Home-style cuisine packs a punch in warmth of family gathering

The Hakka food is one of the best-tasting cuisines in the country. [Photo by Raymond Zhou/China Daily]

Hakka people often find excuses for the lack of presentation for their food, especially compared with their seafood-rich neighbors of Chaozhou and Shantou, where more attention is paid to how dishes are prepared and presented.

For an outsider like me, it is in this area that Hakka food stands out. It may not be the best-looking cuisine in the vast array of Chinese gastronomy, but it is surely a strong contender for the best tasting. It reminds one of the kind of food a mother cooks for her child who is visiting after a long absence from home.

The Hakka idea of feasting is mostly meat. Its salt-roasted chicken has been incorporated into Cantonese cuisine as a standard. The origin of bean curd stuffed with a small meatball goes back to the time before the Hakka moved away from the Central Plains. Unlikely as it seems, this famous dish is a variation of jiaozi, but since wheat was hard to come by in South China, the Hakka had to make do with tofu.

Like its dialect, the Hakka cuisine has traces of their connection to the landlocked north. The emphasis on meat could be a testament to hard times when meat was a luxury and reserved for only the rarest of occasions. But dishes like pork with salted vegetables have gained popularity across the nation. It is, however, pork tripe stewed chicken, among the Hakka staples, that was relatively unknown to me and it proved to be delicious beyond description.

Vegetarians need not despair. Traditionally, much of the Hakka diet is sourced from the earth. It might have been out of necessity, but it has been honed into a culinary art. Tell your host that you prefer a healthy portion of vegetarian food and you'll be surprised at the variety that will greet you and your palate.