Tangerine Asian Cuisine specializes in Hakka Chinese Food.
The Hakka Chinese population in Toronto comprised of first or second generation of Chinese born in Calcutta, India. The word Hakka means "Guest". The Hakka Chinese are minority people who have emigrated from South China to places like India, Mauritius and Jamaica. In India, Calcutta was a primary location for Hakka Chinese to settle and further expand business opportunities such as dentistry, photography, leather tannery and Hakka chinese restaurant. Quite often our Indian customers have heard of "Bentinck Street" and leather tanneries in Tangra, now populated with scores of Hakka Chinese restaurants.
Since 1980's, most Hakka Chinese from India have settle in Toronto, Canada. The Chinese Indian flavour food is unique and different cooking style than the traditional or main stream Chinese food. The Hakka food is cooked with various Indian spices such as our famous Chicken Pakora or Chilli Chicken. Our head chef is originally from Bombay (Mumbai) who has mastered the Hakka cooking over the years and opened Tangerine Asian Cuisine on July 17, 2003. At Tangerine, we strive to provide our customers with great service and good food. Keeping truly to our motto, "A Taste Above All the Rest."
Hakka Cuisine
Hakka cuisine is the cooking style of the Hakka, and originally came from southeastern China (Guangdong and Fujian). Hakka people are migratory tribes of ethnic Han people originated from central China. Their ancestors exiled themselves from foreign rulers such as the Mongols during the Yuan Dynasty. Due to their late migration to the southern areas of China, they found that all of the best land had been settled long before. The Hakka people were forced to settle in the sparsely settled hill country. As a result, fresh produce was at a premium, forcing the Hakkas to heavily utilize dried and preserved ingredients, such as various kinds of fermented tofu, preserved lime and much use of onion.
Hakka means "Guest". The Hakka people in Toronto are first and second generation of Hakka settler from India. The Hakka food is infused with many common ingredients of Indian spices such as red chillies, green chillies, red chilli powder, tandoori masala, cumin and coriander. Together with the Indian and Chinese ingredients, many of the Hakka food is more flavourful than other Chinese cuisine one has experienced.
Popular Dishes
Taditional Hakka
• Ngiong Tew Foo
(steamed stuffed Tofu cubes with minced beef with herbs)
• Beef Ball Soup
(very simple clear broth with lettuce and beef balls)
• Lemon Fish
(cooked with preserved lime that has aged for many years in salt)
Indian Hakka
• Chilli Chicken
(boneless chicken cooked with onions in dark brown sauce)
• Bombay Tiger Prawns
(Tiger Prawns cooked with coriander, onions and spices)
• Mango Chicken
(sliced mango, dry red chilli cooked with boneless chicken)
Cantonese Cuisine
Cantonese cuisine is considered bland cuisine with the use of very mild and simple spices in combination. Ginger, spring onion, sugar, salt, soy sauce, rice wine, corn starch and oil are a few ingredients for most Cantonese cooking. Garlic is used heavily in dishes especially with internal organs that have unpleasant odors, such as entrails. Five-spice powder, white pepper powder and many other spices are used in Cantonese dishes, but usually very lightly. Spicy hot dishes are extremely rare in Cantonese cuisine
Popular Dishes
Dim Sum, Stir-fried Vegetables and Soya Sauce Chicken
Szechuan Cuisine
Szechuan cuisine, Szechwan cuisine, or Sichuan cuisine is a style of Chinese cuisine originating in the Sichuan Province of southern China. Szechuan dishes have a reputation for being hot and numbing, because of the common ingredient Sichuan peppercorn. The Szechuan style cooked at Tangerine do not use Sichuan peppercorn and therefore not hot and numbing.
Popular Dishes: Kung Pao Chicken, Ma Po Tofu
Popular Dishes
Kung Pao Chicken, Ma Po Tofu
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