粤人食“鲜”

粤人食“鲜”

如今我们谈论的粤菜，其实是一个非常含糊的称法，从广义上来说，它是广府菜、潮汕菜、客家菜的集结，是一个地域性的概括。而最早的粤菜，其实专指广府菜，而广府菜又以顺德菜为代表。

先秦时期，栖居于珠三角一带的南越人以采集螺、蚌、蚬、牡蛎等水产品为生，善鱼业。据《周礼》载，他们“煮蟹当粮”，而且有“生食之”的习惯。秦始皇南定百越之后，中原与岭南的文化、经济交往渐多。到了汉代，南越武王赵佗归汉，中原的烹调技术也随着中原文化的传入而进来。而至南宋战乱时期，南逃的皇室把中土的饮食习俗一路带到广东，使广府菜系至今尚保留了许多古代正统的食法。岭南人特有的“不问鸟兽虫蛇，无不食之”的地方风格与习惯正食的北味烹调技术相结合，就转变为南方特有的菜肴。至此，广府菜作为一个菜系初具雏形，“南烹”之名见于典籍。

和潮汕菜及客家菜相比，广府菜更注重质和味，口味比较清淡，最讲究一个“鲜”字。

食材必须新鲜，当时得令，尊重食材的季节性，是广府菜最为人称道的特点，和孔子强调的“不时不食”养生法如出一辙。也因此，广府菜十分注重不同季节的不同饮食法：春则清之，夏则凉之，秋则润之，冬则温之。比方说这炎炎夏日，荔荷炖大鸭就是广府菜的必尝，蓓蕾状态的荷花、刚红熟的荔枝与肥美的早禾鸭同炖，食材合时令但组合又超乎想象，然口感端的是鲜甜清香，亦可消暑散热。

广府菜的鲜，还体现在烹制的方法上，火候不能生也不能过熟，很少用红烧或浓烈的高味料去炮制食物，多用清蒸、白切、白灼等手法，为的就是保持食物的原汁原味。一道顺德鱼生，就是很好的佐证：经大厨放血后快刀片出的鱼肉洁白透明，放在冰块上降温后更爽滑清甜，佐以油、盐、糖和姜丝、葱丝、椒丝、豉油、花生碎、芝麻、香芋丝、炸粉丝等十几种调料，生鱼片入口滑嫩，满口甜鲜，足以令人忘却今昔何昔。

Steamed Mandarin Fish

Fish is the ingredient every household in the Pearl River Delta buys. As the saying goes, “Ruling a big country is like cooking small fi shes,” there is a world of philosophy in steaming fi sh. When it comes to steamed fi sh, mandarin fi sh is often the fi rst choice because the meat is tender and there are few fi sh bones. Before the fi sh can be steamed, it must be gutted and the water is wiped off with a clean cloth; cutting the ridge open will make the fi sh heated more evenly. While steaming, the pot lid should be covered with a towel to keep the most steam inside and make the fi sh fi rmer in taste.

清蒸桂花鱼

鱼，是珠三角一带家家都会买的食材，都道“治大国若烹小鲜”，清蒸鱼里同样乾坤道道。

Poached Chicken

“No chicken, no banquet,” poached chicken is

also the ultimate practice of Cantonese cuisine

in pursuing best-quality ingredients. The meat

must be from non-egg-laying hens of 180 days. Wenchang chicken of Hainan is ranked the best, followed by Qingyuan chicken and Zhanjiang

chicken. There are many ways of cooking poached chicken. The most authentic way should be three repetitions of poaching chicken and soaking in ice water. Such preparatory steps serve the purpose of making the chicken taste tender and chewy.

Eaten with green onion and ginger sauce of a

secret recipe, the mouthful of delicacy is a remedy to homesickness.

白切鸡

最正宗的白切鸡应该是浸熟+泡冰水，来回三次，为了让鸡肉的口感变得既嫩滑又弹牙，就着秘制葱姜汁，满口鲜香。

Roast Suckling Pig

As early as the Southern and Northern dynasties (420– 589 AD), the agriculturist Jia Sixie already recorded roast suckling pig as an important fruit of cooking skills in his agricultural classic Qi Min Yao Shu (Essential Skill to Benefi t the People), “colour like amber and real gold, melt in the mouth, grand like the snow, moist and juicy, ever extraordinary.” No matter how the trend changes, roast suckling pig is always a must-have in Guangzhou banquets. The banquet can only start after the golden pig is served and the rest of the feast follows.

烤乳猪

无论菜式如何新旧变迁，烤乳猪是广府筵席上少不了的应节之物，金猪上后，才是筵席开篇，方有大菜陆续上桌。

Old Fire Soup

It is a set routine in Cantonese banquets to serve a bowl of old fi re soup before the feast. The slowly-cooked soup is prepared with right temperature and lengthy time, covering both the herbal medical effects and the sweetness in taste. Even the ordinary household has its own secret recipe of a bowl of soup: the combination of all soup ingredients and the details of cooking methods together are enough to complete a booklet of secret family soup recipes, passing down from mothers to daughters, from one generation to another.

老火靓汤

慢火煲煮的中华老火靓汤，火候足，时间长，既取药补之效，又取入口之甘甜。