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Macanese & Portuguese Dishes

The Taste of the Mediterranean in Macao

The stunning variety of distinctive cuisine available in Macao makes this international city a paradise for food lovers. With plenty of fresh ingredients and many restaurants to choose from, there is food to please every palate.

Macanese Cuisine

Macanese cuisine is unique and irresistible. It is a special combination of Portuguese and Chinese cuisines, with ingredients and seasonings collected from Europe, South America, Africa and South East Asia.

Portuguese Cuisine

Authentic Portuguese cuisine is also widely available in Macao, affordable and irresistible.

Let’s have a relaxing trial on Macanese and Portuguese dishes. There is always an option for 3-course meal, i.e. appetizer, main dish and dessert. In fact, it’s quite common to have appetizer and main dish on the table at the same time in most of the restaurants.

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Poached squid with sliced onions, red pepper and lemon juice sprinkled on top. The taste of sour lemon and sweet octopus helps whet your appetite.

Squid Salad

The traditional Portuguese salad is tuna with vinegar-cured chickpeas, all mixed together, while the traditional Macanese salad is tuna mixed with vegetables. The sauce used tends to be olive oil, slightly seasoned with salt. Canned tuna is most commonly used, but, in some high-class restaurants, fresh tuna is chosen for its freshness, and it does indeed means a huge difference reflected by your taste buds.

Tuna Salad

It’s a type of croquette with minced bacalhau meat and mashed potato. It’s an appetizer always ordered by locals and tourists.

Bacalhau Cakes

Each restaurant has its own style of seafood supreme. The rich seafood and cream inside incredibly balance well and form a fantastic taste. Its unique taste makes it really popular among the tourists.

Seafood Supreme

This is the most common soup. It’s boiled with cabbage base, various vegetables and Portuguese sausage “chouriço”. It tends to taste either refreshing or just bland. It is considered as a high-quality green vegetable soup.

Portuguese Green Vegetable Soup

This is the best appetizer in Portuguese restaurants. Each restaurant has its own special way to salt the olives, but each way makes them taste particularly refreshing in the mouth with an excellent texture.

Olives

Portuguese-style sausage served after grilling. It’s an important appetizer for the Portuguese.

Grilled Portuguese Sausage

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This dish is closer to fried clam soup than Korean stir-fried dish with chili paste dipping sauce. The clams are fried with olive oil and then boiled with white wine, garlic sauce and lemon juice. It boasts the unique taste of clams and flavor of olive oil, while it is also infused with the aroma of wine, adding complexity to the dish.

Fried Clams Portuguese Style Fried Clams Portuguese Style

Crab Curry uses a whole Vietnamese mud crab. It’s one of the most expensive Macanese/Portuguese dishes and is also a dish which has been heavily influenced by India. Its unique spices and creamy coconut milk sauce combined together to deliver a superior taste. Usually, it’s served in big portions, so it’s better to order it when eating with 2~3 people. Enjoy the crab meat and mix white rice with the curry sauce!

Crab Curry

A traditional Portuguese dish of grilled chicken topped with piri piri sauce, which is a mix of pepper and herbs and has its own unique taste. The cooking style varies according to the restaurant, with some places having a slightly spicy curry sauce than the true piri piri, and some places pouring the sauce on top of the fried chicken.

African Chicken African Chicken

It’s boiled with fresh tomato puree and shrimps, mussels, octopus and other various seafood. It’s an excellent combination of the clean taste of seafood stock and refreshing tomato puree. Restaurants are divided into those that opt for the refreshing taste of tomato puree and those that instead use cream for a creamy taste.

Portuguese Style Seafood Rice Portuguese Style Seafood Rice

This is a standard Macanese curry dish. It’s known for its spicy taste and has a thicker curry sauce.

Shrimp in Curry Sauce

Portuguese sausage chouriço, onion, garlic, minced meat and egg-whites are all mixed together and stuffed inside the squid, which is then topped with tomato sauce. It’s quite a delicacy!

Stuffed Squid

This dish includes fried minced bacalhau meat, eggs, and other vegetables. Think of it as a salty fried dish. It’s considered to be quite a heavy meal.

Fried Bacalhau with Egg, Onion, and Julienne Potatoes

The easiest way to understand it is that it’s like a bacalhau steak. A well made grilled bacalhau has a unique softness and boasts a light taste to its cod meat. It is served with boiled potatoes and blanched vegetables.

Roasted Bacalhau

King prawns grilled with olive oil and garlic sauce. It is a delicious combination of garlic flavor and sweet prawn meat.

Fried King Prawn with Garlic

This is the best Portuguese pork dish. Its crunchy skin and lean meat creates a whole new taste sensation.

Roast Suckling Pig in Portuguese Style

It’s a dish of fried potatoes, onion, cheese and minced meat. This is eaten while mixing them with the egg yolk on top.

Minchi, Macao Style

Stewed Oxtail steamed in red wine. You can enjoy the unique taste of oxtail steamed tender meat. It also works as an energy supplement during holiday. Try this if you feel a little tired or weary during your journey.

Stewed Oxtail with Red Wine

It’s a dish with duck meat on top of rice, garnished with Portuguese sausage and bacon, baked in the oven. It’s surprisingly light and lean. Some tourists consider this to be one of the best Macanese dishes.

Roast Duck Rice

The sardines are grilled with lemon juice squeezed on top. Some restaurants use wine sauce instead.

Grilled Sardines

Barbecued veal ribs in Portuguese style.

Grilled Veal Ribs

Desserts from Portugal were imported to Macao while the pure and original taste remained unchanged. Generally, an Italian or French cake in European style predominates the desserts here. The most famous desserts offered are either pastéis de nata (Portuguese egg tarts) or serradura. Many tourists like to enjoy searching for the famous desserts in the cafes where they can start their culinary journey across Macao.

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Though this dessert originated in a monastery in Portugal 200 years ago, it became popular only after it arrived Macao. The egg-custard stuffed pastry with a bitter caramel flavor really captivates everybody’s soul.

Pastéis de Nata (Portuguese Egg Tarts)

It’s not fancy and is just a light pudding, but it does the basics well. If you spread caramel on the outside, it becomes akin to caramel custard. Depending on the sauce, you can also make various changes.

Egg Pudding

A soft whipped cream with cookie crumbs layered on top to be eaten with a spoon, it is one of the best snacks of both Portugal and Macao. The taste varies according to the texture of the cream, so it’s recommended to try it in a Macanese/Portuguese restaurant that’s rated above average.

Serradura

With caramel at the bottom, it’s baked with the froth of egg whites. The soft texture of the egg whites combines with the bitter sweetness of the caramel to form a unique taste. It’s one of the most famous Portuguese traditional desserts.

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