Chaoshan Raw Pickled Seafood 潮汕生腌海鲜

More traveling eats!  We’re still got more to talk about the absolutely marvelous food we had on our trip to Chaoshan 潮汕 area of Guangdong 廣東.  Oh dear readers, it was so fabulously food fulfilling!  It’s always so lovely to find yourself in a place where everything you eat is delicious, amirite!?

Pssst...check out our other traveling eats posts from this trip, Shantou Street Food 汕頭街頭美食 and Chaoshan Beef Hotpot 潮汕牛肉火鍋.

So this post is about the Chaoshan speciality, Raw Pickled Seafood 潮汕生腌海鲜.  Fresh, fresh seafood pickled in soy sauce, wine and aromatics is a rare delight.  It’s a straightforward process to make, requiring only soy sauce, aromatics, a touch of oil and a bit of time.  The only and important! trick to raw pickled seafood is that the seafood has to be super duper fresh.

We had heard about the famous Chaoshan raw pickled seafood of course.  Oh, how I had drooled away when watching the first season of Flavorful Origins documentary series featuring Chaoshan cuisine.  Omgoshdarnnitall!!  Pickled crabs!  Pickled shrimps!  Pickled every kind of shellfish!  So amazing the raw pickled seafood of Chaoshan!  

Shantou Street Food 汕頭街頭美食

More food adventures from our recent trip to the Chaoshan area!  The first night of our trip we arrived in Shantou 汕頭*.  Due to a typhoon affecting the area our speed rail trip was longer than expected.  Arriving, we were tired and hangry as heck!  Luckily we spotted the most gorgeous sight a hungry traveler can see, the gleam of food trucks serving up local street food lighting up the night!  

It was pretty late and the city streets were quiet.  But the crossroads where we spotted parked food trucks was bustling with action.  Most late night food seekers zipped over on scooters while a few drove cars.  We joined in the fun, circling the trucks, sniffing the air, checking out all the food on offer.  Oh man, everything smelled and looked so good!  In no time at all we were on our way back to the hotel, loaded down with yummilicious bags of Shantou street food!!

*Note: The Chaoshan area 潮汕 is located in the province of Guangdong.  Chaoshan area consists of the cities of Chaozhou 潮州, Jieyang 揭阳 and Shantou 汕頭.  For this trip we went first to Shantou and then to Chaozhou.

Chaoshan Beef Hotpot 潮汕牛肉火鍋

Okay, this one was a most pleasant surprise.  We took a trip to Chaoshan 潮汕 and were treated to the local food star the Chaoshan beef hotpot 潮汕牛肉火鍋.  When I first heard about this I have to admit that I rolled my eyes a bit.  Whatever.  I’ve had plenty of beef in hotpots before.  Delicious but how ‘special’ could a beef hot pot be?  

Well, I was totally sucker punched in this one.  We sat down to a Chaoshan style all beef hotpot and it was the most delicious beef hotpot we’ve ever had!!!  I had never even dreamed that beef could be so interestingly yummilicious, each beef cut brimming with flavor and its own unique texture.  It was a powerful food experience, one that I’ll never forget and am already longing to taste again.