Cantonese-style BBQ and Charcuterie

Cantonese-style BBQ and Charcuterie

　　Cantonese-style BBQ and Charcuterie

　　BBQ and charcuterie generally refer to grilled, marinated, and cured meat products. Cantonese-style BBQ and charcuterie have a long history, featuring an attractive appearance and distinctive flavors. It is said that before the Tang Dynasty, based on the cured meats of the imperial capital, local varieties with regional characteristics were created. During the Tang and Song dynasties, Arabs and Indians introduced sausage products to Guangzhou, where local chefs further integrated these foreign sausage-making techniques with traditional methods of curing local meats, creating a unique “East-meets-West” style of Cantonese cured meats that gained fame both at home and abroad. Well-known producers and shops of roasted meats in the late Qing Dynasty included Kongwangji, whose crispy roast suckling pig was already famous in Guangzhou at the time; notable producers of cured meats during the Republican era included Huangshanghuang, Baibai zai, and Cangzhou—these iconic brands have endured to this day.

　　Cantonese-style BBQ and charcuterie is generally divided into three categories: roasted meats, braised meats, and cured meats. Roasted meats include over 20 varieties such as roast suckling pig, roast goose, roast duck, roast squab, roast pork chop, roast ribs, and roast chicken wings. Braised meats include nearly 30 varieties such as white-cut chicken, steamed pork with preserved mustard greens, braised goose, braised duck, and braised sausages. Cured meats include more than 50 varieties such as various types of sausages, cured pork, and cured duck. Cantonese cured meats offer a perfect balance of three key flavors (sauce aroma, cured aroma, and wine aroma), with uniformly sized slices, crisp casings, bright colors, well-balanced saltiness and sweetness, delicious taste, and high nutritional value—making them highly popular among food lovers both domestically and internationally.