From Teochew To Hakka, How Our Grandparents’ Heritage Shaped S’pore’s Chinese Cuisine

I’m not a foodie. I’m averse to too many types of food, primarily seafood, to be a foodie.

But I enjoy learning about food and different cuisines. I love learning about what goes into a dish, and how it is cooked and prepared.

I’ve spent way too many weekend afternoons watching cooking programs, from Rachael Ray to Jamie Oliver and Curtis Stone.

However, as a Chinese kid, one thing greatly annoys me about western chefs and cooks. Their version of “Asian” cuisine is always wrong. Just because a dish has fish sauce, soy sauce, sesame oil, chilli, or sesame seeds, does NOT make it an “Asian” or “Asian-inspired” dish.

It’s a sin that’s committed by almost all western celebrity chefs. So today, with my own knowledge, I’ll educate you guys on the different types of Chinese cuisine, specifically from the different dialect groups.

Cantonese Cuisine

Growing up, I always associated Cantonese cuisine with Dim Sum, mainly because it’s so popular in Hong Kong.

However, Cantonese cuisine is so much more than Dim Sum.

[caption id="attachment_35543" align="aligncenter" width="972"]singapore chinese cuisine Image Credit: singapore chinese cuisine Image Credit: Wikipedia[/caption]

Cantonese cuisine also has very bold and strong flavours and it can be seen in the types of sauces that the dishes are usually paired and served with. Examples include Black bean sauce, Oyster sauce, Sweet and Sour sauce, and even our favourite Shrimp (Prawn) paste.

[caption id="attachment_35547" align="aligncenter" width="620"]singapore chinese cuisine Image Credit: Lifestyle Food[/caption]

There’s also a lot of preserved and dried ingredients used to improve or layer flavours in a dish. Ingredients such as Century egg, Salted egg, Preserved radish (better known as Cai Po that we eat with Chwee Kueh), and Salted fish.

[caption id="attachment_35545" align="aligncenter" width="690"]singapore chinese cuisine Image Credit: singapore chinese cuisine Image Credit: Asian Inspirations[/caption]

Hakka Cuisine

My encounters with Hakka cuisine are mostly thanks to my maternal grandfather. He’s proudly Hakka and we used to visit his hometown back in the Hakka province in China.

[caption id="attachment_35549" align="aligncenter" width="608"]singapore chinese cuisine Image Credit: Beijing Hikers[/caption]

While Cantonese cuisine relies a lot on the condiments for flavour, Hakka cuisine has flavourful ingredients. The main ingredients is usually already preserved or braised, which already imparts a lot of flavour into the ingredient itself.

The garnish and condiments are usually to complement the main ingredient. One example of this is Braised Pork Belly with Preserved mustard greens.

[caption id="attachment_35550" align="aligncenter" width="3216"]singapore chinese cuisine Image Credit: Saltalk[/caption]

One of my personal favourites is Hakka Yong Tau Foo. Unlike the one we commonly find in Singapore, the ingredients in Hakka Yong Tau Foo are stuffed with minced pork or a meat paste and served with a yellow bean stew.

[caption id="attachment_35551" align="aligncenter" width="640"]singapore chinese cuisine Image Credit: Burppler Denise Ong[/caption]

A variant I’ve tried is a dry stir-fried version of minced pork-stuffed beancurd in a peppery, starchy sauce and garnished very generously with spring onions.

Other Hakka dishes you might be familiar with include Thunder Tea Rice (Lei Cha Fan), Salt-Baked Chicken, and the famous Abacus Beads.

[caption id="attachment_35552" align="aligncenter" width="640"]singapore chinese cuisine Image Credit: singapore chinese cuisine Image Credit: keeprecipes[/caption] [caption id="attachment_35555" align="aligncenter" width="640"]singapore chinese cuisine Image Credit: thedrinksbusiness[/caption]

Hokkien Bak Kut Teh is the dark, herbal version that’s usually found in Malaysia. I personally prefer the Teochew version.

[caption id="attachment_35553" align="aligncenter" width="640"]singapore chinese cuisine Image Credit: singapore chinese cuisine Image Credit: Hungry Peepor[/caption]

Another famous Teochew dish is Teochew porridge. In contrast with the thicker Cantonese congee, Teochew porridge has a thinner consistency with loose grains. The porridge is usually served with salted vegetables, boiled salted egg, fried peanuts and salted fish.

[caption id="attachment_35556" align="aligncenter" width="631"]singapore chinese cuisine Image Credit: singapore chinese cuisine Image Credit: Wikipedia[/caption]

Singapore’s cuisine has its roots primarily in Hokkien and Teochew cuisine, with a few influences from Cantonese cuisine. Chinese cuisine is as diverse as the provinces in China, each with its own influences, ingredients, cooking style, and flavour.

So before you go throwing sesame seeds into a dish and calling it Asian food, you might want to have PROPER Chinese cuisine first.

Also read McDonald’s Brings The Popular D24 Durian McFlurry To S’pore – Available From July 5

(Header Image Source: Burppler Denise Ong, Saltalk, Asian Inspirations)