted suckling pig with fruit and honey is a famous signature dish of the best restaurants in Guangzhou.

Another feature of southern China is the “specialty dishes”. Frogs, ants, cats, snakes and dogs are the standard food items for a first-class dinner at an expensive restaurant. Fried rats, boiled snails or baked worms are also often served. Moreover, the rule of fresh products is strictly observed. In other words, the "selected animal" is butchered just before cooking.

Street food in Guangzhou

When restaurants are closed, you can have a late night meal on the street or at the many cheap eateries. Rice porridge with seafood, dumplings with a snake will perfectly satisfy your hunger at a very low price.
Three sayings are firmly entrenched among the inhabitants of Guangzhou:

• "Cantonese eat everything that flies except the plane and everything that floats except ships."
• "Three cups of tea, two bowls of brown rice and one snack for the night."
• "For the Chinese, food is like Heaven and Earth."

These folk wisdom perfectly characterize China's attitude to such a simple act as cooking and eating food.

Food is sold on the streets of the city almost at every turn. The delicious smell of fried food envelops all the alleys and streets of Guangzhou. What do “street chefs” treat their guests with?

• Rice cakes with vegetables, meat, seafood;
• Spring rolls (poultry, pork, fish);
• fried noodles with vegetables and herbs;
• Chinese dumplings.
• One of the signature dishes of Guangzhou street is rich soup. The broth (usually fish or pork) is cooked over low heat for 3-4 hours, vegetables, herbs, any pasta are added. They sell hot for a relatively inexpensive price. This cooking method makes the dish thick and spicy.

What makes Guangzhou cuisine so exquisite and incomparable? It is difficult to name one or more reasons. First of all, this is the sacred attitude of the locals to food. For the Katonese, meal is everything. Nothing else is received with such enthusiasm. Original ingredients, beautiful presentation and culinary diversity have made this southern region of China an inexhaustible source of culinary pleasure for all gourmets in the world.

"Food in Guangzhou" is not just empty words. Guangzhou is always the nation's premier food and has a large number of experienced boutiques, old and new, with a history of hundreds of years without decay, there are so many traditional and innovative dishes, snacks, food with famous flavors. Tea and soup are also specialties in Guangzhou and have become a unique local culture.

Guangzhou dishes

Guangzhou cuisine is the main organ and representative of Cantonese cuisine. Cantonese cooking methods are twenty-one kinds, a lot, especially how to fry, stew, steam, boil and so on, pay attention to the fire mode, color, smell, taste and shape of the dishes are very important. The taste is clean, fresh and delicate, Guangzhou cuisine draws attention to crisp and not light, fresh and impressive taste, delicate but not greasy. Guangzhou cuisine is seasonal, tends to light in summer, and is biased towards rich taste in winter and spring.

Delicious and authentic restaurants are usually found in the old city (Yuexiu District, Liwan District, Dongshan District). Panfu Street, Southwest Street, Huifu Street, etc. regarded as a "food street", restaurants large and small are lined up all the way.

Several restaurants are very well known among the locals, and there are many branch restaurants, its specialty is especially well known, such as: Guangzhou Restaurant known as "The First Restaurant in Guangzhou" is an old and famous restaurant, its signature dish is Full Manchu banquet (banquet) table; The restaurant around the Pan River, known as the "First Restaurant in the South Area", has eight dishes and eight famous dishes. The most famous are the Banquet (banquet) table for desserts and the Banquet (banquet) table in Western style, can be booked in advance; North Restaurant, South Restaurant, two restaurants among four garden-style restaurants in Guangzhou, under the banner of fruits and vegetables; The Big Three restaurant in Guangzhou and even Southeast Asia uses its reputation and most famous dish - Great Shark Fins Stew; Tao Tao Zhu in the Guangxi dynasty opened and entertained too many famous and educated (cultured) people, nowadays retains the traditional storyteller, a signature dish like chicken with fried onions and ginger; Other famous seafood restaurants include Tongtian Seafood Restaurant, Lucky House Restaurant, Huian Restaurant, etc. but Lianxian Restaurant famous for lotus paste is also worth a visit.

Light Food - Guangzhou

Guangzhou snacks are famous everywhere, and are divided into seven categories: class-butter (fried foods), pancakes, salty pancakes, crunchy, etc. class-porridge, there is Tingcen porridge, "Wu Zhang Ji" porridge, Yaocun with two-lobed ginkg porridge; Vermicelli and noodles, there are Round ears with noodles ("Europe in mind" as representative), Shahe vermicelli (fried or with soup can be made), Chong Chi vermicelli, Guilin rice noodles, Seto powder; baking class, carrot cake; dessert, London pie, etc. Dessert, assorted red beans, green beans, wheat and rice porridge, rice pudding, sesame paste, almond dough, dumplings, etc. especially Shuangpinae and Milk with Ginger make up the most famous hit; Tsongqin, Sweet and savory dumplings; Omnivorous, including fried snails, red pig soup, bone soup, hot and sour vegetables, and so on. On Peking Street, there is a famous offal shop, juice shop, and there is also a restaurant for supplying porridge, pasta, noodles, tea and other snacks.

Shanxiajiu Food Street and Southwest also have snacks and drinks in the style of old Guangzhou, Shuangpinae from Nansin, Beef mixture on the street, Round ears with noodles, "Wu Zhang Ji" Porridge is very famous, usually a small store is full of people, it is difficult to find places but it doesn't matter, because there are many shops here, went one after the other and each one has a different flavor. There is one noodles restaurant on Baohuai Street that makes Pig's Leg Noodles and Beef Tenderloin Noodles very good.

Guangzhou soup

Guangzhou people love soup, as is known, Guangzhou people are at home or in a restaurant, the first consideration is not about dishes, but about the choice of soups. On holiday, soup always plays a leading role. Guangzhou soup has already become one strong local culture characteristic, even without expensive materials, just cook it for a few hours, enough to allow the soup to become thick, fragrant fresh alcohol. "The sky and the first soup" Mingzao "Dove with a swallow", Old soup is especially famous.

Guangzhou food places

Guangzhou Shangxiajiu (Lebanon District), mostly fried rice works: Fried pancakes, Salted pancakes, Crispy, Neil biscuits, Sharp twist, Big good fried cream and so on.

Guangzhou West Ho Erma Street (Yuexiu District), mainly breeding porridges: Tidin porridge, Tingsen porridge, Old porridge, Porridge with beef, Porridge with pork liver, Soup with fish head, Soup with a snake, Porridge with canned (in lime) eggs, non-fat (lean) meat, Yuba Ginkgo soup with noodles: Round ears, Shahe, Heifin, Guilin rice noodles, Noodles and so on.

Guangzhou Di Street (Yuexiu District), mainly sell desserts: biscuit, chestnut cake, carrot cake, taro cake.

Beijing Street, Guangzhou (Yueshu District), in the main they sell desserts: Shuangpinae and Milk with ginger, sesame paste, peanut paste, Red bean paste, Guligao, Silver tree mushroom with lollipop, Lotus seeds and lily with lollipop and so on.

Guangzhou Guanganda Street (Yuexiu District), mainly sell triangular pies: Tiashui Triangle Pies, Triangle Salted Meat Pies, Triangular Ham Patties, Guocen Triangle Pies and so on.

Guangzhou Huiden Street (Haicun District), mainly sell meat mixes: Beef mixes, Dog meat, Fried live bearers, Red pig soup, Meat skewers, Quan Horse Hoof, Quan pineapple.

The cost of food in Guangzhou is not high. While resting in this city, you can have a great meal and spend rich leisure time with minimal financial investment. Even though the products in China are cheap, that doesn't mean you can buy them for next to nothing. Chinese prices have a lot in common with ours, and in some cases may be slightly higher. Let's try to figure out how much food costs in Guangzhou.

Food cost in Guangzhou

Many people think that the prices in the south of China are very low. In fact, the cost of food in Guangzhou is slightly higher than in Beijing. Walking through hypermarkets and markets, it is quite easy to notice. In restaurants and cafes, the cost of food is almost the same as in the capital.

Lunch at an inexpensive cafe costs around $ 5. To have a delicious dinner, you will need to pay $ 15. In doing so, you can count on alcohol. This cost cannot be called high, if only because the portions in China are very large.

You can save money by buying food in the markets. Its cost may be slightly lower than in stores. Not knowing the approximate cost of products and the language, it is better to give preference to stores where a fixed price for products is set.

The cost of drinks in Guangzhou

• Mineral water - $ 0.5;
• Drinking water - $ 0.3;
• Juice - $ 2.5;
• Carbonated drink - $ 2;
• Milk - $ 2;
• Drinking yogurt - $ 2;
• Beer - from $ 0.5;
• Wine - from $ 3.

There are many inexpensive alcoholic drinks in Guangzhou. In almost every store you can buy inexpensive wine, whiskey and beer. The quality of these products cannot be called very good, but it is no worse than what is sold here for a slightly higher price.

Fruits and vegetables

• Potatoes - from $ 0.5;
• Tomatoes - $ 1.5;
• Cucumbers - $ 1.2;
• Cabbage - $ 1.5;
• Apples - from $ 1.5;
• Grapes - $ 4.5;
• Peaches - $ 3;
• Bananas - $ 2;
• Cherries - from $ 19.

Food prices in Guangzhou in 2017 depend on the distance of shops from the city center. In places where tourists are concentrated, food is more expensive. The cheapest fruits and vegetables are in the markets. In supermarkets, the cost is acceptable, at least slightly higher than ours. The cost of fruits and vegetables often depends on the season. Imported vegetables and fruits can cost more than ours.

If we consider the cost of meat products, then their quality will play a decisive role. You can find very cheap chicken in China - about $ 2.50, but it doesn't taste good. A quality product costs more than $ 5. The same can be said for lamb and pork.

The cheapest food in China is fast food. Its cost corresponds to ours. Although in small cafes you can have a tasty meal for about $ 5. If you cook on your own, you can get away with $ 200 a month, and in some cases even less.

Rest in Guangzhou can be called a budget option that will allow you to get a lot of positive impressions. There is a wide range of products and entertainment for people with a wide range of incomes.

Guangzhou is the most famous city in China. It is the center of Guangdong province, the city is home to about 10 million inhabitants, which is about the same as in Beijing and Shanghai. Despite the popularity of the city, the prices here are affordable, as evidenced by the reviews of numerous tourists. As in other cities of the Middle Kingdom, here you can have an inexpensive lunch at one of the catering establishments, which are presented in a wide range. With a little analysis, you can understand how much food costs in Guangzhou, which is especially important if you want to visit this city.

Guangzhou Catering Price Analysis

Among tourists who come to China, there is an opinion that prices in the south of the country are lower than in other cities of the country, but this is somewhat different. In Beijing supermarkets it can be even cheaper than in Guangzhou stores, the same goes for catering establishments. However, this is all purely conditional, since food prices differ in different parts of the city, and if you want to eat cheaper, you will have to move away from the places where tourists gather. Consider the prices for food in typical establishments:

• There are many inexpensive cafes in China, where food is always of high quality and cheap. So, in one of these establishments, you can have a modest breakfast for $ 1-1.5, and a full meal will cost you $ 5 here.
• The Chinese, like tourists, love to have a bite to eat at McDonald's, where a standard set of big mac, fries and cola will cost about $ 5.
• More expensive, and this is natural, is the food in restaurants, where you can dine with alcohol for about $ 15. At first glance, the prices are not the most "democratic", but the portions in China are huge, and the quality of the food deserves attention.

Particularly popular in China, and Guangzhou is no exception, are dumplings, in which you can take two meals with a variety of dumplings for $ 1, spices and salt in this case are given out free of charge. If you don't trust your health to the cooks and prefer to eat on your own, you can buy groceries in local stores, but it is even cheaper to eat by buying food in the markets, where, in addition, you can bargain. However, if you do not know Chinese, then it is better to buy groceries from stores with fixed prices. Prices here can also differ depending on the area of ​​the city.

Food prices in Guangzhou supermarkets

In order to understand how much food costs in Guangzhou in 2016, it is worth visiting one of the stores of a popular supermarket chain, and it is advisable to choose just such stores. One of the most popular foods in the Middle Kingdom is chicken, but its choice must be approached carefully. You may be offered a $ 2.50 chicken, but it tastes different than the $ 5 chicken. The same applies to other types of meat. In China, traditionally inexpensive vegetables: a kilogram of potatoes costs about $ 0.5, a kilogram of tomatoes and cucumbers will cost $ 1.5 and 1.2, respectively. Fruit is also not very expensive, and you will be offered to buy a kilogram of apples for $ 1.50, while a kilogram of peaches costs $ 3, and bananas are sold for $ 2 per kilogram. As for drinks, a bottle of mineral water will cost $ 0.5, yogurt will cost $ 2, a bottle of beer costs around $ 0.7, and a bottle of inexpensive wine will cost $ 3. The experience of Russian tourists shows that self-catering in Guangzhou will cost about $ 200 per month, and in some cases it is even cheaper.