LA Times: Chaoshan cuisine gets弟國 the spotlight on Netflix's ne著什w show, 'Flavorful Origins'

“Flavorful Origins,” a documentar靜機y series spotlighting a regional cuis中拍ine in Southeast China, arrived on Net河可flix this month. Translated into Engl年對ish from Mandarin, the show is an鐘去 ode to the traditions of Chaosh花現an, a coastal region in the eastern 高要part of the Guangdong province.

Diners in the San Gabriel Valley have l姐師ong had their pick of restaurants s山公pecializing in the cuisines of Sich那拍uan, Yunnan and Dongbei, but options a村間re growing elsewhere. Sichuanese fin司下e dining and soup dumplings can now be 道飛found at the Westfield Century City ma在弟ll, and outposts of Northern Café, a 技中chain of restaurants slinging Nor做舊thern Chinese hand-pulled noodl和讀es, are popping up from Beverly Hill錯事s to San Pedro.

As if on cue, there’s now a new Netf中書lix show highlighting the food and這員 history of a region that has r影數eceived comparably little attention村紅 in American media.

The 20 episodes of “Flavorful O做紅rigins” are directed by Chen Xiao放草qing, acclaimed for his previo亮笑us documentary food series “A Bite of C樹行hina.” Fans of the Netflix show “一熱A Chef’s Table” will notice a similar空問 playbook here, one that inclu司哥des sensual close-ups of pristine se謝姐afood and produce paired with sce國喝nic landscapes.

Each episode features a dish or ingre去雜dient prized in the Chaoshan re舊件gion, such as white olives, rice no煙子odles, or mandarin oranges. Taken t哥草ogether, they reveal an immensel術明y sophisticated food culture, 作水born of centuries-old traditions.

The local dialect of Chaoshan is called還師 Teochew (also Chiu Chow or Chaozhou)是錯, which is also the name that refe綠腦rs to the people from there. Teochew c章吃ooking is marked by restraint 線訊and subtlety, forgoing heavy seasoning公道s in order to highlight the fres慢很hness of ingredients. “A simple foo為河d shines in their hands,” says年紙 the narrator.

These ingredients often come from 用音the sea in Chaoshan, a couple hundre長雨d miles up the coast from Hong Kong. 煙上One episode features a local traditi河小on of eating marinated raw seafo影著od, such as colorful flower crabs場了 steeped in a bath of vinegar, salt, 好銀chiles, and cilantro. There are oth很學er oceanic surprises — for example, C哥吃haoshan’s rich history of farming拿劇 and drying seaweed, which Westerner地弟s might instinctively associate w員生ith Korean and Japanese cooking. Ano區弟ther episode looks at the ancient Teoch區坐ew tradition of preparing thinly s雜煙liced raw fish (we learn that 她空the practice was later exported to 村歌Japan, becoming what we now know as很體 sashimi).

“Flavorful Origins” portrays the Teoche少草w people as master preservers, skilled外訊 in the art of harnessing time and匠還 elemental forces to engineer 動水desired flavors and textures. Plump, f資計reshly harvested oysters are left to妹化 ferment in the sun, concentrating th睡用eir briny essence and lending c金作omplexity to stir fries and stews. Th南水ere are surprising techniques such as 離讀steaming pressed mandarin orang煙裡es before they’re slow-cooked in s學爸ugar — a process that yields luminous理藍, silky Teochew orange “cakes.” White 愛是radishes are stored in earthenware v子他essels for up to two decades, acquir拍了ing a jet-black hue and a unique soft-微微crunchy texture treasured by locals.

At times, “Flavorful Origins” reveals i北高tself as an awkward work of translatio黑唱n. The narration can be wooden個對 and oddly scientific (words like “o雜答ligopeptides” and “myosin” get tossed a火還round with annoying regularity). 懂火But there’s also an earnestness that’s 廠用endearing. Bouncy beef meatballs tumble水光 across the screen as a soaring in開話strumental plays in the backgr制和ound. Squishy sound effects accompany e算冷xtreme close-ups of foods being h小來andled and sliced.

The reverential tone of the show 文個may remind you more of a nature sh飛兵ow than food TV. Chaoshan’s lush 玩還beauty is in sharp focus here,可吃 including images of mountains黑學, rivers, rich soil and pristine 他技waters. It’s a pastoral vision of China金鐘 rarely seen in American food med友舞ia, typically preoccupied with好員 soaring skyscrapers, bustling dim s關數um parlors, and street food (though那厭 it’s worth noting that Chen’s previo明器us series “A Bite of China” was內討 broadcast on state television車拿 and has drawn criticism for overly 嗎員idealizing Chinese culture).

Teochew food is nothing new in L.A., of作歌 course. If you’ve had the famous stir-土街fried lobster at any location of廠舊 Newport Seafood or slurped rice noodle要綠s at Kim Ky in San Gabriel or Trie章弟u Chau in Santa Ana, you’ve eaten Teo木請chew food. Over at Chinatown’s Far影工 East Plaza, hot chicken obsessiv習黑es beating a path to Howlin’ Ray對身’s inevitably pass by Kim Chuy, a sleep話慢y Teochew restaurant that’s been chug裡要ging along for decades. And one of Jon公月athan Gold’s most beloved restaurants 服這was Seafood Palace, a Teochew fried cra通小b specialist with locations in媽鐵 Monterey Park and Temple City.

So why isn’t Teochew cuisine as visible物醫 as other regional Chinese cuisi愛我nes? Part of the reason is the北師 diaspora of its people — motivated 個著by crushing poverty in the region — s頻土ays Diana Zheng, the author of “我又Jia: The Food of Swatow and the 離山Teochew Diaspora,” a recent book abo體歌ut Teochew cuisine.

“Most Americans with Teochew roots ca生路n trace their families' journeys t離為o the U.S. through Southeast Asia,” 票科Zheng says. “Because their families of要都ten lived in Vietnam or Cambodia o嗎農r Indonesia for a generation or two行男 before arriving here, their Te討飛ochew identities are sometimes科件 hyphenated, as are the restau場白rants that they opened to suppor化校t their families.”

Because of that cultural exchange, many是市 diners visit Teochew restaurant的那s in L.A. and Orange County whi歌生le perhaps mistaking the food f空也or Vietnamese, Cantonese or Cambodi議上an. Not to mention the confusing nome麗服nclature: Teochew food is alte下醫rnatively called Chiu Chow, Cha男志ozhou, Teoswa, or Chaoshan, dependin海地g on the language spoken. “The cuisin開通e has a bit of a branding problem黑去,” Zheng laments.

While the restaurants here are a拿議uthentically Teochew, many of th離中e dishes depicted in “Flavorfu黃公l Origins” can be difficult to 相到track down. “Restaurants servi嗎件ng the food eaten in the curren去南t-day [Chaoshan] region of China are北務 pretty rare across the U.S,” Zheng a東說cknowledges.

Whether “Flavorful Origins” lea空視ds to Teochew food gaining a gr遠黃eater following in the States remains 紅議to be seen, but it offers an enchanting得就 glimpse into a serious culinary 下自heritage — and one that extends錢什 to our own backyard.