Ed. note: For The Chronicle’s regional Chinese guide, we asked cookbook author (“All Under Heaven,” “The Dim Sum Field Guide”) and translator Carolyn Phillips for a guide to the five most common Chinese regional cuisines that Bay Area diners will encounter, along with dishes to look for on their menus.

In the Bay Area, we are fortunate to have a variety of Cantonese cuisines to choose from: old-school Chinese American, classic Cantonese, earthy Hakka, laid-back Hong Kong luncheonettes and a good variety of dim sum houses, with a smattering of little places that come and go while offering up things like the mild fish dishes of the Pearl River Delta and the spicier seafood delights of Chaozhou.

All of these cuisines have their home in Guangdong province, which hugs the southern coast of China right above Vietnam. It’s a tropical land with rich farmlands, freshwater and saltwater sea creatures, a rainbow of vegetables, and a love for dried as well as sparklingly fresh ingredients. Pork and chicken are beloved here, and you should count yourself fortunate if you are able to dine at some of the old-timer hole-in-the-walls that serve everything from pig tails to chicken intestines.

Generally speaking, funkier seasonings such as fermented fish paste and chile-flecked satay sauce will be found in Guangdong’s northern and inland areas (home to the Hakka and the Teochew/Chaozhou), while milder flavors will prevail elsewhere. A great Cantonese restaurant of any stripe will be a temple to crustaceans, fish, pork and poultry.

Char siu (sweet roast pork) 叉燒

Lobster yee mein (braised noodles) 龍蝦伊府麵

Mustard greens with oyster sauce 蠔油芥蘭

The street foods of Chengdu and Chongqing, Sichuan province’s main cities, are often bathed in hot chiles and numbing Sichuan peppercorns. Americans tend to flock to Sichuan-style restaurants expressly for gastronomic fireworks such as these, but not all these restaurants are created equal. You will know that an outstanding Sichuanese chef is at the helm if you are treated to a variety of homemade chile oils that are nothing less than smoky, fresh and aromatic.

Unlike the eastern half of China, where pork is the meat of choice, the people of its western regions adore beef and revel in a constellation of wheat-based creations. Thanks for this can be laid at the feet of China’s huge populations of Uyghur and Hui Muslims. Influences from every part of China pop up in unexpected ways here, though, since wars and mass migrations ended up creating an imaginative fusion cuisine that has given us Cantonese wontons bathed in fiery oil, baozi (steamed buns) stuffed with ground beef and spices, and elegant banquet dishes like tea-smoked duck.

Cold and spicy poached chicken 棒棒雞

Thinly sliced beef and offal with chile oil 夫妻肺片

Hot and numbing hot pot 麻辣火鍋

Braised freshwater fish in fermented hot sauce 豆瓣魚

Boiled beef with chile oil 水煮牛肉

Northern China is a huge, cold area that hugs the edges of Siberia and includes both China’s capital city of Beijing and the ancient province of Shandong. The region’s cuisines are therefore as different from tropical Cantonese dishes as Sweden’s are from Spain’s. Stir-fries here are supplanted by rich braises, rib-sticking breads and buns, and the juicy boiled or steamed dumplings called jiaozi.

Hui Muslims are responsible for much of the north’s gastronomic inventiveness, and the Bay Area is home to a few halal restaurants that cater to devout Muslims. The incredibly diverse cuisine of coastal Shandong is often created in our area by Chinese Koreans — meaning this mild cuisine may arrive on the table with a serious chile kick courtesy of kimchi and gochujang — while in other restaurants, northeastern (Dongbei) cooks serve up filling, wheat-based dishes from China’s coldest regions.

Savory baozi (stuffed steamed buns) 包子

Stir-fried soured cabbage and lamb 酸菜炒羊肉

Located at the mouth of the Yangtze River, Shanghai is China’s wealthiest, most urbane metropolis. Gastronomic influences from throughout east China converge here, resulting in a sophisticated cuisine that tickles the senses in a completely different way from Sichuan’s.

Shanghai-style cuisine blends nearby Jiangsu province’s obsession with fresh ingredients together with the rich, sweet ingredients of Zhejiang province. The result, especially if you are lucky enough to find an excellent Shanghainese chef, is an array of meltingly tender pork, intensely fresh fish and seafood, and creative starchy snacks seasoned with luscious Shaoxing rice wine, fragrant soy sauce, a generous touch of sugar and aged black vinegar.

Try the freshwater or sea eel and anything with shrimp or crayfish. Seek out “rice cakes”: sticky rice that is pounded to a smooth paste, shaped into batons, and then stir-fried or braised. And for the ultimate Shanghainese experience, revel in those lip-smacking, addictive, rich, mahogany-hued braising sauces. They can be revelatory at the hand of a master.

Sweet rice paste balls, or tangyuan 湯圓

This island off the coast of eastern China is home to a delightful swath of dishes that mainly echo the aromatic and pickled flavors of southern Fujian province, as well as the homey foods created in military compounds after the Nationalists decamped from the mainland in 1949.

Every part of the pig will show up on the menu of an authentic Taiwanese eatery, with chicken and seafood sparkling many of its soups and entrees. Deeply savory sauces and soups are the hallmarks of Taiwanese cuisine, a spectrum of dried and fermented ingredients adding unique zip to each bite. Taiwan is a land where home-style cooking is king and banquet foods are rare. That being said, Hakka, Chaozhou and Japanese influences often shade these humble yet delicious dishes with their own unique colorations. In addition, freshly made Taiwan-style pastries and cakes are lighter and sweeter than their Western counterparts, and often can be found in bakeries attached to Chinese supermarkets.

The other branch cuisine you sometimes run across in the Bay Area is known as juancuncai, or foods from Taiwan’s military compounds. These are invariably simple, economical renditions of mainland home-style cookery, brought to the island by soldiers homesick for the flavors and ingredients of Sichuan, Beijing, Jiangsu and other corners of the country.

Braised pig trotter noodle soup 豬腳麵線

Fresh spring roll, or popiah 潤餅

Braised pork sandwich, or guabao 刈包

Carolyn Phillips is the author of “All Under Heaven: Recipes from the 35 cuisines of China.” Email: food@sfchronicle.com. Twitter: @madamehuang.