Monday, October 10, 2005
順 德 菜 Shunde Cuisine
好 消 息 (hou2 siu1 sik1) good news (at least for me)!! Readers of this blog may remember that I have mentioned a good Chinese restaurant in Sacramento--順 風 海 鮮 酒 家 New Canton Restaurant. Well, I no longer have to go up to Sacramento (about 80 miles away) for their food. They now have opened a new restaurant called 順 峰 漁 村 Asian Pearl at 東 太 市 場 Pacific East Mall, about a half-hour drive from my home. Last night, I went there for dinner. When the new restaurant first opened, I noticed that they had 順 德 菜 (seun6 dak1 choi3) Shunde cuisine and I had been wanting to try it. The 順 德 dish I ordered last night was 南 乳 藕 片 燜 花 肉 (laam4 yu5 ngau5 pin3 man1 fa1 yuk6), an intriguing dish consisting of stir-fried lotus root and pork belly slices. The other dish I ordered was 山 東 羊, a clay pot consisting of lamb or goat pieces stewed with peppers. Both dishes tasted excellent and showed special culinary skill (有 廚 藝)--not the typical dishes that one normally sees in Chinese restaurants. In fact, the food was so good that I already have decided to go back there next week. Looking through the menu, I noticed two dishes that I am thinking of ordering next time. One is a 順 德 dish called 大 良 鮮 奶 炒 魚 滑 (daai6 leung4 sin1 laai5 chaau2 yu4 waat6), an unusual fish dish made with fresh milk. The table next to me ordered it, and it looked tasty. The other dish that caught my eye was 杭 州 鹹 魚 白 切 雞 (hong4 jau1 haam4 yu2 baak6 chit3 gai1), a odd-sounding dish that I have never seen before. Evidently, it is a Hangzhou dish and consists of steamed chicken with a salted fish sauce. I can't wait till next weekend!
Not only does 順 德 have great food, but it also is one of three former 縣 (yun6) counties or prefectures near Guangzhou where people speak Cantonese that is identical or similar to that spoken in Guangzhou and Hong Kong. The other two are 南 海 (laam4 hoi2) Nanhai and 番 寓 (pun1 yu6) Panyu. One interesting thing about 順 德 women in HK is that they traditionally avoided marriage, living alone and sending money back to their families in 順 德. It would be interesting to know whether this custom still exists in HK. Last year, when I was in Macau, my waitress at 內 港 餐 廳 O Porto Interior Restaurant was a friendly, knowledgeable woman named Kitty from 順 德. She spoke beautiful, classic Cantonese and recommended some fabulous dishes to me. ¶ 7:58 PM
Not only does 順 德 have great food, but it also is one of three former 縣 (yun6) counties or prefectures near Guangzhou where people speak Cantonese that is identical or similar to that spoken in Guangzhou and Hong Kong. The other two are 南 海 (laam4 hoi2) Nanhai and 番 寓 (pun1 yu6) Panyu. One interesting thing about 順 德 women in HK is that they traditionally avoided marriage, living alone and sending money back to their families in 順 德. It would be interesting to know whether this custom still exists in HK. Last year, when I was in Macau, my waitress at 內 港 餐 廳 O Porto Interior Restaurant was a friendly, knowledgeable woman named Kitty from 順 德. She spoke beautiful, classic Cantonese and recommended some fabulous dishes to me. ¶ 7:58 PM
