Teochew cuisine

Teochew cuisine, also known as Chiuchow cuisine, Chaozhou cuisine or Chaoshan cuisine, originated from the Chaoshan region in the east of Guangdong province, which includes the cities of Chaozhou, Shantou and Jieyang. Teochew cuisine bears more similarities to that of Fujian cuisine, with which it shares some dishes. This may be due to the similarity of Chaoshan's and Fujian's culture and language and to their geographic proximity. However, Teochew cuisine is also influenced by Cantonese cuisine in its style and technique.

Background

Teochew cuisine is well known for its seafood and vegetarian dishes and is commonly regarded as being healthy. Its use of flavouring is much less heavy-handed than most other Chinese cuisines and depends much on the freshness and quality of the ingredients for taste and flavour. As a delicate cuisine, oil is not often used in large quantities and there is a relatively heavy emphasis on poaching, steaming and braising, as well as the common Chinese method of stir-frying. Chaozhou cuisine is also known for serving congee (Chinese: 潮州糜; pinyin: Cháozhōu mí; or mue), in addition to steamed rice or noodles with meals. The Teochew mue is rather different from the Cantonese counterpart, being very watery with the rice sitting loosely at the bottom of the bowl, while the Cantonese dish is more a thin gruel.

Chaozhou

Chaozhou (Chinese: 潮州), alternatively transliterated as Chiuchow,Chaochow, or Teochew, is a city in the eastern Guangdong province of the China. It borders Shantou to the south, Jieyang to the southwest, Meizhou to the northwest, the province of Fujian to the east and the South China Sea to the southeast. It is administered as a prefecture-level city with a jurisdiction area of 3,110 square kilometres (1,200 sq mi) and a total population of 2,669,844. Along with Shantou and Jieyang, Chaozhou is part of the Chaoshan region.

Administration

Chaozhou's municipal executive, legislature and judiciary are situated in Xiangqiao District, together with its CPC and Public Security bureau.

Geography and climate

Chaozhou is located in the easternmost part of the Guangdong Province, north of the coastal Shantou City. It is situated north of the delta of the Han River, which flows throughout the city.

The Chaozhou territory is mountainous. In particular, the nearby Phoenix Mountain's peak is 1497 meters above sea level. The main nearby rivers are the Huanggang River and the Han River. The Han River flows from west to southeast, and ramps through downtown Chaozhou; the Huanggang river flows roughly from north to south through the territory of Raoping, emptying into the sea. These two rivers provide abundant water for Chaozhou. Hills account for 65% of the total land area within the city, mainly in Raoping and Northern Chaoan. To the north of the city, there is a wide mountainous area suitable for tea cultivation; the lower-altitude areas nearby are mainly suitable for growing bamboo, peach, plum, olive, and pineapple. On the banks of the Han River, there is fertile land used for rice, sweet potato, peanut, soybean, carrot, orange, peach, and banana cultivation.

Chaozhou (disambiguation)

Chaozhou or Teochew may refer to:

See also