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Food in Macau |
Macau offers a wide variety of good restaurants with various cuisine: Portuguese, Macau, Chinese, Shanghainese, European, Japanese, and more. The distinctive cuisine of Macau combines many contrasting kitchens. Traditional dishes from Portugal include "bacalhau", the country's beloved cod, which is served baked, grilled, stewed or boiled, oxtail and ox breast, rabbit prepared in various delicious ways, and soups such as "caldo verde" and "sopa à alentejana" both rich with vegetables, meat, and olive oil.
The Portuguese also learned how to use spices from Africa and India resulting in Macau's most popular dishes, African and Goan chicken and piquant prawns, all baked or grilled with peppers and chili.
Macanese Cuisine
Macanese cuisine is a mix of Portuguese, Indian, Malay, and Chinese influences. Only Macau has this specialty cuisine. The Brazilian contribution was "feijoada", mighty stews of kidney beans, pork, potatoes, cabbage, and spicy sausage. Some ingredients such as Portuguese sausage and sardines are imported but most food stuffs come from the fertile Pearl River delta and bountiful water of the South China Sea.
Local produce includes quail, pigeon, duck, fresh vegetables, the famous Macau sole, African chicken, and enormous juicy prawns. To accompany the meal, Macau's bakers make Asia's best continental bread rolls and all restaurants offer a variety of Portuguese red and white wines, sparkling vinho verde, as well as port and brandy, all at remarkably low prices.
Chinese Food
Since
the majority of the population is Chinese, Chinese food and Dim Sum lunch
is also recommended. The most common Chinese dishes include: shark's fin
soup, sweet and sour pork, fried chicken, vegetable with beef, steamed
fish, bean curd prepared in countless ways, Peking duck, and beggar's
chicken.
Dim Sum are snacks served in round baskets or small porcelain dishes, which are wheeled around the restaurant. To order a delicious meal, just stop the trolley and select the dim sum of your choice. Part of the fun and fascination is that it comes in all shapes, sizes, and cooking styles. Among the favorites are Har Kau (steamed shrimp dumplings), Siu Mai (dumplings filled with pork and shrimp), Tsuen Guen (spring rolls, fried and filled with a mixture of shredded pork, chicken, mushroom, bamboo shoots, and bean sprouts), and Char Siu Pau (steamed buns with pork).
Japanese Food
Japanese food is available in Macau. Popular dishes include the tempura (lightly fried vegetables and fish), yakitori (grilled skewered meat), sushi (raw fish served on lightly vinegary rice rolls), soba noodles (strands of gray-colored noodles twirled into a bun and served cold), and sashimi (a palate of raw fish and octopus). Teppanyaki is a Japanese style of cooking on a heated tabletop right in front of diners. Chefs display an act of skillful knife tossing and swift cooking methods that is not only a visual, but also a culinary experience to remember.
Other
International Food
Macau's range of cuisine is endless. Apart from Japanese, there are also Malaysian, Korean, Arabian, Indian, and Western food.
Wine
Wines
are one of the treats in Macau. Visitors may have to pay outrageous prices
for wine throughout Asia. However, they need not do so in Macau, as good
table wines can be bought in shops and supermarkets for as little as $30
patacas (about US$3.80). Top vintage Portuguese wines can also be bought
for about $60 patacas (US$7.60).
