What Delicious Food Can You Taste in Meizhou?

When you visit Meizhou, the largest settlement of the Hakka people, you will surely be deeply captivated by the diverse flavors of Hakka cuisine. Many overseas Chinese who have been away from their hometowns for decades indulge in savoring the Hakka delicacies etched in their childhood memories the moment they return. As the Hometown of the Hakkas, Meizhou’s classic local food falls into two main categories: Hakka main dishes and Hakka snacks. Alongside Chaoshan cuisine and Cantonese cuisine, Hakka food ranks among the Three Major Cuisines of Guangdong Province.

The unique flavor of Hakka dishes is inseparable from the formation of the Hakka ethnic group. Just as the Hakka dialect retains the ancient phonetics of central China, Meizhou Hakka cuisine preserves the traditional living customs and characteristics of ancient central plains.

A great variety of authentic Hakka delicacies await you in Meizhou, including Stuffed Hakka Tofu, Braised Pork with Preserved Mustard Greens, Hakka Braised Pork in Brown Sauce, Braised Carp, Chicken Simmered in Hakka Mother Wine, Hakka Mother Wine, Meizhou Marinated Noodles, Salt-Baked Chicken Feet, Hakka Salt-Baked Chicken, Chicken Stuffed in Pork Tripe, Hakka Fish Balls, Hakka Beef Balls, Wuhua Changle Rice Wine, Meixian Maltose, Pingyuan Sweet Orange, Green Olives, Dried Mustard Greens, Rice Cakes, Yellow Rice Cakes, Chicken Neck Pastry, Pearl Red Wine, Chrysanthemum Cakes, Three Delicacies Soup, Salt-Marinated Duck Webs, Datian Persimmon Cakes, Mianyang Preserved Peaches and Plums, Dapu Dried Tofu, Baihou Mangoes, Datian Persimmon Cakes and more.

The three most iconic dishes, hailed as the Traditional Three Great Hakka Dishes, are Salt-Baked Chicken, Stuffed Hakka Tofu and Braised Pork with Preserved Mustard Greens.

Water tofu cut into matchbox-sized cubes is deep-fried until golden brown. Minced pork and fish fillings are stuffed into the fried tofu cubes, seasoned with chopped green onions and sesame oil, then simmered in a clay pot filled with chicken broth until a rich aroma fills the air.

Legend has it that this dish was first created by a brother and sister from Changle Town of Wuhua (now Huacheng Town), hence its original name Changle Stuffed Tofu.

Young tender chickens are used as the main ingredient. After slaughtering, the chicken’s internal organs are removed, and the whole bird is cleaned and air-dried without being chopped into pieces. The entire chicken is wrapped with bamboo straw paper and slow-cooked in piping hot stir-fried salt over gentle heat. Salt-Baked Chicken features tender meat, rich fragrance, and nourishing, mild taste.

This dish is made by steaming evenly layered fatty and lean pork belly with home-made preserved mustard greens, seasoned with proper amounts of garlic cloves, shredded ginger, soy sauce, monosodium glutamate and salt over low heat. It is perfectly balanced between sweet and salty, fragrant yet not greasy.