If you're going to sum up Guangdong in one word, it might as well be ‘food’. In Joyce Li’s opinion the cuisine itself is best described as "Fresh", "Light" and "Authentic". Joyce is currently vice-president of Guangdong Branch of Singapore Chamber of Commerce.

As a Singaporean, Li has lived in Guangzhou for nearly 20 years and has become extremely familiar with the local cuisine; she knows which meat market is best, which restaurant has the most delicious black bean chicken, even if is tucked away in a seemingly hidden alleyway, Joyce can lead you right to the best of local cuisine.

A ‘Cantonese appetite’

In Singapore, near her childhood home, there was a vegetarian Cantonese restaurant, A famous dish, "Vegetarian Roast Goose", requires meticulous preparation. The chef wraps layer upon layer of tofu skin and serves the delicacy with specially prepare sauces. Every day after school, Joyce would look forward to her mother bringing her some back home.

In Singapore, Cantonese make up about 15 percent of the Chinese population, but Cantonese cuisine is more popular in Singapore than the numbers would suggest.

Shrimp Dumpling ,traditional Cantonese dim sum [File photo]

According to Li, Singaporeans and Cantonese have a lot in common when it comes to eating. For example, the much-sought-after Hainanese Chicken Rice, a Singaporean national dish, borrowed a lot from a Cantonese favourite ‘White Cut Chicken’. Modified to suit local tastes, frying white rice in chicken fat and chicken stock, the dish is accompanied by chutney and black soy sauce, and is a potent symbol of cultural integration.

In Guangdong the dish’s focus is on the quality of the meat itself, is it tender, sinewy, skin crisp and bone stock flavourful. Li, who has lived in Guangdong for a long time, has acquired this way of appraising food, "Freshness is the premise of healthy diet, walking the wet markets, seeing the live fish, shrimp, crab. You can really differentiate the taste of Qingyuan Chicken, Zhanjiang Chicken, and Pineapple Chicken, a chicken breed that only eats pineapple as it is reared, and the flavour is delicious!"

Building bridges through quality cuisine

In 2000, Joyce came to Guangzhou to get into the catering industry, and subsequently set up her own baking brand and private restaurant, and with her understanding and love of both Singaporean and Cantonese food, became committed to promoting awareness of the two great cuisines.

Li notes, "When I first came to Guangdong it was difficult to find authentic Singaporean food, but I have seen more and more ASEAN countries setting up offices here, The Singapore Chamber of Commerce, the Malaysian Chamber of Commerce and other Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) Chambers of Commerce have also been set up in Guangdong. "

With this influx, Joyce’s private restaurant has become quite popular, attracting many of these ASEAN agencies in Guangdong to commission her for dinner parties, events and so on. Speaking of these, Li Yijing's eyes suddenly lit up, making food into a bridge for cultural exchange makes Joyce feel particularly fulfilled. "I once invited a dozen foreign consuls general to a cooking competition and they were all extremely well prepared, dressed in chef's clothes and had the help of professional chefs, producing dishes that wouldn’t be out of place in a Michelin starred restaurant!"

CGs in Guangzhou and Joyce Lee (R2) in the cooking competition [Photo provided by Joyce Lee]

Last year, Guangdong started the ‘Cantonese Chef’ initiative, working with local the catering industry and enterprises to train up Cantonese chefs. This is with the aim of Hope to improve the quality of skills training available, and create a ‘Cantonese chef’ brand at home and abroad. Li has taken an active role in helping different organizations to get underway with the project. She said that Cantonese food has a rich heritage hopes that can be shared with foreign countries, especially the 10 countries of Southeast Asia.

"In the future, the relationship between Singapore and Guangdong in the catering industry will become closer and closer." Li believes that her story is just a microcosm, she hopes to push more to go in the same direction, let them export the focus on high-quality ingredients from Guangdong and bring back technology. "It's of massive mutual benefit and I believe the scope for future collaboration will definitely be wider and wider."

Reported by Jasmine Yin

Edited by Wing Zhang, Simon Haywood

Video by Li Jiangrui

李懿静：食在广东二十年，新加坡食客蜕变美食家

如果要给广东加上标签，美食肯定要算上一个。“新鲜”、“清淡”、“原汁原味”，评价粤菜时，中国新加波商会广东分会副会长李懿静(Joyce Lee)不假思索给出几个关键词。

身为新加坡人，李懿静在广州已居住了将近20年，对广东菜式相当熟悉，广州哪个肉菜市场可买到皮脆肉嫩的烧肉，哪家餐厅的豉油鸡最好吃，哪怕是藏在深巷子里，她也能带你找到这些当地美食。

李懿静在她家附近的菜市场选购蔬果【图/李江锐】

20年，我养了一个“广东胃”

童年在新加坡，李懿静家附近有一间粤菜素食馆，一道招牌菜“素烧鹅”令人叫绝，师傅将豆腐皮一层层手工包裹，烘烤后配上特制的酱料，色香味俱全，一道素菜吃出了烧鹅口感。“每天放学回家后，都盼望着母亲将这道菜打包回来”。从那以后，对粤菜的“期待感”就种入她心头。

在新加坡，广东人约占华族人口的15%，但粤菜在新加坡很受欢迎，比最大方言族群福建人的菜肴还来得普及。这与粤菜变化多，且能兼容其他菜系的特点，不无关系。

虾饺是远近闻名的粤式点心

在李懿静看来，新加坡人和广东人在吃上有很多共同话题。比如，备受追捧的新加坡国菜海南鸡饭就是学习了广东人钟爱的白斩鸡的做法，再根据本地人口味创新，用炸鸡油和鸡汤烹调白米饭，配以酸辣酱和黑酱油，是文化融会贯通的结果。

但同样的白斩鸡，在广东更讲究鲜、嫩、韧，皮爽肉滑，鸡骨有味。久居广东的李懿静也习得这种对食材的刁钻品味，“新鲜是健康饮食的前提，走在广州的肉菜市场，看到的都是鲜活的鱼虾蟹，否则身价就大打折扣。这里有很多新鲜的食材，清远鸡、湛江鸡、还有只吃凤梨长大的凤梨鸡，而且一定要走地鸡的味道才好吃！”

20年，我以美食筑桥梁

2000年，李懿静因缘际会来到广州进驻餐饮业，创办了自己的烘焙品牌和私房菜馆，凭自己对新加坡菜和粤菜的了解和热爱，致力广东与新加坡乃至与东盟国家的餐饮融合。

李坦言，“我刚来广东的时候很难找到地道的新加坡菜，但眼看着越来越多东盟国家在这边设立办事处，新加坡商会、马来西亚商会等东盟国家商会也陆续在广东成立，他们都很期待吃到自己国家风味的美食，我就很想做美食交流的事情。”

经过多年的经营，她的私房菜馆颇受欢迎，吸引许多东盟国家驻粤机构前来委托她承办晚宴、美食比赛等等。谈及这些，李懿静眼睛瞬间亮了起来，让美食化作文化交流的桥梁让她特别有成就感。“我曾经邀请十几位外国驻穗总领事参加烹饪比赛，他们都做好准备，穿着厨师装，带着专业厨师，做出来的菜色完全就像五星级！”

李懿静举办了一场美食比赛，邀请各国驻穗总领参加。【图/李懿静】

去年，广东开启“粤菜师傅”工程，携手各地饮食行业协会和餐饮企业培训粤菜师傅，希望以此提升粤菜烹饪技能人才培养能力和质量，打造“粤菜师傅”文化品牌，提升岭南饮食文化海内外影响力。李懿静也积极参与其中，辅助不同机构去推进这项工作，她说，广府菜内涵深厚，很应该推广到海外尤其是东南亚十国，让粤菜更有“国际范”。

“未来，新加坡与广东在饮食业的联系将越来越紧密”，李懿静认为，自己的故事只是一个缩影，她希望推动更多餐饮人才往一带一路的方向走，让他们把广东优质的原材料带出去，把技术带回来。“这是一个很好的圆，我相信随着我们对美食品牌越来越重视，未来的合作空间必定会越来越广阔。”

【记者】 张莹 尹珏文 曾莉娟 （新加坡《联合早报》）

【视频】 李江锐