Hainan

Numbing-spicy heat built on Sichuan peppercorn and fermented broad-bean paste — bold, layered, unapologetic.

Fresh produce, live seafood, delicate steaming — taste the ingredient first.

Wild mushrooms, rice noodles, lemongrass and mint — mountain freshness instead of mala heat.

Drier, sharper heat than Sichuan — smoked chiles and sour-pickled notes.

Imperial roasting, deep savoury broths, and the craft that defined palace banquets.

Precision knife-skills, sweet-savoury balance, slow braising.

Sweet red-cooking, oil-rich, and the quiet confidence of 本帮 home cooking.

Hearty stews, sour cabbage, guo bao rou — the food that survives winter.

Mountain and sea together — dried seafoods, silken broths, Buddha Jumps Over the Wall.

Yangtze fish, lotus-root soups, and Wuhan's morning bowl of hot-dry sesame noodles.

Wheat over rice — biangbiang noodles, lamb soup over torn bread, the bold flour traditions of Chang'an.

Northern seafood tradition, clear broths, knife-work learned from imperial kitchens.

Light, bright, honest — West Lake fish, Dongpo pork, and the poetry of water towns.

Wild herbs, mountain mushrooms, and the fermented funk of stinky mandarin fish.

Sour-fermented bamboo and snail rice noodles — Cantonese neighbour with a louder, funkier voice.