After 240 days of requests, I made this Cantonese Family Style Dinner

[@Char_siu_Lo_mai_fan]

Thank you so much chef Andy for making this for me. It means so much I am going to send this to my parents. It looks absolutely phenomenal. I cannot describe how much it means for you to actually fulfill my request especially on a long form video 😮. Though I won’t be requesting my dish anymore I will keep sticking around on your channel ✌️!

[@andy_cooks]

My pleasure mate. Glad you enjoyed it ✌️

[@Char_siu_Lo_mai_fan]

@@andy_cooksI sure did and I will be trying out your recipes with my parents tonight! It looks pretty much as close to exactly how my grandparents made it that you can get! I congratulate you chef as you did a perfect job and I am extremely grateful. Thank you so much mate for this Cantonese family style dinner 😊

[@adamholler4912]

😅😅😅😅😅😅😅😅😊😊

[@Gerolanfalan]

We love to see dedication pay off!

[@ehtikhet]

WholesomeAF 🥰

[@EL-kz9de]

He even called to his (work) fam to “come eat”. So authentic.

[@lauraqueentint]

sik fan laaaaa!

[@andy_cooks]

work fam always needs a feed

[@ansonlau55097]

That cantonese was spot on, from a young lad that speaks mandarin and cantonese that comes from HK. Awesome!!!!!!

[@ct9245]

Sik Fan / come to eat rice 👍

[@poorlydonenailart]

I'm Cantonese and this makes me so happy. Thanks Huen Wah for requesting this for so long. 😅 Haha, now we get to reap the benefits. Thanks Andy! This looks so authentic. Always appreciate all the care you put into learning different cultural cuisines. For a lot of Cantonese people, it's not just food, it is family and it is love.

[@andy_cooks]

You're welcome 😊

[@robbyjai]

if you think this is authentic then you have no idea. i like andy and love his stuff but everything was wrong.

[@poorlydonenailart]

@@robbyjai I'm pretty sure it's all dependent on your family and how you make things. This is pretty close to how my parents make these dishes. 🤷🏻‍♀️ I feel like a lot of Cantonese homestyle dishes are tweaked per family. There are a lot of other Cantonese people who also feel this was authentic.

[@karakaaa3371]

​@@robbyjai What does authentic mean amongst 2 billion different people?

[@xueshang1035]

As Southern Chinese I think it’s pretty authentic. You have to keep in mind some ingredients are hard to find abroad, especially some of the vegetables. Also this is Family style cooking, Every family makes things differently. The fact he used crispy garlic and shrimp head, and a good wok, shows me this man understands the very base of Chinese cuisine 🎉

[@andyzhang7890]

As a Cantonese dude who’s watched a number of your videos and have had this for dinner several times a month for my entire life, I had no idea this niche side of Cantonese cuisine was at all in public consciousness in the English speaking world… but damn you killed it. Feeling proud af, bet my folks would approve of that beauty 🔥🔥🙌🙌

[@andy_cooks]

🙏

[@TaraZsun]

I am english and like 90% of my diet is asian. The flavor is my fav.

[@TheJlee28]

uncle rog approves 😂

[@endless7785]

Can we talk about how wholesome Andy is. Its just no wonder that he is so likeable and respected in this community. There is no way someone can dislike Andy.

[@edouardao]

I am a Hongkonger grew eating these family-style dishes for over 50 years. Your rendition is spot-on and reminiscent of how my mother used to prepare them. You've truly mastered the art of capturing the essence of these dishes.

[@harryp6484]

The food looks lovely but isn’t some of it cold by the time the rest is ready?

[@jazc8259]

My dad would cook them all at once. Pretty sure how that's most of our families do it. True masterchefs

[@patheticseal]

Tomato and egg is a comfort food, so many good childhood memories eating it

[@Britt-r3r]

There is an old Australian/ New recipe that is similar called " mock chicken "

[@laila6993]

@@Britt-r3r I believe it’s like an Egyptian dish called Shakshuka

[@Britt-r3r]

Lots of dishes that are primarily eggs and tomato 🍅 from around the world

[@avanap8096]

Never had it, looking forward to having a crack

[@andyzhang7890]

Right?? Damn that shit just tastes like home

[@cheekyscamp5]

I’m Cantonese so I had to watch this! Gotta say, you nailed it on pretty much all fronts! Yes, one or two things that my mum would do differently but you’ll always find these little variations in Cantonese family homes. This was very evocative of a home-cooked meal and you really captured its essence. Like you said: simplicity and allowing the ingredients to shine through. Great job!

[@paulling9984]

I come from Hong Kong. I approve Uncle Andy! Super cook!

[@lauraqueentint]

same! Upgraded from nephew to uncle!

[@sheshd]

​@@lauraqueentinthe's been uncle for a while 😂

[@andy_cooks]

Thank you 🙏

[@Vince32.]

Seeing this as cantonese background person, makes me feel so warm and fuzzy. These dishes represent so much in my culture and means alot to me and my family. So glad you have shown your audience this!

[@TheNightOwls2]

Looking forward to 240 days of thank you for Cantonese family style dinner! 👍

[@moongirl54]

Andy you are simply the best. I love that you acknowledge and appreciate the origination of the dishes you cook. And you make it accessible for everyone. Nothing posh or arrogant. Good tasting food is good tasting food. Another great video

[@jlee104]

Chef, as a Cantonese cook myself you did us proud. Only suggestion was that you might have been able to use your wok as a steamer instead of the pot to make your life easier unless it was too wide but the steamer basket if it can fit inside the wok will be better at trapping steam and preventing any water dripping back out on the side of the pot.

[@luisv007]

could the fish be steamed in a steam oven instead of steamer basket? I’ve just got one and still on that learning curve.

[@MrAusAlex]

​@luisv007 technically you can but I find steam oven has a 'smell'. Just like food can have a fridge smell/taste if they sit in the fridge for too long. Personally I prefer using a wok to steam my fish, especially streaming fish in a Cantonese way.

[@luisv007]

@@MrAusAlex I have to disagree with you about the steam combo oven. So far, meals prepared are way better. Food has a fresh and better taste. I haven’t cooked fish yet but would love to find a recipe the family would like. The oven has a maintenance function which cleans the system and dries the oven. I leave it open to cool down completely. The next model actually washes itself with an added detergent.

[@CeliaHakusho]

This looks wonderful. Just two suggestions... I recommend for the beef dish that you pre-marinate it with light and dark soy sauce, salt, sugar, oyster sauce, cornstarch (optional baking soda) and then follow by sesame oil. It doesn't need to marinate long. Maybe 20 minutes or so while you work on the other dishes. Then when you are ready, you stir-fry the beef. Remove from heat. Then go back and cook the veggies. Add the beef and finish the stir-fry will be wonderfully tender and not overcooked. For the tomato dish, you don't really need to unpeel the skin. It's a nice add but not necessary if you're cooking at home and need to push meal out for the family in short amount of time. And I think the tomato egg dish needs a bit more time. The tomato should be broken down a bit more so it releases the juices. It's supposed to be a saucier dish.

[@kbobobob]

This, 100% this. Also I'll skip the ginger for the tomato egg dish too. Ginger is a bit too strong the dish is suppose to be sweet and acidic with tomato flavour.

[@ritz9870]

Wonderful advice. Adding onto this, the optional baking soda OP mentions acts as a meat tenderizer. The tender texture of the beef from Chinese restaurants usually results from this, but do be careful not to overdo it! Some Chinese people also don't like this step because they feel like the beef loses taste and becomes "artificial", hence optional.

[@edwardwu564]

@@ritz9870 I do agree at home we don't need to use baking soda to tenderise the meat, you can learn a bit knife work, simply cutting them across the muscle fibres instead of cutting them parallel to the fibre.

[@er0s1ons]

this warmed my heart, it's not totally authentic but it's quite close and seeing the effort makes me so happy. there's not a lot of canto restaurants where I live and in general not a lot of people are exposed to it as compared to japanese or korean food, so seeing this on the internet makes me feel so seen and represented

[@thoraxia]

Awesome I'm glad tenacity payed off.

[@tubercloset8486]

As a first-year college student very far from home who doesn't know how to cook, watching you make all these dishes that my mom makes at home made me cry :')

[@bitspieces5668]

Thanks for posting this video! I'm from Guangzhou and grew up in Australia, and making theae types of dishes takes me back to my childhood. I make the tomato and eggs dish at least once a week.

[@am_stephanos]

For tomato and egg I usually go with garlic/chili no ginger, also with some ketchup for the sauce, finish off with green onions. The rice vermicelli dish i'm not too sure about, I know of ho fun or mei fun which is usually wok fried. All the other dishes look great though. I can recommend cooking with lau for anyone interested in more canto cooking.

[@WW-what]

The passion Andy have for the food around the world is just amazing, spreading the positive and peaceful energy all around the world.

[@AP-yt4oo]

Thank you Andy for showing the world real traditional healthy Chinese cooking and not “making it like takeout”. There’s so much more to Chinese cooking that goes unappreciated and unnoticed :) Edit: How I like to do my tomato stir fried is to use make a slurry sauce of tomato sauce, HP sauce, light soy, sugar, and Maggi chilli sauce. A little spicy and tangy! Cook that down a little and then just pour it on the just cooked eggs Ever since discovering the joys of velveting meat I definitely can’t recommend it enough to get that nice juicy texture, I did learn the hard way too much of it made the dish smell like ammonia

[@TsukiPlay]

My God, this is amazing, as a Cantonese I'm so impressed with the way you cook, salute Chef!

[@Resonance328]

By golly he’s done it!! Keep it up Andy, you’re one of the top chefs out there!

[@jaredvennett4036]

The amount of dishes were intimidating, but after watching the recipes, i think i can make them for my family and feel like a battle hardened, tank top rocking, cigarette smoking chef

[@nxvh9062]

cigarette is mandatory, gives +10 flavour and +50 authenticity

[@MrZomfgwtfbbq]

and cuss casually at t he end.... "diu leiii" :P

[@KB-ct7th]

If you’re going authentic, you’ll actually need to let a bit of cigarette ash land randomly on someone’s meal (I suggest your own, but you Chef have the wok😂)! Enjoy!!

[@bernie4219]

Haha,this is so great to see! They were ordering this for ever!

[@hailingxin2556]

Thank you! It made me tear off when I saw this… Living in NL for over 4 years and this reminds me of my parents… Thank you❤

[@liusky7092]

Very impressed~! You did so close to our local dinner, every detail and every step, i can't imagine how a foreigner can did that so perfect, and all the dish look very tasty~! Thank you.

[@PhilipOng]

Legit! You are one of the only kwai lou chefs that can cook Cantonese food properly.

[@dannychan0510]

As a Cantonese, I loved this video! You killed it with every dish Andy. Thank you!

[@cooltoysnapiernz8905]

Your chop sticks skills are better than most Chinese I know. Ginger and Garlic should be added to oil first to fuse and make the oil fragrant.

[@JonathanStanley]

Good job Andy... though old school Cantonese mums are/were cooking this every single day, oh and plus a slow cooked clear soup like winter melon and spare ribs soup (at the cheap end) to abalone and chicken soup (at the pricy end)

[@Ninikikitata1234]

Honkonger here :) you’ve done a great job 🎉 thanks for appreciating our food culture. proud of you!

[@lauraqueentint]

As a Hker... this is the first time I've seen a westerner attempt to do the family style dishes I grew up eating. Nicely done, chef!

[@Momogarden]

As a Cantonese, I have to say even your cookers are authentic! Thank you for sharing this🎉😊

[@HarveyJackson1967]

This is the most Cantonese family style dinner thing I've ever seen.

[@qqbb135]

It is good to see foreigners cooking Cantonese food, just wanna point out a couple of things though. We usually do not boil vegetables when it comes to a stir fry, it loses the flavour in the water as well as its nutrients. We usually fry it under high heat till it's cooked, the high temperature also prevents moisture coming out of the vegetable, which would lead to the veggies losing flavour. But with that gas stove, I know it is hard to achieve the temperature needed. We also do not make it watery/add a lot of sauce like many westernised chinese food does. The second thing is we usually do not steam frozen fish, we buy those alive in the fresh market, either have it dissected there or we do it at home because frozen fish would taste fishy in an unpleasant way, we also won't cut it. If there is no fresh one available, we will usually add ginger on top and steam it together to get rid of that fishy taste.

[@misschanelxoxo]

Omg Andy is such a good chef especially when it comes to Asian dishes。。crazy！！

[@Yunilol]

Wow!! There aren’t many videos out there of traditional Cantonese cooking. Thank you so much for this video, I’m definitely going to reference this for years to come

[@---iv5gj]

lmao wt have you been doing? the internet is literally flooded with cantonese cooking vids

[@Yunilol]

@@---iv5gj thanks for your insight but I just wanted to thank him for this video

[@robj3126]

Gonna miss seeing all the reminders

[@andy_cooks]

I’m sure there will be another 😆

[@jeremychen829]

Thank you Andy for making this video, the recipe is truly homage to the catonese cuisine and reminds me of home cooking. Keep up the good work!

[@wendyharper8930]

You're such a phenomenal presenter Andy. Your team are also phenomenal bringing us really high quality viewing every time. Love your work, all of you!

[@prettyprettysmart]

Beautiful job! As a Cantonese person, I am very impressed. All of the dishes were done well and are true to the Cantonese meals I've had my whole life. Great job!

[@swisski]

Andy, you’re a bloody legend! Arohanui from New Zealand

[@janesmith7128]

Ooh, just like mum used to make for Sunday dinner. Although she did the beef in the tomato egg stir fry. So good. SO GOOD.

[@ktang880]

Just some suggestion for the stir-fry beef. For our family we don’t like to eat raw ginger unless it’s really in fine strips with vinegar for dumplings. So we won’t ever sprinkle raw ginger on cooked food. On the same note, my grandmother would put in the ginger first for the aromatics (and cook off the acrid burn from the raw ginger) and then pop in onions cut in long and medium-thin strips so that when you pick up with chopsticks it’s easier to get strips of meat and the onions together. Again sometimes we may add raw ginger to hot congee but the piping hot congee will usually cook off the raw ginger by the time it cools down to eat.

[@luisv007]

Thank you. I’m glad I read your response, as I learnt from you. I hope I can asked a few questions. Is this a family dinner for a special occasion? Is it always these dishes or is it more of a seasonal based choice of dishes. I asked the requester but he wasn’t to helpful when I asked him about what would be made for this dinner.

[@Jacksonwalker1]

​​@@luisv007All the ingredients are very cheap so this would be a normal dinner affair. It's when you see sea cumber, dried scallops, jing ham and stuff of that nature in the dishes that it becomes a rare and expensive treat but it can also be seasonal or even down to chefs choice depending on what's more readily available.

[@GEN47-27]

@@luisv007 to add on to Jasonsaunders307, chinese families are joint families (where grandma, aunty, uncle and parents live in the same house) so a meal of this size is very common and considered usual daily meal... a special occasion is when you see Duck and roast Pork brought out, and maybe alcohol hahaha

[@ruitan2722]

Exactly the comment I am looking for haha especially as a person who do not like the texture of ginger

[@greypenda]

I know Andy is legit cause i saw his cooking of my country's dish, and it was SPOT ON

[@andrewoates8723]

The tomato peel edit was sublime ❤

[@bencarterco]

I rewound that bit. So good 💯

[@sonito9491]

Now do a turkish family dinner please!!! so many amazing dishes to pick from and at the same time not very hard to cook for youself even as a beginner. And if you do, filled grape leaves with some yoghurt are a must! If you never had them you have to try!

[@lizziemarie5590]

I feel like Andy has become more candid and goofy of the late and I really like it!

[@ritz9870]

Andy, you are truly the man! The steamed fish especially can be such a comfort food and pouring that hot oil on top at the end is truly what makes the dish. It may sound a little intimidating since it's just pure oil but the difference it makes is truly night and day. For the sauce, it's also possible to add some aromatics such as cinnamon or star anise to give it that little extra boost. Thank you for the wonderful video chef, this was a wholesome one!

[@ktang880]

Another suggestion: you would usually marinate or soak the prawns in Chinese wine so that the wine taste can penetrate the flesh more (you would also pour the remaining marinate liquid into the clay pot). The dish can be even more superb if you used and added pork lard instead of peanut or cooking oil.

[@looppp]

As a Cantonese, this is amazing

[@sunshine8338]

Huen Wah will be so happy lol, can't wait to see her reaction. 😄

[@hachijiu8145]

The fish (Lutjanus vitta) is a common fish in Hong Kong. It is so nice to see you have done a good research and used a local ingredient for the video.

[@laurahindle2859]

More feasts like this please Andy.... So awesome learning multiple recipes in one video

[@belindal.7194]

Cantonese cuisine always the best.

[@Pokemon_Collector_Pete]

I absolutely luv marinated bokchoy in Oyster sauce, especially when i eat out at Chinese restaurants

[@WholeHeartily]

Chef Andy, this long format video is 🤌🏾 FABULOUS!!! Thank you!!!

[@andy_cooks]

Thanks for watching!

[@lofu32]

You made really authentic Cantonese.. I was blown. But for the beef, most do velveting on the beef to tenderise it.

[@ocorir]

Nice work with the steamed fish! That's truly the most iconic dish.

[@katb.6132]

I love your video's. This long format is wonderful.

[@andy_cooks]

Thanks!

[@scarletkei2850]

These are EXACTLY the staples of Cantonese family meals. Thank you so much for bringing these!

[@carmenm1329]

Omg, this is amazing🙌🙌🙌! I showed to my mom and she nodded like "he nailed it". This is not only the food, you bring back my childhood memories.

[@wadeslay505]

Wow you did a wonderful job handling cantonese foods. As a HongKonger myself, am really proud of you. Love your passion on cooking!! keen to watch more videos from you!

[@patchesohoulihan9826]

Just started to watch and hoping Hueh Wah is in the video to enjoy the meal with Andy and Basic Mitch.

[@abcdef-ji7eu]

As a Cantonese, seeing a foreigner cooking Cantonese style dinner better than some of the local chefs do is really crazy

[@CLB___]

Thank you so much for telling us about Food for Everyone! What an amazing idea and great for gifts. I think I will get a few of these as Christmas gifts to commemorate treasured family recipes. How cool!

[@TheDesktopguy]

Memories! Lived with wife’s in-laws saving for our first property (she is Australian born Chinese). Ate a lot of food just like this. Every dish have had before. Just needed the steamed egg with whitebait

[@unowen7591]

This day is historic!! Hahaha he was so dedicated.

[@antonytsai6611]

for the tomato egg stir fry my family and in some pan fried chicken cubes as thats how my grandma always cooked it overall this is basically what we would have in hong kong every night as my grandma would cook for us

[@rodrigoleal5713]

Oh, I’m going to need to take my time with this one. Cheers, Legend.

[@MaureenChiu-o1u]

As a cantonese, i m impressed especially the vermicelli with prawn dish. Nicely done.

[@justinz.4069]

This guy is the real deal, he knows what he's doing throughout this whole video. Props to you for doing your research before hand, you have made Chinese chefs all around the world very proud

[@Melissayippppp]

Canto approved! Really enjoyed watching this! Thanks Andy for the dash of nostalgia 😋

[@neonnblack]

I appreciate the comment about seafood, and it's state of frozen and freshness. As someone who was in the whole sale food industry for years, I've always told people often times frozen is gonna be often comparable if not better than "fresh" because it's already been frozen then thawed. Like you said, unless they're getting stuff fresh off the boat on the coast line, it's likely been frozen already.

[@deejaygrannie]

This is authentic and just lovely. Thanks Andy! Love from Hong Kong xx

[@johnlucas6683]

Well done chef! Glad to finally see how this cuisine request comesout.

[@josiah566]

Fantastic! Pretty much nailed the concise nature of these meals. Lots of simple, flavourful dishes that are prepared quickly so the family can get together and eat. As far as steaming the fish, you can do that in your wok! Asian supermarkets (or Daiso) sell metal steaming racks you can put in your wok, that your plate with fish can go on top of so it can steam without touching the bottom of the wok. A dash of water underneath that rack, good heat, and you're good to go!

[@padders1068]

Andy, Chef, Legend! That all looked amazing! Thanks for sharing and thanks to the team! Peace ❤

[@mathieud4770]

This is all I love about this channel: a genuine interest in your community, a genuine interest in different food cultures, and a crazy set of skills to get their essence and do them justice. How about trying the "Quenelles de brochet", a delicious fish soufflé from Lyon - France, my hometown?

[@mc_0726]

Pretty close there Andy! I'm impressed by the use of Shaohsing cooking wine! Could have get more authentic if you: Add some ketchup in the tomato egg stir fry for more acidity (it's supposed to be sweet and a hint of sour), and stir fry the tomato in the wok for longer in order to extract more juice from the tomato into the sauce, before putting the egg back in the end. Cuz this is a dish that goes well with rice so the saucier the better(imo). Also, we don't boil the veg before stir frying it, we add them into the wok uncooked when the oil is hot and the flavour from the ginger/garlic is extracted from the heat. Add water into the work after stir frying the veg to soften (maybe put a lid on for a while), and then make your sauce with the veg in, rather than softening it with the already thickened sauce (less water vapour hence less effective). For the beef we always always marinate before stir frying, as with most Cantonese protein dishes, rather than adding sauce during cooking. You want the flavour to be absorbed into the protein not just covering it. Those are just opinions from someone who's been fed by Cantonese dishes for decades, and cook. Anyway you did very well there for a foreign chef!

[@fennecfox8291]

Yes!! I do the exact same thing with all these dishes and watched my mum cook like this as well. But so impressed to see what Andyy did there!

[@preet2692]

Heun Wah, where you at?!!! Andy- respect 😊

[@Stickiest_Man]

Andy saying "don't get stung by these spikes they tend to be poisonous *and they hurt*" really feels like something you'd hear from a chef during training in the kitchen, especially how he emphazised that they hurt and just kinda mentioned that they tend to be poisonous, as if that part about them being poisonous is nothing to be corned about. Good times, I felt like I was 17 in the kitchen again.

[@zzsiew]

Everyone has their little differences in cooking, but as a far as easy home Chinese cooking you completely nailed it mate. Legend.

[@JayyBee5557]

OMG Andy !!!! You did it ! I thought that guy would never stop ! 😊😊😊

[@Britt-r3r]

😂😂 every one wanted him to get his dinner. I'm glad he finally did

[@KB-ct7th]

@@Britt-r3rWe’ve had a Community Intervention on someone’s behalf with Andy only once before. Little did we know Andy, Babe, Dezz, Mitch, and the rest of the Crew were already involved with the cookbook and other wonderful things behind the scenes. Even then, it took about a year or so for that gentleman to get his “dream meal”, and Andy STILL kept his secret! He’s good. This gentleman waited patiently until Andy was able to get the time. I think he’s thrilled and no intervention needed. 😂

[@whkarenng]

This is my first time watching your channel, but you amazed me much. As a HongKonger, I am so proud of you for making these delicious and pretty authentic Cantonese cuisine. Keep up your good work. Cheers from the UK👏

[@hoifongman1248]

Amazing! Feels like watching my parents cooking dinner, thanks!

[@zerohours.]

happy you had the tomato and egg dish. We would always get that for brunch when we went out as a kid.

[@sunshine8338]

Haha, she will be so happy to see this.

[@mangolollipop_]

I'm Filipino but your steamed fish reminded me of Christmas at my mother's house. She steams fish like that but she uses oyster sauce in it too

[@spongebracket]

Here's a trick with the beef so it doesn't get tough. Marinade the beef first and add a pinch of baking soda, it will tenderize the meat. Before cooking the beef, add a splash/dash of oil, it'll lock the marinade in 😋

[@toxicmustardwasabi]

As someone with a Cantonese background this is legit and so classic. The tomato egg stir fry and the steamed fish in particular are an all-time combo with rice. You can also try swapping out the tomato egg with a steamed custardy egg. The egg melts into the rice with the soy sauce from the steamed fish - amazing.

[@jack_boettcher]

Looks absolutely delicious!!!

[@saradang5802]

Impressive! Everything I ate growing up! Love it super authentic.

[@elizabethharttley4073]

Every dish looked great, having some of each would be delicious!

[@Gabrielr8]

You are a diligent and skillful chef Mr Andy! Well done on the cooking. I think the food looks tasty!

[@user-xs3db6ox3q]

I'm Japanese but that egg tomato thing is my favorite! Fish one is also good, a bit sweet and savory. I love Cantonese cuisine and can't wait to travel there to eat amongst the locals someday

[@vivianlai6737]

Highly recommend Andy to get a Taiwanese Tatong electric cooker!!! It’s a automatic cooker that makes steaming so easy and effortless. Tons of other ways to use it for cooking soup, rice, desserts , stews etc

[@fredsmith5782]

Hi Andy, you did a really good job making a regular Cantonese dinner this is coming from a Cantonese man.

[@chelseayoung7]

i love that you did such authentic HOME dishes these dishes is exactly what i grew up eating at home