To talk about the diet in Dongguan, we should start with the history of Dongguan. The establishment of Dongguan County began in the Eastern Jin Dynasty, but the history of Dongguan can even be traced back to the Xia Dynasty. The origin of Dongguan's diet started from the time of Qin Shihuang. In the Qin Dynasty, Dongguan belonged to the "Land of Hundred Cantonese". After Qin Shihuang destroyed the Six Kingdoms, he sent troops to conquer Hundred Cantonese. Later, some soldiers stayed in the local area, bringing the Central Plains culture and the Central Plains cuisine, which are still handed down today.

For example, the famous snack "Ma Ge" in Dongguan was the food in the Qin Dynasty, and Rong Ai (the sister of Rong Geng), a famous historian in Dongguan, also made textual research on it. The spelling of "Ma Ge" was also given by Rong Ai, because Ma Ge is a Dongguan dialect, and "Ge" means paragraph by paragraph. It used to have a sound without words until Rong Ai named it.

There is also a famous local dish in Dongguan, "Fish balls with sand washing", which also comes from Qin Shihuang. Legend has it that Qin Shihuang loved fish, and some people were afraid to assassinate him, because in the Warring States period, when Zhuan Zhu stabbed Wang Liao, he hid the dagger in the belly of grilled fish and finally succeeded. So the dish of fish balls came into being. If you make fish balls, you won't hide anything, and there are no thorns, so it's convenient to eat.

since then, in many times, such as the five chaos, the Anshi Rebellion, and the confrontation between Song and Jin Dynasties, a large number of people from the Central Plains have moved south, bringing with them the local food culture, and the food in Dongguan has been continuously integrated with the Central Plains culture, combined with the local products and customs, and gradually formed its own characteristics.

"Land of Fish and Rice" is full of delicious food

In addition to historical elements, geography has also played a vital role in the formation of Dongguan's diet. Dongguan used to be a county dominated by agriculture and a famous "land of fish and rice", and the diet naturally has an important relationship with "fish" and "rice". In fact, it is this product base that has created two types of local food in Dongguan-snacks and stir-fry.

Snacks mainly refer to cakes in Dongguan diet. Dongguan snacks have a long history, with more than 211 varieties, which are very rich. Dongguan snacks are mainly made by farmers themselves, and almost every household will make them. The raw material of snacks is mainly rice, which is divided into glutinous rice and japonica rice. Every autumn when the harvest is finished, farmers will make rice into various cakes. Most snacks are made by grinding rice into powder and then making it, and some are made directly from rice, and grinding is a job that children are willing to do. Because of the lack of water, the snacks can be kept for one winter until the next year's Qingming Festival, so that they can be eaten in winter. Moreover, on holidays, snacks are also good hospitality foods, such as Pueraria lobata, plum bean cake, oil angle, sugar rings and so on, which are very popular.

Small fry refers to the dishes in Dongguan's diet. It should be said that this part can better reflect the characteristics of Dongguan diet. As a branch of Cantonese cuisine, Dongguan cuisine has its own unique features. Because Dongguan used to be dominated by agriculture, the dishes in Dongguan have a strong peasant flavor. Relatively speaking, Dongguan cuisine is not as light as ordinary Cantonese cuisine, with a slightly heavy taste, and meat accounts for a large proportion, such as white duck with oil, Humen cream crab, Xiansha fish balls, Daojiao meatballs, boiled fish with stone chops, Houjie sausage, Tangxia goose, baked Mei Sheng bone rolling and so on, all of which are mainly meat dishes. This is mainly related to the rich products in Dongguan, and the low living standard also makes these big fish and big meat more likely to become people's favorite dishes. In practice, the dishes in Dongguan pay more attention to work, and the steps are not very complicated, but they taste great.

Local cuisine plays the leading role

Although Dongguan is a small place, its topography and culture are diverse, so its diet is also very diverse. Therefore, the diversity of dietary styles is a major feature of Dongguan cuisine. Generally speaking, the diet in Dongguan can be roughly divided into two parts: the water village in the west and the mountain area in the east. And in each piece, different towns have different characteristics.

Because of its criss-crossing ditches and abundant aquatic products, Shuixiang is a veritable land of fish and rice, so its diet is also characterized by fish and shrimp, such as Hong Mei taro, dried clam meat, boiled fish with stone chops, and roasted eel with humen honey sauce. However, the styles of the towns in the water town film are different. The areas dominated by fresh water in Daojiao, Hong Mei and other towns are quite different from those near the sea such as Baisha and Humen. For example, the cream crabs and prawns in Humen are not found in other places.

Shanxiang District is located in a mountainous area, and its delicacies are mainly poultry and livestock. In addition, because Shanxiang is close to Huizhou and other areas, it is deeply influenced by Hakka culture, and Hakka people in Zhangmutou, Fenggang and other towns account for a considerable proportion, so the food culture is greatly influenced by Hakka culture and its taste is salty. For example, Hakka braised pork, Fenggang Hakka dog meat, Qingxi New Year goose and other dishes are all representative dishes of mountain films.

Famous dishes make people salivate. There are many kinds of local foods in Dongguan, and there are not many restaurants that can really make local dishes in Dongguan. The most famous one is Garden Porridge Town, which is a restaurant chain that originally featured Dongguan cuisine. The series of "Wanwei Cuisine" specially launched was very popular. Cai Lan, a famous gourmet in Hong Kong, led a group of Hong Kong gourmet groups to eat delicious food many times. In addition, among the established hotels such as Overseas Chinese Building, Dongguan Hotel, Oriental Hotel, Dongguan Villa and Garden Porridge City, there are still many reservations about the local cuisine in Dongguan.

Dongguan local cuisine restaurant

Garden porridge town Address: Yinfeng Road in Nancheng, Xiping Road in Nancheng, Dongbao Road in Dongcheng, Sangyuan in Dongcheng,

Fumin Avenue in Da Lang

Food and clothing zone Address: South China Moore, John Wan

Address: Qifeng Road

Wangge Fishing Village Address: Next to John Wan Vigorous Kangcheng

Address: Dawangzhou Fishing House, Dongcheng.