Ten dishes to try in Shunde

Here is a fact that surprises most first time visitors. The district where the furniture market sits is also one of the most celebrated food regions in China. Shunde is recognised by UNESCO as a Creative City of Gastronomy, and Cantonese cooking here is taken very seriously indeed.

The style leans towards freshness and restraint. The aim is usually to taste what the ingredient actually tastes like, which means less heat and less sauce than visitors expecting bold Chinese food sometimes anticipate. It grows on you quickly.

1. Steamed fish

The benchmark dish of the region and the one to judge a restaurant by. Fresh fish, steamed briefly, finished with spring onion, ginger and a little hot oil and soy. When it is done well the texture is remarkable, and it is the clearest expression of what Cantonese cooking is trying to do.

2. Stir fried milk

A Shunde speciality that sounds improbable and is delicious: milk cooked quickly with egg white until it sets soft, often with shrimp or nuts folded through. Order it once out of curiosity and you will order it again.

3. Raw fish salad

Thinly sliced freshwater fish served with a spread of shredded aromatics, peanuts, oil and vinegar, mixed at the table. A genuine local signature. As with any raw dish, choose a busy, well regarded restaurant.

4. Double boiled soup

Soup cooked slowly in a covered vessel set inside another pot, so the liquid never boils hard. Clear, delicate and taken seriously as something restorative. A good one is a very pleasant end to a long day in a warm climate.

5. Congee

Not a compromise breakfast. Properly made congee here is silky and deeply savoury, served with any number of additions. It is also the friendliest possible start to a day when you are still adjusting to the time difference.

6. Roast goose or roast meats

Cantonese roasting is a craft of its own. Crisp skin, moist meat, served simply over rice. A reliable lunch and one of the easiest things to order without any Chinese.

7. Rice noodle rolls

Thin sheets of rice noodle rolled around prawn, beef or vegetables and dressed with light soy. A staple of the morning table and very good at a street level shop.

8. Ginger milk custard

A famous local dessert where hot milk sets on fresh ginger juice. Warming, gently spicy and not very sweet, which is characteristic of desserts here.

9. Fresh water shrimp, simply cooked

Often just blanched and served with a dipping sauce. It is the same philosophy as the steamed fish: get excellent ingredients and interfere as little as possible.

10. Whatever the restaurant recommends

Genuinely the best advice. Menus are seasonal, and the strongest dish is frequently not the one a visitor would pick. Asking what is good today, and accepting the answer, is how most memorable meals here happen.

How to order well

• Go where it is busy. The universal rule, and especially reliable in a city that cares this much about food.
• Order fewer dishes than you think. Portions are generous and the point is to taste things properly.
• Photographs work. Pointing at a neighbouring table is not rude here, it is practical, and it is usually met with approval.
• Eat at proper times. Kitchens have service hours and the best places wind down between them.

Why this belongs on a furniture site

Because a good dinner is where a lot of business actually happens here, and because a buying trip that included one excellent meal is a trip people repeat. Suppliers notice when a visitor takes an interest in where they are, and it makes every subsequent conversation easier. That is not a technique, it is just how it works.