Macanese cuisine is unique to Macau

Macau

Macau , also spelled Macao , is, along with Hong Kong, one of the two special administrative regions of the People's Republic of China...

, China

China

Chinese civilization may refer to:* China for more general discussion of the country.* Chinese culture* Greater China, the transnational community of ethnic Chinese.* History of China* Sinosphere, the area historically affected by Chinese culture...

 and which consists of a blend of southern Chinese and Portuguese

Portuguese cuisine

Portuguese cuisine is characterised by rich, filling and full-flavored dishes and is closely related to Mediterranean cuisine. The influence of Portugal's former colonial possessions is also notable, especially in the wide variety of spices used. These spices include piri piri and black pepper, as...

 cuisines, with significant influences from Southeast Asia

Southeast Asia

Southeast Asia, South-East Asia, South East Asia or Southeastern Asia is a subregion of Asia, consisting of the countries that are geographically south of China, east of India, west of New Guinea and north of Australia. The region lies on the intersection of geological plates, with heavy seismic...

 and the Lusophone

Lusophone

A Lusophone is someone who speaks the Portuguese language, either as a native, as an additional language, or as a learner. As an adjective, it means "Portuguese-speaking"...

 world. Many unique dishes resulted from the spice blends that the wives of Portuguese sailors used in an attempt to replicate European dishes. Its ingredients and seasonings include those from Europe

Europe

Europe is, by convention, one of the world's seven continents. Comprising the westernmost peninsula of Eurasia, Europe is generally 'divided' from Asia to its east by the watershed divides of the Ural and Caucasus Mountains, the Ural River, the Caspian and Black Seas, and the waterways connecting...

, Latin America

Latin America

Latin America is a region of the Americas where Romance languages  – particularly Spanish and Portuguese, and variably French – are primarily spoken. Latin America has an area of approximately 21,069,500 km² , almost 3.9% of the Earth's surface or 14.1% of its land surface area...

, Africa

Africa

Africa is the world's second largest and second most populous continent, after Asia. At about 30.2 million km² including adjacent islands, it covers 6% of the Earth's total surface area and 20.4% of the total land area...

, India

India

India , officially the Republic of India , is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by geographical area, the second-most populous country with over 1.2 billion people, and the most populous democracy in the world...

, and Southeast Asia

Southeast Asia

Southeast Asia, South-East Asia, South East Asia or Southeastern Asia is a subregion of Asia, consisting of the countries that are geographically south of China, east of India, west of New Guinea and north of Australia. The region lies on the intersection of geological plates, with heavy seismic...

, as well as local Chinese ingredients.

Common cooking techniques include baking

Baking

Baking is the technique of prolonged cooking of food by dry heat acting by convection, and not by radiation, normally in an oven, but also in hot ashes, or on hot stones. It is primarily used for the preparation of bread, cakes, pastries and pies, tarts, quiches, cookies and crackers. Such items...

, grilling

Grilling

Grilling is a form of cooking that involves dry heat applied to the surface of food, commonly from above or below.Grilling usually involves a significant amount of direct, radiant heat, and tends to be used for cooking meat quickly and meat that has already been cut into slices...

 and roasting

Roasting

Roasting is a cooking method that uses dry heat, whether an open flame, oven, or other heat source. Roasting usually causes caramelization or Maillard browning of the surface of the food, which is considered by some as a flavor enhancement. Roasting uses more indirect, diffused heat , and is...

. The former, seldom seen in other styles of Chinese cooking, speaks to the eclectic nature of Macanese cooking. It is renowned for its flavour-blending culture, and modern Macanese cuisine may be considered a type of fusion cuisine

Fusion cuisine

Fusion cuisine combines elements of various culinary traditions while not being categorized per any one particular cuisine style, and can pertain to innovations in many contemporary restaurant cuisines since the 1970s.-Categories and types:...

.

Typically, Macanese food is seasoned with various spice

Spice

A spice is a dried seed, fruit, root, bark, or vegetative substance used in nutritionally insignificant quantities as a food additive for flavor, color, or as a preservative that kills harmful bacteria or prevents their growth. It may be used to flavour a dish or to hide other flavours...

s including turmeric

Turmeric

Turmeric is a rhizomatous herbaceous perennial plant of the ginger family, Zingiberaceae. It is native to tropical South Asia and needs temperatures between 20 °C and 30 °C and a considerable amount of annual rainfall to thrive...

, coconut milk

Coconut milk

Coconut milk is the water that comes from the grated meat of a coconut. The colour and rich taste of the milk can be attributed to the high oil content. In many parts of the world, the term coconut milk is also used to refer to coconut water, the naturally occurring liquid found inside the hollow...

, cinnamon

Cinnamon

Cinnamon is a spice obtained from the inner bark of several trees from the genus Cinnamomum that is used in both sweet and savoury foods...

 and bacalhau

Bacalhau

Bacalhau is the Portuguese word for codfish and—in a culinary context—dried and salted codfish. Fresh cod is referred to as bacalhau fresco .-Use:...

, giving special aromas and tastes. Famous dishes include Galinha à Portuguesa

Galinha à Portuguesa

Galinha à Portuguesa or "Portuguese-style Chicken" is a dish of Macanese cuisine. Despite its name, Galinha à Portuguesa did not originate from Portugal as such; rather it came from Macao, where the dish was given the "Portuguese" name to enhance its status.Galinha à Portuguesa is served as pieces...

, Galinha à Africana

Galinha à Africana

Galinha à Africana , often known as Frango assado is a dish of Portuguese cuisine, which is a barbecued chicken coated with spicy piri piri sauce....

 (African chicken), Bacalhau

Bacalhau

Bacalhau is the Portuguese word for codfish and—in a culinary context—dried and salted codfish. Fresh cod is referred to as bacalhau fresco .-Use:...

, Pato de cabidela

Cabidela

Cabidela or arroz de cabidela is a Portuguese dish made with chicken or rabbit. After the chicken or rabbit is killed, they are hung up upside-down, so the blood may be captured as it drains out...

, Macanese chili shrimps, Minchi

Minchee

Minchee, or minchi, is a Macanese dish based on minced or ground meat. It is made with beef and/or pork and flavored with molasses and soy sauce. Served with a fried egg on top it is minchee chow dan....

 and stir-fried curry crab. Other dishes might include pig's ear and papaya salad, rabbit stewed in wine, cinnamon and star anise. Tapas

Tapas

Tapas are a wide variety of appetizers, or snacks, in Spanish cuisine. They may be cold or warm ....

 are also an integral part of Macanese cuisine.

The most popular snack is pork chop bun

Pork chop bun

A pork chop bun is one of the most famous and popular snacks in Macau. The bun is extremely crisp outside and very soft inside. A freshly fried pork chop is filled into the bun horizontally...

. The most popular desserts are ginger milk and pastéis de nata

Pastel de nata

A pastel de nata , or pastel de Belém is a Portuguese egg tart pastry. They are common in Portugal, the Lusosphere — Brazil, Angola, Mozambique, Cape Verde, São Tomé and Príncipe, Guinea-Bissau, Timor-Leste, Goa, and Macau — and countries with significant Portuguese populations, such as Canada,...

 (egg tarts).

The famous restaurants of Macau include the Restaurante Porto Interior, Restaurante Litoral, and Restaurante Espao.

Macanese dishes

Select bibliography

• Ferreira Lamas, João António (1995). A culinária dos macaenses. Oporto: Lello & Irmão.
• Gomes, Maria Margarida (1984). A cozinha macaense. Macau: Imprensa Nacional.
• Senna, Maria Celestina de Mello e (1998). Cozinha de Macau. Lisbon: Vega ISBN 972-699-575-2