What You Need to Know
Cantonese salted fish is a traditional Chinese food originating from Guangdong province. It is a fish preserved or cured with salt, and was a staple food in Guangdong. It historically earned the nickname of the "poor man's food", as its extreme saltiness is useful in adding variety to the simpler rice-based dinners. Cantonese salted fish is listed as an IARC group 1 carcinogen, meaning it is a known carcinogen, but was suspected and studied for its links to cancer as early as the 1960s due to the high incidence of nasopharyngeal cancer, an extremely rare type of nose and head cancer now understood to be linked to a high consumption of this dish.
Steps
- 1.
Salted Fish Fried Rice (Hong Kong): Provides umami backbone and shelf-stable protein
- 2.
Ma Lai Yau (Steamed Pork Cake) (Guangdong): Salt-cured fish flakes enhance meat's savoriness
- 3.
Salted Fish and Eggplant Claypot (Chaozhou): Creates intense flavor contrast with bland vegetables