Southern comfort food

So, even three years after her first trip to the city, which is nestled between Shenzhen and Guangzhou on the Pearl River Delta, she still clearly remembers most of the details.

"It was a rainy day. I saw the estuary of the Pearl River and the Humen Bridge, forming a spectacular sight that stirred a sense of awe deep in my heart," says Li.

A town located in southwestern Dongguan, Humen is famous for the deeds of the 19th-century imperial commissioner Lin Zexu, who was assigned by the Qing Dynasty (1644-1911) ruler of the time. It was where he destroyed over 1,000 tonnes of smuggled opium that had been confiscated from foreign traders, an act widely regarded as a turning point in Chinese history.

Aside from that piece of history, which most Chinese are familiar with, it was the local dishes, many of which Li had never tasted before, that stirred her curiosity to explore further.

In Dongguan, fruits are used as ingredients in the cooking of hot dishes.

For instance, locals cut the white, softly scented flesh of litchis into slices, using each one as a layer to mix with roasted chicken, to create a popular dish called lizhi pianpiji, or, rather literally, "litchi fruits with slices of chicken".

"Dongguan is one of the largest production bases of litchis in Guangdong, with two of the major local species being nuo mi ci and gui wei (shaped like hearts and smelling like blooming Osmanthus flowers, respectively)," introduces Li.

Bananas are also a favorite ingredient for locals cooks. Before they ripen, they are chopped into pieces to be cooked with duck, pork or fish.

"The green-skinned bananas taste like taro, creating an appealing flavor when they are cooked with meat," explains Li.

Perhaps one of the most "strange" dishes in the documentary, xian jiang shui, or salty ginger soup, is a highlight of the whole thing.

With 3 kilograms of ginger roots chopped into little pieces and tipped into a pot, local cooks then add a series of ingredients, including glutinous rice balls, pork liver and fried eggs, before pouring in rice liquor, yellow liquor and milk. Knowledge of the dish, however, is even limited among locals.

"Usually, we follow a rule to mainly feature foods that are 'strange' to most of our audience, which stirs their curiosity to stay with the program," says Li.

For aquatic food lovers, the documentary is also an eye-opener. In the city, people are able to enjoy mud crabs throughout the whole year, but the best time to taste the seemingly atrocious delicacy is the early summer, when a "lucky" one in every 1,000 crabs will see its body transform from green into golden yellow.