Cantonese

Tingly, salty, and irresistibly crunchy, this salt-and-pepper shrimp with cubes of crispy polenta (yes, from those tubes!) is a weeknight MVP.

You read that right. For the best steamed fish of your life, cook it in the microwave—then finish with an aromatic sizzle of ginger and garlic in hot oil.

The corn ribs are great. The garlicky-spicy-aromatic-electrifying crispy breadcrumb mixture showered over the top? Unforgettable.

These five spice-scented, melt-in-your-mouth, crispy skin-topped pork belly bites are perfect alone (but sing with a sidecar of hot mustard and hoisin sauce).

A cool trick (pouring boiling water on chicken skin preps it for a layer of perfect shiny lacquer) turns a few basic ingredients into a flavorful dinner.

Comfort food at its finest, this layered casserole features fried rice, flavorful pork chops, and a punched-up tomato sauce under a blanket of melty cheese.

Also called pineapple buns, this recipe for bolo bao makes a delectable version of the Hong Kong pastry, with a crispy cookie topping and fluffy interior.

Cookbook author Hetty Lui McKinnon walks us through her quickest (and most comforting) weeknight dinner plan.

A beloved Hong Kong dish with approximately one billion variations, this soup—which relies heavily on fridge and pantry staples—is meant to be a little sweet and a touch sharp. 

The higher you toss the salad with your chopsticks, the more luck you'll bring into the new year.

A little shrimp paste goes a long, long, long way in this delicious vegetable dish.

This adaptation of classic Cantonese salt-baked chicken doesn't require a ton of salt.

The secret to this simple Chinese barbecue pork recipe lies in the marinade and basting the pork while it’s roasting.

Cooking congee in a slow cooker takes patience, but you can cook it overnight if you want it for breakfast. 

This casserole relies on the complementary flavors and textures of taro and pork belly: one meaty, the other earthy; one chewy, the other tender.

This dish is inspired by a classic Cantonese preparation, which is traditionally battered and deep-fried. Here, the fish is pan-seared in hot oil, but still gets plenty of texture and flavor from ginger, caramelized scallions, and lots of freshly ground black pepper.

Sweet and sour are two of the five flavors of classical Chinese cooking (along with salty, pungent, and bitter), and go lo yuk, as the dish is called, is a favorite way to prepare pork in Cantonese cooking. I prefer fresh pineapple, but if you like your dish sweeter, use canned pineapple and reserve some of the juice from the can to add to the sauce in place of fresh pineapple juice.

This is the kind of over-the-top meal guests will talk about for days afterward, and it's actually much easier to prepare than it might seem. Lobster, ground pork, and a host of Asian condiments create a riot of complementary flavors.

There are many versions of this popular Cantonese pairing, and they are almost always too sweet—sometimes abominably so. I’ve reduced the sugar in this one, so it’s more sour and savory. I do love the chicken fried, but you can also steam or stir-fry it; both variations are faster and easier than the main recipe. In any case, serve the chicken over white rice.

This traditional Cantonese dish can be eaten with rice or noodles, tossed into a fried rice or noodle dish, or used to stuff into a sweet bun. It’s beloved by all meat eaters and a great dish for parties.

Garlicky and savory-sweet, this roasted pork is a mainstay of Cantonese barbecue shops and dim sum houses.

Sweet, salty, and rich, this delicately flavored condiment unites and enhances the flavors of Cantonese steamed rice rolls (pages 156 to 160). It comes together quickly and tastes great, especially if flavorful cold-pressed peanut oil, the kind sold at Chinese markets, is used. If you use canola oil, add a dash of sesame oil for nuttiness.