Go Cantonese Tonight!

This frozen dinner must have been pretty exotic in ’58, but it looks pretty ew on my end.  One wonders how well it held up to the reheating process. And trying to mix the rice with the chicken would inevitably create a mess all over the placemat.

While the word “Oriental” in the ad is now out of favor, “Cantonese” is not offensive, white people. Cantonese people speak Cantonese. And though it shares some vocabulary with Mandarin, the two vary greatly in pronunciation, grammar and lexicon. I know it’s hard to keep up with what is acceptable, but languages are ever-evolving. In fact, “guai lo” in the Cantonese language used to be a derogatory term for any Westerner, but now it has lost its sting. So don’t feel bad if you hear it, guai lo.

Fortunately, Cantonese food actually looks pretty swell in 2016. Here’s a current image.

According to www.chinahighlights.com, Cantonese or Yue cuisine originates from Guangdong Province (SE China around Hong Kong), and it is the most widely served style of Chinese cuisine in the world. This is because most of the Chinese who immigrated and set up restaurants overseas were from Guangdong. What distinguishes Cantonese food is lightly cooked fresh vegetables and meat, and sweet sauces.

I’d try any of these numbers. So let’s stick to fresh Cantonese food, not frozen. And remember to say do jeh (thank you)!