There’s a joke online that goes “Where can you find delicious food in Beijing?” The answer is “Taxi a taxi to the airport, Guangdong Province is only a few hours away.” Guangdong people has a reputation in China that they love good food. And you cannot not mention Foshan food when it comes to Guangdong food, especially cuisines from Shunde.
Double-layer steamed milk custard, a dessert which is made by stewing milk, egg white and sugar, originated in Shunde, Guangdong Province, and has a history of more than 100 years. It’s creamy in shape and white in colour. The smell is nice but not heavy, sweet but not greasy. In addition to the original flavour, according to personal preferences, different toppings can be added to enrich its flavour, for example, double-layer steamed milk custard with red beans, double-layer steamed milk custard with lotus seeds, double-layer steamed milk custard with egg etc, which can be served cold or warm. Double-layer steamed milk custard was first created in Daliang Town, Shunde, so it is usually called Daliang double-layer steamed milk custard for full. It is made by boiling and steaming fresh milk and egg liquid. It got its name because of the two thin layers on the surface. Double-layer steamed milk custard has been popular in Guangdong since the 1930s and 1940s, and it is still enjoying a good reputation.
Lunjiao cake is a snack made from indica rice flour, sago rice and other ingredients. It originated in Lunjiao Town, Shunde District, and then became popular in Guangzhou. It is a traditional snack in the Lingnan area and belongs to Cantonese cuisine in terms of cooking style. Different from sponge cakes and Cantonese sponge cakes made with rice and sugar, Lunjiao cakes are famous for their crystal clear whiteness. High-quality Lunjiao cakes are as smooth as a mirror, with small blisters-like perforations in the body of the cake.
Water quality is the key to making Lunjiao cakes, but rice quality is equally important. The rice quality and the colloid can ensure the smoothness of the cake. The production technique of Lunjiao cake is quite difficult, from grinding rice milk to making dry milk, then to straining sugar water, re-boiling milk, rinsing dry milk, adding ferment powder and finally putting it in a steamer and steaming it over medium heat. Each process is very exquisite. First of all, choose high-quality rice, sugar, egg whites and other condensed materials. The production process involves grinding, mixing, fermentation, steaming and cooling. To put it simply, first grind rice with water, then put it into a cloth bag to remove water, then boil an appropriate amount of sugar with water to make a syrup, and add egg whites. Filter out the impurities, put it back to the pot and boil, then pour into the dry rice milk. Mix well. After cooling, add backing powder (ferment powder). Put the lid on and leave for 10 hours, put it in a steamer, steam on medium heat for 30 minutes. It is time to enjoy the cake after cooling.
Manggong cookie is one of the traditional snacks and one of Foshan's local specialties. It is also known as the four famous bings (Chinese pastry snacks) in Guangdong, along with JiZai Cookies, Zhongshan Almond Cookies and Xiqiao Cakes. Manggong cookie was created in the Jiaqing period of the Qing Dynasty and has a history of more than 200 years.
Manggong, the literal Chinese translation is blind man. It is said that during the Jiaqing period of the Qing Dynasty, a blind old man named He He did fortune telling for a living in Heyuan Street, Foshan. He was sincere and courteous, and won the belief of some people. After his middle age, he became more and more famous and his business got bigger. However, the inquirers often brought children with them, which made the place very noisy every day. He He’s eldest son, Fenxing, saw this situation and had a whim. He dried the rice and ground it into rice flour, added sesame and peanuts, mixed them with oil and pork and then baked them as snacks to offer the cookies to children.
The cookies were crispy and tasted so good that not only children liked it but also adults asked for them. In order to recover the cost, the father and son had to charge the cookies, but the neighbors still rushed to buy them, and called them Manggong bing (blind man cookies). Over time, the business of selling cookies turned out to be better than the business of fortune-telling, and the father and son closed the fortune-telling place and opened the Heji Bingshi (He’s Cookies). The cookies tasted good and crispy, with good quality and low price, so they were quickly spread out and became well-known among people. People who came to buy the cookies usually called them Manggong bing and the name stayed. The descendants of the blind man didn’t like the name “blind man”. They made a signboard read Heji Bingshi and made it their official brand. However, people were so used to calling the cookies blind man cookies, so the name Manggong bing has remained until now.
Rice is mainly produced in the south in China. Therefore, unlike most food made from flour in the north, Manggong cookie is made from glutinous rice with sugar and other ingredients instead of flour. It is the most unique technique of making the cookies is the pastry is glued with syrup and no water is added. The cookies made in this way are crisp and delicious, suitable for all ages.
Chencun rice noodles is a famous traditional dish in Chencun Town, Shunde District, Foshan. It is characterized by its thinness, smoothness and softness. A variety of ingredients can be cooked together to add different flavours.
Chencun rice noodles has a history of more than 90 years. Around the end of the Qing Dynasty and the beginning of the Republic of China, Huang Dan, a native of Chencun village in Shunde, created rice noodles that was thin, smooth and soft and it became well known. People would call it Chencun rice noodles because of where it came from. Due to the fine production, the output of Chencun noodles was not high. Also Chencun rice noodles tasted the best only when it was freshly made, which made it difficult to transport them to farther places. It was not easy for people from other places to enjoy the taste.
Xiqiao cake is one of the traditional snacks in Foshan City. It is called Xiqiao cake because it is made with the spring from Xiqiao Mountain. Ingredients include: bread flour, sugar, lard, food powder, and fresh yeast.
Xiqiao cake is round in shape and big in size. The big ones usually weight 1 kg. Normally they weight 250g, and there are small ones that weight 10-20g.
The color of Xiqiao cake is white and slightly yellow, and they taste soft.
Jiujiang Jiandui is made of glutinous rice flour, crystal sugar, peanut, fried grain, white sesame and other ingredients. It was first invented in Jiujian, Nanhai. It’s golden in colour and sweet, crisp and crunchy in taste. Jiujiang Jiandui is usually used as a gift when visiting relatives and friends during the Chinese New Year, with the meaning of bringing fortune to the house. You can find Jiandui all over China and they look like a ball, but only in Jiujiang, Foshan, they are made flat, which make them very unique.
Daliang stir-fried milk is another well-known food in Foshan. You might be confused by the name. Yes you read it right. If you wonder what it tastes like, well, why don’t you come to Shunde and find out!
From the name you can easily tell Daliang stir-fried milk was first invented in Daliang, Shunde. It has a history of hundreds of years. It is mainly made of fresh milk, egg whites and starch etc. Because of its light, unique taste and rich milk flavor, this dish has always been favored by diners.
Fried milk was created in the late 1970s and has a history of more than 40 years. Chef Liu Wei, a famous chef of Lecong, was inspired by stir-fried milk and crispy horseshoe cake. He steamed the buffalo milk mixed with cornstarch and white sugar, spread it, cut it into pieces, dipped it in the crispy paste, and fried them in hot oil one by one until they turned golden yellow. It tastes crisp on the outside and tender and soft on the inside, with the aroma of buffalo milk. It is loved by the elderly and children.
Laifen is long rice noodles made from rice flour. Gaoming people have a special liking for Laifen. In 2004, Gao Ming Laifen was selected as a famous snack in the Gaoming Food Festival. Since 2006, the locals have made October 13 of every year as Gaoming Laifen Festival. Many canteens come to wholesale Laifen every day, because the Laifen here is delicious at a low price.
The hand-made Laifen, with pig bone soup, ginger, pickled vegetable, peanut and other fresh ingredients, has become an indispensable part of Gaoming people’s food menu for many years. In Hecheng Street, Gaoming District, there are many small restaurants making Laifen. The restaurants do look fancy but these are the places where the real food is made.
Nine-layer cake is a sweet rice cake snack which is popular in Foshan. People usually made it when local folk festivals came, especially the Spring Festival. Nine-layer cake is made layer by layer. For a better look, some people will add food colouring to make it look more delicate. Because of the pronunciation of its Chinese name and the look, people gave it the meanings of “good things can last for a long time”, and “always make great progress”.
We mainly introduced some of the traditional food in Foshan in this article, yet there is a lot more delicious food in this city waiting for you to try one by one. Stay hungry and save some room for Foshan food!
