FOSHAN, Dec 15 — Of the many different types of Chinese cuisine, Cantonese is arguably the most prominent outside China, carried abroad by the large number of Cantonese who emigrated over the years.

The cuisine of many overseas Chinese communities — particularly in North America — is predominantly Cantonese, with dishes like chow mein and char siu becoming widely recognised.

In Malaysia, Cantonese cuisine holds an outsized influence, especially in Kuala Lumpur, where it is the most widely spoken dialect, despite the strong influence of Hokkien, Hakka, and Teochew communities in shaping Malaysia’s uniquely diverse Chinese culinary identity.

Known for its emphasis on refined cooking, even the most intensely wok-fried dishes focus on retaining or subtly enhancing the natural flavours of the ingredients.

Steaming is also central to the Cantonese repertoire, spanning meats, seafood, and vegetables, often paired with aromatic oils or preserved condiments instead of strong spices or herbs.

As the capital and largest city of Guangdong, Guangzhou offers an abundance of Cantonese food.

However, for the essence of the cuisine in its purest form, the path leads south — to Shunde.

A district in Foshan City, Shunde — Shun Tak in Cantonese — is widely regarded as the birthplace of Cantonese cooking.

Its fertile location on the Pearl River Delta has long supported a tradition of agriculture and fishing, which is reflected in the emphasis on fresh produce and freshwater seafood in Shunde cuisine.

This farm-to-table approach is exemplified by Shungangwan Seafood Restaurant (顺港湾海鲜饭店), a restaurant and farm just a few hundred metres from Shunde Polytechnic, beneath the high-speed railway.

The day’s catch — crabs, shrimp, eels, river snails, and various fish — sat in tanks and buckets out front.

The farm, tucked behind, grew mostly mustard greens and cabbage. When you order, be sure to ask for what’s in season.

White-boiled shrimp (market price: ¥128 for 一斤, slightly over 1 lb) is nothing fancy, but simply delicious.

Fresh, firm, and sweet, the shrimp squirt right out of their shells with the slightest pressure. Twist, suck, and repeat. Irresistibly moreish with a soy sauce and sesame oil dip.

Perhaps no dish better demonstrates the Shunde approach to preserving the natural flavour (原味) of ingredients than steamed fish.

If it’s in season, they recommend steaming it with just salt and oil — 盐油蒸 yim yau jing.

Soy sauce is seen as too overpowering and would mask the fish’s natural sweetness.

Our medium-sized fish (¥129) arrived looking... honestly, quite plain. Aside from a few pinches of fresh cilantro, scallions, sliced ginger, and dried tangerine peel, there was nothing but the fish, sitting in a subtle, slightly coloured liquid.

But as the saying goes, "Don’t judge a book by its cover.” The delicate flesh flaked off the bone with remarkable ease, tasting so clean and pure that it needed nothing more than what was already on the plate. It doesn’t get more refined or 精 than this.

Shunde cooking is about more than just excellent seafood and produce prepared simply.

Like the rest of Cantonese cuisine, texture is highly valued — especially in noodles. Chencun, a town in Shunde, is famed for its namesake rice noodles, chen cun fen (陈村粉).

Conceptually, they share many similarities with Cantonese cheung fun: both are smooth, slippery rice noodles. However, chen cun fen are used in a variety of preparations not often seen with cheung fun.

Named after the purported creator of chen cun fen, Wong Dan Kee (黄但记) is a restaurant brand that dates back to 1927.

As you can imagine, the menu is full of chen cun fen, served with everything from roast goose to red bean and coconut milk for dessert.

The star of the show is the 鸡油花雕大肉蟹陈村粉 — chen cun fen with chicken fat, huadiao wine, and crab (¥298).

Interestingly, this dish bears a striking resemblance to the signature flower crab dish at the renowned Hong Kong restaurant, The Chairman.

The noodles were smooth and slippery, presented in tightly bound rolls that we unwound and swished through the sauce.

Unlike cheung fun, these noodles were taut and elastic; wider, flatter, and thinner, they hold their entire length without breaking when unfurled.

This made them ideal for repeated laps in the heady, intense sauce, rich from the schmaltz and crab.

The crab provided plenty of meat, though it felt like more of a distraction from the noodles. Be sure to eat them while warm, as they quickly turn stodgy and unpleasant when cold.

Simpler preparations, like the braised beef brisket (¥38) and the XO sauce fried rice noodles (¥39), also impressed.

The latter stood out for its ability to retain its slick texture while absorbing the rich, smoky wok hei — a testament to the skilful wok-frying that’s integral to Cantonese cooking.

Just as those starring seafood, these dishes echo the same Cantonese philosophy of enhancing natural flavours, allowing the ingredients — in this case, rice noodles — to shine in their purest forms.

Shungangwan Seafood Restaurant

顺港湾海鲜饭店

No. 6 Xiayong, Hegeng Street, Fengsha Village, Shunde District, Foshan City, Guangdong Province

广东省-佛山市-顺德区-逢沙村合耕大街下涌6号

Open daily: 10am-2pm, 5-8pm

Tel: 135 3133 8789

Wong Dan Kee (Chencun Branch)

黄但记 (陈村店)

Corner of Jinlong Commercial Street and Jingming Road, across from Shunlian China Resources Vanguard, Shunde District, Foshan City, Guangdong Province

广东省-佛山市-顺德区-景明路锦龙商业街路口顺联华润万家斜对面

Open daily: 7.30am-3pm, 5-9pm

Tel: (0757) 2333 0288

* This is an independent review where the writer paid for the meal.

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*** Follow Ethan Lau on Instagram @eatenlau for more musings on food and mildly self-deprecating attempts at humour.