What's Cantonese HOME cooking like? [English Edition]

[@ChineseCookingDemystified]

Hey guys, a few notes: EDIT regarding "lack of vegetable": The definition of "vegetable" is a very interesting and peculiar characteristic in Cantonese cooking, to quote our Substack post: "And by ‘vegetable’, this usually implies ‘greens’ - stuff like Gailan, Choy Sum, Bok Choy, Lettuce, etc etc. Root vegetables like carrot or daikon would not be considered ‘vegetable’, per se (Steph sometimes jokes that stuff like Napa Cabbage/Cabbage/Bitter Melon are ‘borderline vegetables’ to her). Like, this vegetable… specificity… is even sort of a meme in China at this point." So right, the love for leafy greens is an unique feature of Cantonese meal compared to other cuisines, that's why we felt the need to talk about it in the video. Apologies for not being clear enough. [Chris notes] 1. There's also a Cantonese language version of this same video, if you like (or are just curious to see what Steph sounds like in Cantonese): kzbin.info/www/bejne/onnUapyYZsuiedk We know that the Venn diagram of "People that want to know more about Cantonese home cooking" and "People that can watch a Cantonese language video without subtitles" is pretty small haha, Steph mostly just wanted to... give doing a VO in her own language a go? There is a certain je ne sais quos of how she speaks in Cantonese - I can't seem to find a good word to describe it (sassy? sarcastic?), but it feels a lot truer to her personality. 2. I want to make it clear that those clips we used at the 0:12 mark were meant to ILLUSTRATE a point and NOT slagging on any creators or anything. Last time we did something similar (in the outro to the Beef and Broccoli video), there were some commenters that interpreted it as us giving those people shade. So this time I made sure to solely use clips from content that we personally enjoy (especially Alex). 3. That said, scrubbing through videos, it is a little striking just *how much* food media leans on classical music to communicate "You Are Looking At Fancy Thing". Hard to unsee, haha. 4. Generally speaking, I was trying to use chicken bouillon powder to season in this video instead of MSG - a discussion on why is in our substack post if you're curious. At 5:44 however, the 'seasoning' says MSG instead of chicken powder, which is a typo (ultimately, either choice would be good though). [Steph notes] 1. Vegetable quantity. The veg quantity we gave in the video is based on a general nutrition guide that’s used by doctors in China, which suggests about 200-300g green vegetable per day plus 200-300g fruit. And it also jives with my experience growing up, we usually have about 500g-720g worth of stir fried leafy green at dinner for three people (lunch is much simpler and maybe just a small stir fried whatever with rice). If you’re a family of 6 and you want to stick with the veg quantity (roughly 1.2kg), then I’d suggest split it into two dishes, e.g. stir fry half and turning the other half into a soup or simply blanching it and eat with oyster sauce. 2. Aromatics prep. When cooking at home, if it weren’t for a specific dish that needs special shaped aromatics, garlic and ginger are generally just crushed. So don’t obsess over finely mincing your garlic and ginger for everything. 3. From what we’ve seen, the more local dai pai dong around PRD (Pearl River Delta) often use Cantonese rice wine as well, it adds a nice “homey” and special local taste. Then some people would also drink the rice wine alongside a meal, it does pair really well with Cantonese food. 4. “One fish multiple ways” is a very fun way of eating. Nowadays, it’s most common at sashimi restaurants and some places that feature fish. In some restaurants, they can even do “whole fish banquet”, i.e. a table’s worth of dishes that’re all made from fish, there can be fish ball, fish cake, steamed fish, stir fried fish, baked egg with fish intestine, and so on. 5. The soup culture. As we said in the video, Cantonese soup culture is so vast that it’s impossible to cover even in a full video. In fact, in addition to that cookbook we showed in the video, we have a separate cookbook that’s just Cantonese “soups”. Hopefully one day we can at least do a video on the general ideas of how to make Cantonese “lou fo leng tong” (old fire good soup, which is the long brewing one). Oh, the very fist soup that Canto kids learn to make is often a soup with pork bone + carrot + corn + red date because it’s very easy, got a natural sweetness, and almost impossible to go wrong. 6. When making a soup base with dried seafood, cure meat, and such, the key is to make them small. I usually like to mince up the dried shrimp or dried scallop before tossing them in; or cutting the cure meat (usually cured duck is used) into small piece and give it a quick fry, then let it cook on high with hot water to create a milky soup. That's all for now. Apologies for the slow time in between uploads - doing this video in a way that did justice to the topic was more intense than we anticipated :)

[@OlEgSaS32]

Steph definitely (and obviously) sounds different in the Cantonese version, she sounds quicker and a bit more sure in her native language, its interesting to listen to despite not understanding a word

[@jerome718]

I fall under that venn diagram - ABC who’s eager to learn more about Cantonese food but also don’t get much language exposure other than from family. It was really fun listening to and passively learning the language. And yes, soup is such a big part, my mom loves making soup for us to take home whenever we have dinner at their place.

[@tommihommi1]

doesn't chicken bouillon powder also contain IMP and GMP and thus can boost flavors more/differently than straight MSG?

[@artistlovepeace]

I love your channel. You are truthful, honest and very very well researched. I trust you guys and hope you always have a future and a now. I learn a lot from you two too! Thank you.

[@ap1curry]

As a canto born abroad it's really nice to hear the it from a native speaker and I really appreciate it! Especially since I don't understand as much mandarin, which is everywhere now.

[@Pletzmutz]

Getting every dish hot on the table at the same time takes some skill, getting every family member to the table when the food is still hot is true mastery.

[@weatheranddarkness]

top comment! Ain't that the truth!

[@gerald9113]

Yes, so hard. I'm still finding my way to that.

[@stuntmonkey00]

I can honestly say as a Cantonese growing up abroad... the "no extra flavouring" stereotype does not come from nowhere. My parents act like any extra season is like poisoning in the food... to much spices, too spicy... to sweet... too much food colouring... too fried ("Yeet hay").... etc etc etc. It makes it stupidly difficult to experience all of the other different types of cuisines we have around us. There is this kind of rebellion that Canadian Chinese kids go through where they will go out for lunch or dinner at anything *but* Chinese food because that's all you ever eat with your family.

[@rey3472]

My ex girlfriend had a Cantonese mother and father. I was in for a rude shock accepting an invitation to have dinner. Bland and dry food. Nothing flavorful or saucy. Nothing like the stereotypical Chinese foods in restaurants. Also not much meat. Most of the meal consisted of cooked vegetables and noodles. There were tiny little bits of pork in the noodles. Completely opposite of my normal diet. High protein, high fat and minimal vegetables. What you said about rebellion by the children rings true. My girlfriend had a thing for European foods. We never ate at a "Chinese" restaurant.

[@penguinpingu3807]

True to the core about the reasoning. I am Malaysian Chinese, although my mom keeps saying she is Hakka because maternal grandpa is Hakka but my maternal grandma is Cantonese. Mothers always give the upbringing to children. So, she is a full blown Cantonese person. The most famous two word when you ask a Cantonese parent when you ask can you try is course the dreaded 热气. The spiciest thing I was allow to eat was ginger. Even black or white pepper is a no no. However, even though spice is not in my diet, at least the food is good. I do hold the belief that you can make good food without spices like chili or cinnamon, that takes a lot of skill. However, spices just makes food taste more unique and intersting.

[@ElJosher]

@@rey3472interesting. Grass is always greener on the other side. Americans, europeans, canadians will always rave about asian food, meanwhile in asia people rave about euro food. Not that it is a bad thing. Experiencing other cultures food is great.

[@rey3472]

@@ElJosher That nice woman looked and was obviously frail compared to her daughter that consumed a more high protein diet. Right before we parted ways I was informed she had several strokes and they were moving back to China so the mother could be cared for by family. It was mystifying to me. The food was bland, no fats or oils added and kilos of vegetables every day. This KZbin channel educated me. I season foods with small amounts of salt and more herbs and spices. Adding sugar, salt, MSG, soy sauce of two types, oyster sauce, and other bottled sauces to foods is foreign to me. Completely normal in Chinese cooking. I know that is how the mother cooked because I saw the bottles lined up next to the range. Similar issue in Japan. Lots of salt, soy sauce, sugar and MSG added to foods. Yet food is extremely bland. Hypertension and strokes are problems. A doctor told me that being thin is no assurance against hypertension and strokes. I am also learning force feeding oneself kilos of vegetables per day is also no assurance. Especially if those vegetables are hiding high sodium condiments. My philosophy on food is if it needs a barrage of condiments and it is still bland, something is wrong. If something has a bitter or noxious taste, perhaps it is best not consumed. That is nature's way of saying do not eat this.

[@ElJosher]

@@rey3472dang… it was worse than I tought then.

[@knownaigm]

You guys are such a freaking wealth of knowledge. I can't tell you how much you've helped me explore my own cooking and massively improve my kitchen game!

[@meggiecook4052]

Watching this made me realize my family ALWAYS had leafy greens with dinner, no matter the rest of the dishes. Choy sum, bok choy, napa cabbage, cabbage and broccoli were staples throughout the week. I grew up in Hong Kong with non-Chinese parents. My mom's Japanese, and while vegetables are important in Japanese cuisine too, leafy veggies aren't a must have like in Cantonese food. I guess we just absorbed that habit, maybe cause leafy greens are abundant in markets. Anyway, great video! Your mise en place video is one that I always come back to, and this video feels like a spiritual successor to it.

[@234netklh27]

Yeah Japanese tend to go for more roots and fruit vegetables traditionally (i.e. daikon, cucumber, etc); leaves tend to be very seasonal in the olden days. Granted, if you extend the definition there's a lot seaweed and beansprouts as "greens," especially if you're a poor bachelor.

[@SueK2001]

Almost every meal we had at home when I was growing up started with a soup (commonly a winter melon or other type of melon), had lots of Chinese greens and one protein like beef, pork, chicken, fish or steamed eggs. And of course rice. My mom used to say one couldn't get full without rice.

[@aaronsakulich4889]

When you talk about the older generation not letting you eat as much fermented tofu as you want... it's amazing how universal somethings are. My mother grew up very poor and if we went to a diner and I ordered creamed chipped beef on toast or biscuits and gravy (both of which are delicious) she would be FURIOUS and she'd worry other people saw me eating it

[@lifuranph.d.9440]

Bless Mom and You.

[@theyazzledazzle]

omg my mom did this too

[@slewone4905]

My mother was poor as a child and was stingy when growing up. she would embarrass me constantly. my parents climbed the ladder, and she would hang around the wrong people and tell me, I embarrass her. For the longest time I would have flip phone, and when it was time for us to renew our phones, she yelled at me that both of us need an Iphone. And your mom complain you wanted SOS? Poor people don't eat those, it's associated with military.

[@rey3472]

SOS is not poor people food. That was a treat for military in the field.

[@aaronsakulich4889]

I'm a little surprised at the people that seem to think chipped beef was a secret recipe only available to the military. It's on the menu of every diner in the country, and it's the only dish on there that's cheaper than cereal. It's somehow cheaper than just ordering a side of plain toast

[@frankunderbush]

I'm a Mandarin speaker that doesn't understand a lick of Cantonese, so I end up here watching the English version. When the lingua franca between two Chinese people is English...what a fascinating world we live in 😄

[@pelicanus4154]

And her English is clear & understandable.

[@huggledemon32]

I once stayed with a friend in Malaysia- her mother was a native Malay, her father was Chinese Malaysian- neither of them spoke each others language- so they ended up speaking English at home, so my friend and her brother both grew up in Malaysia with English being their first language!- fascinating! (And I loved it because my Mandarin is definitely NOT fluent, and it was the only time o didn’t have to wait for things to be translated for me by my boyfriend lol)

[@FunctionallyLiteratePerson]

Im so glad I have this video to point to in the future. The amount of times I have seen people in home environments obsess over the idea of wok hei and the like and claim anything different is inauthentic grinds my gears. Cantonese cuisine is wonderful and isn't just popular restaurant food. Also, thanks for the double upload! I need to practice more Cantonese. Also, I love Alex as well! I hope he gets to see this video and learn more about the cuisine

[@jrmint2]

I laugh when white ppl lecture me about wok hei, we never had it growing up in our house. too yeet hei

[@rey3472]

@@jrmint2 I know home Asian cooking. Nothing like what people think. They have a very distorted idea of it based on the restaurants and what is shown on KZbin. Home Asian cooking is bland. Has no oil. Nothing is ever fried.

[@rey3472]

@@rasurin Are you Asian? I am. Grew up with Asian parents and grandparents. Nothing like a non Asian proposing to tell me what's what when they have only experienced the rich and highly seasoned foods in restaurants tailored to westernized tastes. How Asians eat at home is extremely different from what is in restaurants.

[@fretless05]

Maybe it's a more fitting use than I thought at the time, but when I was just out of college and struggling, I would often make a pot of white rice with a little rice wine and cut up lap cheong to eat. It was simple, inexpensive, rich and filling, and quite delicious! With the sweetness and fattiness of the sausage, it certainly seemed more luxurious than any food I could afford to eat regularly, though it certainly was just that. Had I known about fermented tofu, I'm sure I would have given that a try, too. As for the other video, I did watch a bit just to hear Steph speak in her native tongue. As you say, more of herr personality came through speaking in the language most comfortable and familiar to her. On a completely unrelated note, I follow another KZbinr called "Souped Up Recipes" who also shows how to make traditional Chinese family foods. From what she's said of her family, particularly their love of soups, I looked up exactly where she was from and found that she, too, is from Guangzhou, which, BTW, I did not realize was also known as Canton.

[@frankyates5412]

"lard fried vegetables are awesome" Words to live by!

[@Elizabeth-n3v2u]

The impression of western food being devoid of veg is only sort of accurate. Im an American Southerner born and bread, and our traditional food (the real stuff not the commerciallized crap) is usually a protein and carb with 2-4 veggie dishes per meal. The veg is often seasoned with smoked pork or turkey, and is the biggest part of the meal. I NEVER sat down to eat at my grandmas table with less than 4 vegetable dishes on it. Sweet potatoes roasted in the jacket, butter beans, collard, cabbage, mustard and turnip greens all doused in chilli pepper vinegar. fried onions, sweet corn, string beans, cream peas, english peas, cow peas, sliced red tomato or fried green tomatoes, moschata squash, pickle relish, chow chow, frigerator pickle salads with fresh cukes and a dash of MSG. Okra okra okra fried or in stews. Navy beans in the winter, roasted carrots, rutabaga (my fave), whipped turnip, vegetable soup and Brunswick stew. Corn is our rice. and SO MUCH fresh fruit all summer long. We also eat liver and gizzards and brains and pig trotters, unlike other Americans. There is actually a lot in common between real southern american cooking and szechuan cooking.

[@abydosianchulac2]

Since it's just past Thanksgiving in the States, I was wondering (to the viewership) what people's families did for stuffing when they adapted to the new American holiday. How many people's mothers/grandmothers made up a stuffing of rice with mushrooms and lap cheong?

[@restaurantman]

Cornbread stuffing with Lap Cheong and Chestnuts. It's been our family's tradition for over 40 years.🙂

[@jrmint2]

yes! sticky rice, not just any rice lol, cantonese classic, topped w scallions. yum!

[@Chocobo0Scribe]

My dad’s grandmas did that! And then the day after they used the Turkey bones to make jook

[@jrmint2]

@@Chocobo0Scribe yes, sometimes we would do an onion mushroom saute, leftover corn and peas, throw in a campbell's cream of mushroom or chicken soup, then heat the left over turkey on top of rice or spaghetti (no asian noodles back then), but always the jook at the end that would last days for breakfast and lunch and late night meals. Fond memories!!

[@Chocobo0Scribe]

@@jrmint2 cream of mushroom soup seems to be a go to base for sauce for a lot of ABC families.

[@DoktorP]

I appreciate this realistic and practical guide to Guangdong home cooking! Might just do hot pot though....

[@DoktorP]

When I am able to, I look forward to trying all of these recipes! Amazing!

[@Game_Hero]

This preconception is not just a Cantonese thing, it's pretty much universal. Like for instance, the cooking of Indian food or French food is often associated with their fancy version in restaurants, since this is often the only (not cheap) experience people have with these cuisines, so that's what people tend to imagine compared to an everyday indian or french doing traditional homecooking. I still think both forms of cuisine should be seen as artistic expressions of a cultural experience since both shape them to how and why we love them so much.

[@Duiker36]

Yeah, it's one of the weirder side effects of multiculturalism: every culture wants to put their best foot forward when being seen by others, so the experience most people have with specific cultural cuisine is usually some of the fanciest stuff that can be done. And because most people don't have the literacy to appreciate a sense of how they'd go about doing the same kind of thing, they end up writing the whole cuisine off as too difficult.

[@juliankirby9880]

You speak the truth, the meats, vegetables, mushrooms, and gravy served over potatoes I grew up eating. Is just French home cooking versions of Bistro food. Sear the meat super good, cook it with cognac and wine, and suddenly home cooking becomes restaurant food.

[@WingChunBoyz]

I’m Cambodian American and my mom likes to make soup with every meal, I think the soup sometimes has winter melon, cabbage, tofu, carrots, fish balls and pork meat ball. It’s so comforting and I can just eat the soup with a bowl of rice as a meal. Also my family loves to eat dried fish. When we go out to eat, the only food my mom can eat is Cantonese food. 😀

[@matanbaranes3088]

As always, thanks for the information Steph! It is refreshing to see chinese cooking (and specifially home cooking) demystified:)

[@artistlovepeace]

Nostalgia is very powerful. It's what took me to your channel. I worked in a Chinese restaurant for a Chinese family for many years. This is all true.

[@thunder-san1377]

The discussion of fermented tofu as a "poverty food" really reminds me of discussions I (Dutch) have had with my boyfriend (Polish). My grandmother grew up poor with the food available being heavily supplemented by her parents' garden, and to her, ribs are a "poverty food", and she refuses to eat them to this day because to her, it's basically offal you eat when you've consumed all the good parts of the pig. To my Polish parents-in-law, lentils are a poverty food you only eat as a filler when nothing else is available, so they were somewhat shocked to hear that we eat them semi-regularly (mostly as a lazy soup when we don't feel like making anything more complicated).

[@ElJosher]

The idea of some foods are not eaten because it is associated with “low class” is insane to me. Food is food to me.

[@bmiles4131]

@@ElJoshernot low class, but bad times. If you grow up knowing your eating it because there’s no choice, especially if that’s all you eat, you tend to not want it later when you have choices.

[@KR-hg8be]

​​​​​@@bmiles4131The thought of spaghetti makes me lose my appetite for that reason. My parents are poor and there were many hard years when I was a kid. My moms goto meal was always spaghetti because noodles and a can of sauce mixed with some ground beef was cheap and required 0 effort to cook. The food banks also have out tons of crappy flavorless sauce and noodles when thing got really hard in the winters. I must have eaten a literal ton of spaghetti, spaghetti with powdered cheese, spaghetti with cheap cheddar cheese, spaghetti sandwiches, spaghetti on toast, hot dog spagetti, spaghetti with hot sauce, chicken spaghetti, pork roast spagetti, sausage spaghetti and then a variation of it that involved peanut butter and lime juice to make a sort of pad thai like dish over my childhood. Can't stand it.

[@krysab6125]

My (Polish) grandma was the same! She wouldn't have swedes/rutebaga in the house, as they were all she had to eat during the war. I love lentils in all their forms, will happily eat any turnips, and don't even eat meat (the most 'prestigious' food) - my Granny was most bemused!

[@kaitlyn__L]

@@krysab6125that’s understandable but such a shame, neeps are great

[@kinger604]

Best show yet. I’ve seen them all. Thanks for all you do. Many happy returns.

[@Chris2323518]

Thank you for this overview, so many interesting details. I agree with you that fermented tofu is the perfect rice killer. I discovered it a few years ago, when a recipe for a vegetable stir fry dish suggested adding fermented tofu and I quickly realised how satisfying it is to eat this on its own over rice.

[@venicawood3894]

I've probably missed many episodes however, to me, this is one of your best ones ever. Thank you.

[@thihal123]

I love this introduction. Reminds me of my childhood meals

[@uli11]

Love the Dalrymple book in the back!

[@vaylonkenadell]

I love this channel. One of these days, I'm going to get my own wok. Thank you for such interesting and informative videos!

[@bobjoe7508]

Loved this video! Really helps in figuring out recipes that are more home cook friendly. Also, in the future I would love to see more Chinese diaspora recipes from Thailand or Southeast Asia in general. The Chinese food in Thailand, Malaysia, and Singapore is super interesting (and delicious!)

[@haileybalmer9722]

I just ate my rice with furu mixed with a little sugar and sesame oil and it's so good. Thanks for the tip!

[@jrmint2]

my grandma use to do that...something I've forgotten about once I moved out and started discovering other cuisines...must get back to this. simple and nutritious too.

[@AMTunLimited]

The intro makes me think of the difference between French ✨ cuisine ✨ and "peasent" style french dishes

[@NonaRoe]

i really found your thoughts on the salt fish with rice interesting! as someone in the united states eating on a budget a lot of the time, i've defaulted to tinned salted fish (tuna in a pinch, but i usually try to get some sort of smoked herring or sardine) with some kewpie and seasonings (usually paprika and lemon pepper, but really whatever i have in the pantry) over plain white rice as my go-to filling food, because it's so good at seasoning the rice on its own. It's really interesting to see it as a food shortage staple, because thats the whole reason i ended up eating it so much (and it's so much more flavorful than a lot of more common american budget foods. i get tired of beans and rice in like two days). thank you for the video!

[@evan8463]

This is the video I've been looking for for soooo long

[@ASlaveOfAllah157]

I made a Cantonese beef soup thanks to your videos Cantonese cuisine is becoming my favourite thanks!

[@tsuribachi]

I first saw fermented tofu when my grandfather had it with boiled rice my father was surprised I took to it so readily as in, like to eat it, with or without rice

[@meowcula]

your videos are so educational. thank you.

[@omikrondraconis5708]

The send-down rice dishes sound a bit like something that was customary in Eastern Germany when times got rough: Kartoffeln mit Leinöl, boiled potatoes with flaxseed oil (and salt, I guess). It is really special and due to the flaxseed oil an acquired taste, but this, too, is meant to get something relatively cheap and available down in larger quantities, so that less of the more expensive or difficult-to-obtain stuff is needed.

[@jrmint2]

Growing up under a Cantonese grandma, no meal was set down that did not include soup and vegetables...my mom could not eat without a soup. One time on a spur of the moment trip up to the cottage, our fridge was sparser than usual and my mom made a hot dog and lettuce soup...that's how desperate it was. The soup was awful, hot dog water w soy sauce lol.

[@Garblegox]

This channel is a dream come true

[@shigemorif1066]

The jarred garlic is terrible, but a good lazy garlic way I use these days is to buy pre-peeled garlic and then freeze it. It may lose a bit of fragrance from the pre-peeling, but it’s still a whole clove. Plus, you can either slice it easily when it’s frozen or let it thaw and it’s really soft so super easy to smash and chop. Plus you never have to worry about it going bad!

[@chaklee435]

I've heard you can buy pre-frozen peeled garlic

[@porina_pew]

I forgot how bad the jar garlic was so I bought it twice! I find a good garlic flavour comes from Italian garlic paste. Didn't have luck with chopped frozen garlic myself. Maybe left it a bit long but it all stuck together and hard to separate.

[@supertak50]

An even easier hack for those who want more control in the intensity of the garlic flavor by starting with whole cloves is to put half a head of separated cloves into a large jar, cap it, and shake vigorously for a few seconds. The skins slough right off. No muss, no fuss.

[@bmiles4131]

Smashing it is easier than freezing to me. If they sprout, I plant them to eat later. Totally agree jarred is yuk.

[@jrmint2]

thats actually a great idea thanks!

[@patrickmaun9406]

Fantastic video as always.

[@cparks1000000]

I much prefer Sichuan food over most foods. Also, in some western areas, particularly south-eastern USA, there is a lot of emphasis on vegetables in cooking.

[@jakeshaw6971]

Seriously, you two are the best.

[@Sacto1654]

Cantonese-style Chinese food was the first style of authentic Chinese food that became popular in the West, thanks to many expatriates from Hong Kong going to the USA, Canada and the UK in the 1950's to 1970's. It wasn't until the 1980's that other styles of Chinese food became popular in the West, thanks to cooks from other parts of China starting to open restaurants outside China.

[@dbok]

This video put additional context to things my father would mention or be looking for when I was a child

[@Raccoonopolis]

Sweet on my re watch I'll actually be able to understand what's going on this time.

[@kvk1]

Love this channel. Thank you.

[@klieu90210]

Red fermented tofu is one of my favorite things to have on rice, but my parents would only buy it like twice a year when I was a kid.

[@TF_NowWithExtraCharacters]

Personally (Teochew here) my family only did salted fish as a side dish when we were having porridge - same idea, carb killer. My dad would fry them up, and there'll be a contrast between the slightly fattier parts having a flaky texture and the drier parts being almost biscuit-like crispy, and they'll crumble into powder if you pinch them just right. And beansprouts stir-fried with salted fish is awesome!

[@somtot]

The fuyu part reminds me of when my grandpa threatened to beat the s**t out of anyone who dares brought taro or any kind of tubers into the house. It reminds him of the time when his hometown had no rice to eat and have to rely on these tubers. He sworethat oncw he reached Thailand he will eat only white rice to his heart's content. My grandma, on the other hand, was born here and really loves the tubers so she had to eat them in secret 😂.

[@DonnyXplease]

I liked that one part where the fish got filated. This channel is responsible for like 40% of my calories in a given month

[@ASlaveOfAllah157]

Could you make more videos for easy low Ingredient recipes also can you give me a substitute for wine can sichuan pepper replace white pepper

[@nikobatallones]

Having just come from Hong Kong and spent a lot of time eating in random noodle places in Wan Chai... yes, totally, yes. (I know it's not home cooking per se but it's not fancy stuff either.)

[@UnclePutte]

I want to recommend everyone who hates mincing try getting the type of chinese kitchen knife used in this video, for example. The cutting technique is a lot more intuitive than with german, french or japanese style chef knives in my opinion.

[@Maiasatara]

I have a QUESTION regarding the proper storage for a Ginger Garlic Oil and will try to be brief. Recently, I made a cooked, flavored oil using minced garlic, ginger and scallions in peanut oil. I cooked it over low heat for 45 minutes rather than pouring sizzling hot oil over raw aromatics. As soon as it cooled to @ room temperature, I stored the leftover oil and mince in the fridge in a covered container. All the aromatics were fully submerged in oil. How long can this be kept for use in dishes? (I’m hearing everything from 2-3 days to 3-4 weeks.) Is this product and this storage method safe from botulism growth? I thought that it was only a danger if raw garlic is put into oil and kept on the counter. And what about the version that has sizzling hot oil poured over raw aromatics? How long can THAT be kept safely in the fridge? With so much misinformation running rampant on social media, I figured asking two people I trust, on their Cantonese home cooking video, was the perfect opportunity to learn how it’s done in practice. Thank you! (Not so brief lol.)

[@danielpincus221]

In the steamed fish dish, I would go the extra step of mincing the scallions to spread their flavor all around.

[@danielpincus221]

Great. Great. Note: the "click here to jump" links in the Substack piece don't work.

[@brandon3872]

This is a bit random, but could you please make a video about the history of soy milk, and it's significance in Chinese culture? :)

[@jrmint2]

tofu is now almost a universal food, soy has come a long way.

[@carlcouture1023]

Fermented tofu is a struggle meal? That's good to know but also sad. It's delicious. It's like if tofu was an aged cheese.

[@Kat-mf7mt]

Interested in the cookbook you showed in the video! Possible for a link or title?

[@tuesdayg7030]

I want to cook more of this amazing food, same with things like hotpot but i live alone and have no family so i don't know how to approach meal planning or cooking like this. How do i cook like this and not have a month of leftovers as a solo person.

[@gailcrockett9883]

Excellent!

[@commenter6355]

Great video - but one note for Steph. At 6:45 the fish was “filleted” not “fellated”.🤣

[@Elizabeth-n3v2u]

Omg that's hilarious. Her English is impressive I'm surprised at that unfortunate mispronounciation

[@rosalie.e.morgan]

It's pronounced more like "fuh·layd" in America English, but the lack of any t sound really helps avoid it sounding like the other thing. Landing in the middle of the British and American pronunciation is so awkward for this particular word.

[@Jodabomb24]

I love this channel and I will always, always watch the videos as soon as they come out. Recipes are consistently phenomenal. I know it's a Chinese cooking channel and not a French learning channel........but it still bugs me every time guys. "Mise" has one syllable, not two. It's "meez", not "mee-zay".

[@nathanieljack395]

Lol, came here to say this. I'm glad I'm not the only pedantic one...

[@SpiceBear]

Awesome video

[@cloud_and_proud]

Can you substitute the Chinese wines for European wines? I mean I understand it'll taste different, but will it taste bad?

[@ChineseCookingDemystified]

Totally. Many people like to use sherry, and of course you can play with it.

[@jasonyoung6420]

There is a clear distinction between so called 'high cooking' (haute cuisine) and normal/real cooking/cuisine that doesn't just apply to "French" cooking; it applies nearly every, if not every, cultures/regions cooking.

[@jrmint2]

actually that's not really true...most cuisines do not have a high brow cooking style. Chinese and French actually have cooking schools dedicated to the styles and philosophy of the cuisines, that takes years of training. If you want to be a real chef, those are the two schools you go to depending on what you want to learn. In China, there are schools dedicated to just making noodles. The French have sommelier schools that will pair wines w food...its very academic. Both French and Chinese cooking study and teach the real alchemy going on behind the scenes often adopting multiple cooking steps to get to the final product..... Both cooking styles cannot be taught directly from a cook book, yes the basic stuff....but the French and Chinese imperial courts demanded a whole new level of expertise. All other cooking styles adopt very basic cooking techniques to ingredients found locally. The only exception is that Indian cuisine has brought the magic of spices to the world.

[@santibanks]

​@@jrmint2 I understand your point but I think it is not entirely what the OP means. In the end, this "haute cuisine" is nothing more than just the most extravagant and expensive variation of a given cuisine. It is after all where it originates from: the ruling aristocracy class (be it emperors, kings, sultans, whatever). So wherever there is a ruling aristocracy class, there is a "highest level of quality" available of a given cuisine. The amount of "intellectualisation" differs between countries. French, Japanese, Cantonese, and perhaps to a lesser degree Italian and Spanish are probably among the most "intellectual" cuisines. It is also this kind of cuisine which mostly made it into the Michelin guide (traditionally speaking, they have loosened up now). But it is important to understand that Cantonese and especially the Japanese cuisines at that level have a different reason for their intellectualisation. You cannot see those separate from the general culture and religious mindset. The strife for natural perfection and dedicating yourself to perfection are values which are coming from Buddhism and Confucianism. Especially in Japan, dedicating your life to create the perfect noodle is not for the sake of pleasing the emperor (like it would in France), it is a genuine way of living and finding value and purpose in your life. That perfect noodle would actually be available to a layman too. Because food is just one of the things in which you can dedicate yourself to perfection. People there dedicate themselves to create the perfect knife/sword, the perfect brick, the perfect you name anything artisan… And as you correctly point out, it takes training, you can't learn it from a book, the apprenticeship is a very central component in that because it is al artisanal. Similar with Cantonese. The idea of contrasting colours, textures, flavours, shapes originates from their beliefs and has 0 to do with "food science" (or as you put it: the alchemy). It's basically the application of Feng Shui (which I think fits with Taoism) beliefs and philosophy to food in order to strive to their ideal of balance and harmony. But it is therefor something which can be applied to other things too so the food is not the only thing "intellectualised". So you are correct in your observations on French and (you call it) Chinese cooking. But the OP is not incorrect and your observations don't counter what the OP is saying.

[@SatchmoBronson]

Sick I didn't even know y'all had a Substack.

[@matanbaranes3088]

Oooh i love me some smoked/salted fish, is it usually added after steaming with ginger as is to the rice? Is it usually in steak form or diced?

[@delyar]

Brava, steph!

[@EpicvidsKetti08]

As for more European ideas I would recommend that goes well with this cooking style is Olive Oil (better for home cooking) Roasted Stock (both) and Hungarian Paprika (both)

[@BigHenFor]

Olive oil is denatured at the high temperatures needed for stir frying, as it's smoke point is lower than that used in stir fry. Lard, coconut oil, rice bran oil, or avocado oil are better alternatives for stir frying than olive oil, whose best form is Extra Virgin. ("Light" and pomace blends olive oil use chemicals to extract the oils, and are not as healthy). Use EVOO for dressing finished stir fries to keep it's benefits.

[@jrmint2]

I actually cook chinese vegetables by blanching and just dressing w either EV olive oil or sesame oil and a bit of soy sauce...

[@maxbertman1168]

Is there a recipe for the Tofu Egg shown at 13:35?

[@chubby_deity3143]

omg, the disappointment in her voice when she talked about that jar of minced garlic

[@tomwhitelaw39]

Can you guys please do a video on how to cook Wat Dan Oyok Fan (Smooth eggs with beef over rice)? Best Cantonese dish going around and there is a lack of authentic recipes represented on youtube or the internet for that matter.

[@jomercer21113]

Huh. I almost didn't recognize your dad with a shirt on.

[@tootietatum8737]

Let me first say - I absolutely love your videos and hope you keep making them for years to come. I know how much work it is to put these together. I did want to mention that in the word "fillet" the "t" is silent so it is pronounced "fillay". I only bring this up because I first had your video on in the background and was only listening and when I got to 6:43, I had to do a double-take. I will leave it to your husband to translate that word, but the pronunciation for what you had done to the fish is "fillayed" and not "fellated." Just a small point of order. Again, love your videos. Keep up the great work!

[@sevenandthelittlestmew]

Yes, “fellated” could ABSOLUTELY be misconstrued.

[@samirhazlehurst8806]

That’s only the pronunciation in US English. In UK English the t is pronounced.

[@jrmint2]

americans use the french pronunciation, British use the t

[@SuperSpecies]

Australia and UK pronounce the t. It's weird how Americans say it in the French way yet use the word entree wrongly :)

[@ChronoZero]

i love how in every video, every time she says cooking, the subtitles say cocaine lol

[@rainzerdesu]

I always wondered because dark soy sauce tastes good, why did it get relegated to just for color only instead of being used for flavor?

[@BigHenFor]

It's more intense flavour and colour are less desirable in more delicately flavoured dishes. And you don't want everything looking or tasting the same. That's why its often regulated to braised meat and meaty fish dishes. For everyday cooking you can get by using a high quality light soy sauce. It's a bit like oyster sauce - a good one only requires a little in the dishes you use, because a little goes a long way.

[@filroum]

Correct me if I’m wrong but I think you haven’t made a Spring Rolls video! If not take it as a suggestion. Once again you provided a great crush course! Love from Greece!

[@elryan1982]

spring rolls genuinely not that big a deal in guangdong. just one of the few things that has spread to the west

[@jolarocknrolla6015]

yes please Cantonese soups!!!

[@Night_from_GT_asia_2]

appreciate the refrance 8:52

[@merbertancriwalli8622]

8:52 Souper vast and Souper deep 🙂

[@reginabillotti]

Using pre-minced garlic (when I opt for that) is not just for convenience, but also because the quality of the garlic at the grocery stores near me is hit and miss.

[@SuperSpecies]

It is really a totally different product. They should call it essence of Garlic because it doesn't taste anything like fresh garlic.

[@chuck1384]

How can you compare Cantonese salted fish to the dried salted cod of the west? Thanks for sharing your tasty knowledge. :)

[@jrmint2]

They are similar, but the fish is different, hence the flavor is different. love them both

[@grilledflatbread4692]

if you mean bacalao, the bacalao is drier imo. the Cantonese salted fish is a bit closer to a real fish. IIRC it often has the bones and skin attached.

[@fajaraldida]

I’m not sure this the right place to request or not, but anyway. I always had dimsum similliar with hakkau but is roll type, red/purple colour, have crispy layer inside and served with peanut sauce. For me it was 1 of the best dimsum type and must have when I go to any guangzhou restaurant (normally they alwats have it). Unfortunately I never found this dimsum anymore after I left china. Do you know this dimsum name? I trying to found the recipe but is hard to found it if I dont know the name 😢. Or.. maybe if you are not busy, maybe you can make video for this dish?

[@ChineseCookingDemystified]

Sounds like ja leung (炸两) to me, which is basically a cheung fun with a crispy stuffing inside, pretty good. We have cheung fun rice roll and youtiao deep fried dough stick recipes actually, and ja leung is basically combining the two together, but I guess stuffing would require some technique.

[@Anesthesia069]

I've never figured it out: how does one eat fish bone/head soup? coming from a culture which seems to produce people who squeal "it's looking at meee!" when served with a whole fish, fish head soup is NOT something I've ever come across. Do you leave the bones, pick the meat from them...? I don't know.

[@ShredST]

I think you can just drink the soup without touching the head/bones if you want. It's mostly about getting the fish flavor from the bones into the soup

[@ChineseCookingDemystified]

Yeah, we'd usually take out the head and the bone, pick the meat out and eat it as well. Those part still got a surprising amount of meat on them.

[@thegolfcartshop]

upvote for big alex

[@dingliedangliedoodle9261]

How much of that seasoning in the red can at 11:39 do you need to use?

[@shannahsnyder5653]

More soup recipes please

[@Apollo440]

Wait, you're not saying that not all Chinese people have a 12 000 Watt jet engine stove in their kitchen !?

[@gabrielromero9058]

Instead of two videos, i would reeeeeeally prefer a cantonese one with subtitles. Great content!

[@Trassel242]

Thank you for this video, it taught me about a cuisine I know next to nothing about, sadly I don’t have any friends from China to geek out about cooking with. I love the Cantonese approach to eating vegetables, the Western style of “here’s some meat and some kind of carb, these have been carefully made and spiced to harmonise with each other. Oh, you need vegetables, have some roughly chopped leaves (mixed lettuce) that I literally made in 5 seconds with 0 thought, it will get ruined if any of the hot food touches it, have fun!” is probably the main reason of my vegetable intake being quite low.

[@ShaCaro]

That's a really bad generalisation you're doing there, and the video does as well tbh. The vast majority of western food does not delegate vegetables to be a (raw) side-dish. Just because you (and likely your provider growing up) can't cook doesn't mean the cuisine of two entire continents containing dozens of cultures is uninspired. Have a look at gulash, risotto, paella, pizza, stamppot, sauerkraut, quiche, erwtensoep, brown bean soup, literally any vegetable soup actually - we have many, kapsalon, fish 'n chips, basic-ass hamburgers, pesto as a concept, empanadas, shepherd's pie and similar dishes, haggis, many sandwiches, lasagna, etcetera etcetera etcetera. Even non-vegetable based soups tend to have a lot of vegetables in the broth. Christ.

[@Trassel242]

@@ShaCaro I guess it could also be a typical Swedish thing, we’re a very “meat and potatoes and gravy” culture. Or just my mum not making vegetables very well.

[@TF_NowWithExtraCharacters]

@@Trassel242 to be fair, the Chinese approach to leafy greens (the non-soup dishes) is usually to douse with some combination of soy or oyster sauce, which makes them light but strong-tasting and encourage more rice consumption lol. Also keeps the texture, so even when you have oyster sauce greens beside oyster sauce pork, the experience is notably different. Compared to the ones I know from Western cultures (eg. the ones ShaCaro mentioned) it's typically either raw or long-cooked. And paired with fat, whether it's oil, dairy/butter, or fatty meat. The raw ones don't last, like you said, and the cooked ones are kinda heavy and it's hard to consume as much.

[@ElJosher]

⁠@@Trassel242i suppose it also has to do with sweden being a country in a cold climate doesn’t have a diverse range of veggies and less land for cultivation due to a harsher climate, as opposed to subtropical like guandong in china. That probably impacted how cuisine developed to favor more hearty and longer lasting foods for the winter.

[@ChineseCookingDemystified]

@@ShaCaro I really appreciate your passion about vegetable dishes, haha. I think that's a very interesting case study about the definition of what "vegetable" is in different cultures. And that definition is a peculiar characteristic about Cantonese food (we talked about it more in detail in the Substack post if you're curious). For a Cantonese meal, only leafy greens are consider "real vegetable" and other like peas, carrots, root veg are not. And a "vegetable dish" needs to be almost pure veg and not much else. And that was where I was coming from when talking about "vegetables". It's very interesting to me that all of the examples you listed would not be considered "vegetable" dishes in a Cantonese context. Apologies if I wasn't being clear enough. But as @TF_NowWithExtraCharacters mentioned, it is a different view and different ways of consuming veg, and when vegetable are paired with fat or meat, it may be a challenge to eat a lot.

[@Tomy_Yon]

That's Alex. 😊

[@boy_ka84]

Tho be honest, you can do only one single cantonese video. Since that KZbin has the subtitle to english translation enabled, it should be no problem only one Cantonese video.

[@ChineseCookingDemystified]

Doing translation and subs would be so much more painful than doing two vos tbh... Otherwise we'd film my dad a lot more and sub his stuff.

[@CalebCalixFernandez]

At a job I had a good ten years ago, one coworker had a Chinese last name and said that her mother had a Chinese restaurant. I started talking with her a little about Chinese food and the topic about Cantonese food came up. I asked her about it and she told me that Cantonese food was high-end Chinese food and that's why it was highly regarded. I guess that her being born in my home country and not in China meant that she wasn't well versed in what Chinese food actually was.

[@jrmint2]

The language barrier between overseas born chinese and just straight up communication barriers between parents and kids mean many learn about chinese culture through youtube lol. I know very little, my kids know nothing, they can't even order in chinese....at least I can do that sometimes.

[@nonominomi9688]

Too much store-bought jarred Furu wasn't allowed because 1. it's too salty. 2. it made us consume too much rice/buns or too little veggies and proteins in one meal. 3. it made the cook who made all the fresh dishes look like a failure😆

[@JYeh888]

Always love your content and knowledge. ( ꈍᴗꈍ)

[@jasonreviews]

cantonese always drink soup.

[@ChrisCheung73]

👍

[@RScamble]

It's my first time seeing a century egg in a soup.

[@Redmi-xu1yo]

egg 🥚 fried rice 😋

[@dskim8075]

👍👍👍

[@CaseNumber00]

I feel like a lot of street casual food, like Cantonese food, has be upscale and become luxurious. I see that with Burgers and BBQ in the US where their roots were as cheap street food. I personally think this is just an excuse to ultimately charge and scam more money and its working.