Macao was once a Portuguese colony making Macanese Cuisine uniquely different from others. When Portugal positively engaged in adventurous sailing and territory expansion, it established a great number of commercial and evangelistic bases, such as Brazil in South America, Mozambique in Africa, India, Malaysia and Macao in Asia. Meanwhile, it also brought Portuguese dietary customs, cuisines, raw materials and flavourings from around the world. These elements combined with Macao’s great diversity in culinary art gave birth to the unique Macanese Cuisine. A great many of these wouldn’t be present today without the Portuguese admiration and acknowledgment of local cultures. Thus, many delicious and authentic Guangdong dishes still exist in Macao and plenty of famous traditional shops have been greatly popular to date.
Main Dishes
Baked African Chicken (Feizhou Ji, 非洲雞)
From the name of this dish, one might believe that it came from Africa. In fact it actually originated from Mozambique. After being innovated by Macao’s Guangdong chefs, it is now enjoying a renaissance throughout hotels and restaurants with a great variation in flavourings. Basically, garlic, pepper, salt, olive oil and coconut juice are used as the flavouring to marinate the chicken. Then the chicken is baked over a moderate fire using charcoal producing a crispy skin that is extremely aromatic and appetizing.
Portuguese Chicken Curry (Pu Guo Ji, 葡國雞)
Portuguese Chicken Curry and Braised Beef Sirloin Curry with Rice Noodles (Gali Niunan Hefen, 咖哩牛腩河粉) are typical curry dishes of Portuguese style Macao cuisine. The flavours produced are very light and very dissimilar to the spices of India or the strong coconut flavour of Southeast Asia. Thus, this diverse dish with curry and chicken tastes extremely delicious.
Braised Beef Sirloin Curry with Rice Noodles (Gali Niunan Hefen, 咖哩牛腩河粉)
This dish uses fresh rice noodles and braised beef sirloin stewed for 3 to 4 hours with oxen bones and curry. Once cooked, the beef is juicy and tender with a flavoursome curry aroma whilst the noodles remain fresh and light. This dish is both a popular Macao household dish and an appetizing Macanese dish with a Portuguese twist.
Deep Fried Mashed Cod and Potato Balls (Majiexiu Qiu, 馬介休球)
It is cooked using pickled cod, a traditional Portuguese fish. Due to its saltiness, the pickled cod must be soaked in water to remove the salt and then sliced and mashed into a paste. Next, onions, caraway, egg yolk, pepper and boiled potatoes are evenly mixed with the paste and made into balls. Finally, the balls are deep-fried in a pan over a moderate fire until cooked.
Macanese Roasted Streaky Pork (Macao Shao Rou, 澳门烧肉)
This dish is also called Roasted Chopped Streaky Pork (Baiqie Shao Rou, 白切烧肉) and has developed over the past decade from the innovative variety of Roasted Spicy and Crispy Pork (Wu Xiang Shao Rou, 五香烧肉). The selection of raw materials and cooking methods are much more refined than ordinary roasted streaky pork and as a result become well known for its delicious and crispy flavour. This streaky pork or so-called “Tiaogu Huarou” (挑骨花肉) comes from the meat present between the ribs of the pig which is normally very sparse. In terms of roasting, there are various processes, such as boiling, piercing, marinating, shaping, roasting, scratching (stripping off the burnt part of the pork) and re-roasting. Such steps are consecutively repeated until the pork is cooked.
Deep-fried Buns Filled with Shrimps, Crab Meat, Mushrooms and Wrapped with Slices of Pork Fat (Jinqian Xiehe, 金钱蟹盒)
This is a popular traditional dish to entertain guests. Fresh shrimps, crab meat, mushrooms, lean pork and bamboo shoots are wrapped using two slices of pork fat and deep-fried. During the cooking process all of the pork fat is reduced leaving the buns crispy and delicious. The fillings inside these buns are extremely flavoursome and enjoyable.
Lettuce Soup with Mashed Potato and Portuguese Sausage (Qing Cai Tang, 青菜汤)
Mashed potato, lettuce, diced Portuguese sausages and olive oil (a must for a Portuguese dish) are stewed together to make this soup. Its taste is unique, savoury and distinctively Portuguese.
Stewed Pigs Trotters with Kidney Beans (Hongdou Zhushou, 红豆猪手)
Timing, heat intensity and the type of cooking vessel used are three key elements to cook a tasty soup. Cleansed pig trotters and soaked kidney beans are stewed over a moderate fire with seasonings until cooked and served on a plate.
Snacks
Drinks
| < Prev | Next > |
|---|