How is Cantonese cuisine borrowed from around the world – but is this a threat to authenticity?

A growing number of chefs around the world are borrowing techniques, recipes and ingredients from Cantonese cuisine and using them subtly or overtly in dishes as diverse as Italian, Turkish, German and Japanese.

Chefs taking inspiration from other cultures is nothing new, of course, but other cuisines have dominated global gastronomy, from French and Spanish to New Scandinavian and Japanese.

Chinese cooking approaches have remained largely isolated and remain within Chinese cuisines. Few Western chefs have trained in kitchens that prepare Cantonese or other regional Chinese cuisines, or have integrated their influences into their cooking. But this is now changing.

Tim Raue, in Berlin, Germany, was one of the first European chefs to combine Asian and European cuisine at fine-dining level when he opened his eponymous, now two-Michelin-star hotspot in 2010. He is still famous because his contemporary versions of dim sum, such as dumplings with bamboo mushroom, scallop and parsley, are on his menus.

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David Muñoz, a three-time winner of the World’s Best Chef award in The Best Chef Awards, was another frontrunner, opening what is now his three-Michelin-starred DiverXO in Madrid, Spain in 2007. Muñoz even named his restaurant after Hong Kong’s beloved XO sauce after he “fell in love” with it more than two decades ago.

XO sauce is an increasingly popular Cantonese export with many chefs using or being inspired by the seasoning. At Matera, in Singapore, German chef Bjoern Alexander, who previously worked under Raue, cooks modern Italian with Chinese and Japanese accents, serving a dish of whole red shrimp with sesame bread and his homemade XO sauce.

Scandinavian hotspot Noma, the Copenhagen-based five-time winner of the World’s Best Restaurant award from World’s 50 Best Restaurants, has created a vegan XO sauce of smoked pumpkin, dried tomatoes, roses and wild peppercorns for its range of home-cooked dishes. which is available online.

These loans may inspire chefs and tantalize new taste buds around the world, but what does this mean for Cantonese cuisine? In light of Hong Kong’s continued urbanization and the city’s upcoming full integration with the mainland, some have expressed fears that Cantonese cuisine will be lost or its authenticity diluted.

With international chefs using elements of Cantonese cuisine in their own dishes, will this blur the boundaries of Cantonese food and jeopardize its survival or purity?

For chef Andrew Wong of London’s A.Wong, the only two-Michelin-starred Chinese restaurant outside Asia, it can be difficult to define what traditional Cantonese food is in the first place, as it is a cuisine that is a ‘sponge’ has been from other regional Chinese cuisines and colonial influences in its history.

The concept of ‘traditional’ is also not easy to define – definitions can change depending on whether it concerns cooking technique, ingredients or recipes. Defending the authenticity of Cantonese cuisine therefore seems misplaced.

“To me, dim sum is the purest form of technique and skill in the Cantonese repertoire, and I feel that while people try to give space to expression, they also maintain an imaginary boundary of what is acceptable,” Wong says in an episode from XO Soused, a podcast about techniques and dishes from a professional Chinese kitchen.

“I try not to think about how much purity there is, but how much of what is generally considered ‘traditional Cantonese cuisine’ we will see in international cuisine in thirty years: how many chefs in Spain, Italy or Latin America uses Cantonese recipes and techniques, such as for soy stewed chicken, stewed beef tripe or Peking duck, or use water chestnut starch, tapioca starch and sweet potato flour in cooking.

Chinese chef at three-Michelin star T’ang Court Wong Chi-fai, who has worked at the Langham Hotel restaurant since starting as a junior chef overlooking the steamboats almost 20 years ago, says he has come to terms with a stereotype about the Cantonese cuisine.

“People believe that it should and can be classic and traditional, while I believe that innovative thinking or a contemporary style can bring more variety and possibilities to Cantonese cuisine,” he says.

“I see a lot of young, talented Chinese chefs trying to bring more ideas because they have seen the world, much more than what we saw when we were our age 20 or even 30 years ago. And it’s not up to chefs to say whether this is the right approach or not; guests and the market will tell you.”

For Wong, authenticity and innovation can work together and complement each other.

“Diversity should not be the enemy of traditions. The market tends to look for new ideas or creations, but that does not mean that the traditional style is diluted or less important. In fact, it makes classic dishes even more precious and meaningful,” he says. “At T’ang Court, we adhere to traditional recipes and techniques for guests who appreciate the classic style, and we will continue to do so to preserve the heritage.”

Jacky Chung Chi-keung, Chinese chef at Yue, at the Sheraton Hong Kong Tung Chung, in Lantau, is also not bothered by chefs – whether Chinese or not – taking Cantonese cuisine in new directions.

“Not only is it inspiring, but I also enjoy seeing Cantonese cooking techniques becoming more and more popular worldwide,” he says. “The rise in popularity means a growing appreciation for the delicate flavors, precise techniques and artistry that Cantonese cuisine embodies. It is a testament to the richness and diversity of Chinese culinary traditions and serves as a bridge for cultural exchange through food.”

It is certainly from a position of appreciation that Cozzolino employed a Cantonese (though originally from Northern China) technique to cook his pigeon. He lived in Hong Kong for five years and worked as a chef at the beloved Italian restaurant Grissini, at the Grand Hyatt Hong Kong. During breaks, he spent time in the kitchen of the hotel’s Cantonese restaurant, watching the chefs prepare the ducks.

“Hong Kong is a piece of my heart, I feel like I’m maybe half Cantonese, and living there gave me the opportunity to become international, to open my mind,” he says. “I’m a proud Italian, so I can’t change my cooking method too much, but being in Hong Kong has made me try things I never thought possible.”

While the chefs in Hong Kong mixed soy sauce, honey, mirin and vinegar for their basting. Cozzolino swaps some of the ingredients for Italian products, including olive oil and vermouth from nearby Prato, seasoned with local fruit.

Ducks for roasting can be brushed repeatedly with glaze and hung in the cellar for 48 hours, but for the smaller birds, Cozzolino cuts the time by about half. He then roasts the pigeons and glazes them with the same mixture. The technique gives a distinct crispiness to the birds’ skin.

“What I learned from Cantonese cuisine has not changed my working method, but rather improved it,” he says.

Tutak, who also heads Turk Fatih Tutak, Turkey’s only two-Michelin-starred restaurant, like Cozzolino lived and worked in Hong Kong, as well as Beijing and Qingdao, and developed a deep appreciation for regional Chinese cuisine.

During his travels through China, he was particularly struck by the Uyghur food from Xinjiang, in northwest China. The Uyghurs are a Turkic ethnic group originating from Central and East Asia and the cuisine has strong ties to Turkish tradition.

Inspired by the cuisines of the Silk Road, Gallada explores the links between Chinese and Turkish food, and Tutak integrates a range of approaches from across China, including Cantonese. The kitchen has a steam oven and sections for Cantonese-style dumplings and stir-fry, for dishes such as crispy beef dumplings with spicy butter and umami yogurt and wok-fried lamb liver with pepper and potato.

“Technical skills are very high in Cantonese cuisine, I would say even more than in Japanese or French cuisine. It is difficult to make Cantonese dishes perfect,” says Tutak. “We learned to make dumpling dough from the Chinese chefs at the Peninsula hotels in Hong Kong, Paris and London, then I created our own, more modern and simpler fillings with high-quality ingredients.”

The restaurant also ferments its own sauces and condiments, such as chili oil, chili pickles and fish sauce garum. Tutak also makes its own XO sauce, called TurkXO; Because Jinhua ham and Shaoxing wine are difficult to find in Turkey, he uses alternative meat, which he combines with dried seafood, peppers, garlic and onion.

“Our Chinese guests love it,” he says.

Cantonese cuisine has a history of more than 1,000 years and has evolved over the centuries by absorbing influences from other food cultures. Its increasing presence in gourmet cuisines around the world shows an evolution in the other direction: other food cultures are now borrowing its techniques and recipes. Neither should be seen as a threat.

“Cantonese cuisine’s deep-rooted history, unique characteristics and global recognition provide assurance that it will remain an important culinary tradition for years to come,” said Chung.