Chinese Food
A Brief Introduction to Chinese Food
There is no sincerer love than the love of food. Chinese culinary arts are famous all over the world. Chinese dishes appeal to the senses through color, shape, aroma and taste. Chinese cuisine's entree normally strives for three to five colors, made up of the main ingredient, with more secondary ingredients of contrasting colors and textures; these are prepared and cooked to enhance their own qualities, with the use of appropriate condiments and garnishing, enabling to chef to present a delicious platter of fragrant delicious art.
China covers a vast territory and has many ethnic groups, hence a variety of Chinese food with different but fantastic and mouthwatering flavor. Since China's local dishes have their own typical features, generally, Chinese food can be roughly divided into eight regional cuisines, namely, Sichuan, Fujian, Zhejiang, Shandong, Guangdong (Cantonese), Jiangsu, Anhui and Hunan, which has been widely accepted around. Certainly, there are many other local famous cuisines, such as Beijing cuisine and Shanghai cuisine.
Liaoning Cuisine Chaozhou Cuisine Henan Cuisine Yunnan Cuisine
Shaanxi Cuisine Hubei Cuisine Huai-Yang Cuisine Shanghai Cuisine
Beijing Cuisine Chinese Cuisine Hunan Cuisine Anhui Cuisine
Jiangsu Cuisine Guangdong Cuisine Shandong Cuisine Zhejiang Cuisine
Sichuan Cuisine Characteristics of Chinese Medicated Diet
Liaoning cuisine, originated from Shenyang City and developed on the basis of Shandong cuisine, and was later strongly influenced by the Manchu cooking style and foreign dishes, especially Japanese food, Korean food and Russian food. Such a combination makes Liaoning cuisine unique in color, aroma and taste. It is characterized by its use of strong flavors, salt and oil. It also pays attention to different cooking techniques and to the complexity of shapes. Thanks to meticulously selected materials and highly skilled preparations, Liaoning cuisine is well known for its uniqueness and is spoken highly by Chinese and foreign gourmets.
The most famous dishes are Shenyang Laobian ravioli (Laobian Jiaozi), white pork with bloody intestines (bai rou xue chang), bear's paw (mostly not real bear's paw but substitute), Mongolian pie, hot-pot, smoked chicken, fried vermicelli (Chao mifen), crisp and hot egg dumpling (Danjiao) and shellfish with sugar candy (Hashima). There's abundant seafood in Dalian, such as shrimps, oysters and clams.
Zhang Xueliang, a famous patriotic, general spoke highly of four dishes, namely stir-fried kidneys, stir-fried liver, fried meatballs, and stir-fried day lilies. Hou Baolin, a famous artist of cross talks, thought Laobian Jiaozi (ravioli) the most delicious.
Jiaozi (ravioli with minced pork and vegetable stuffing) is actually one of the recommended foods in Shenyang. You can easily have a taste of it in established restaurants that are said to be best in the Northeast China. The most famous Jiaozi with various kinds is served in Laobian Jiaozi Guan, old and well-established restaurant with a history of over 150 years
Chaozhou is the name of a coastal region around the Shantou district of eastern Guangdong Province. One of the major schools in Guangdong cuisine, Chaozhou cuisine originated from Chaoshan Plain about one thousand years ago.
Naturally, as a fishing area, seafood features prominently in Chaozhou cuisine, which is often enhanced by piquant sauces, such as tangerine jam for steamed lobsters and broad-bean paste for fish. The mouthwatering prawns, oysters, crabs and eels, combined with home-made pickles, play a symphony of traditional cuisine and leave people with everlasting impression. Such richly flavored dishes reflect the culinary influence of the Chaozhou people's northeastern neighbors, the Fujianese.
Yet Chaozhou cuisine has also been greatly influenced by its southwestern neighbors, the Cantonese. Many Chaozhou classic dishes are light and tasty, with the abundant use of vegetables. The crisp delicacy of deep-fried leaf vegetables in Chaozhou dishes adds a gleaming green, edible garnish to many dishes.
Chaozhou cuisine stresses unique combinations of various soy sauces and flavorings: salty, sweet, sour, spicy, or astringent. Fish sauce and oyster sauce are favorite seasonings. Chaozhou dishes are usually cooked over a slow fire, stewed, deep fired, steamed, stir-fried or pickled. The dishes boast the skill of local chefs in vegetable carving. Magnificent designs -- flowers, birds, dragons and phoenixes made from carrots and gingers -- adorn Chaozhou banquets, especially the cold dishes. The tasty dishes are not only yummy but also presentable.
The region's chefs are also acknowledged masters in the preparation and cooking of two delicacies, namely, shark's fin and bird's nest. Chaozhou cuisine is famous, too, for its shellfish dishes and wide variety of sweet dishes (with pumpkin and taro).
Other famous dishes include salt-baked goose with vinegar juice, steamed shrimp with orange juice, black-bean chicken, vegetarian soup and crabs. A tea ceremony is held during the serving of dishes, not just for performance but also to aid digestion
Henan cuisine, also known as Yu cuisine, has the accolade of being one of China's most traditional and oldest cooking styles. As the representative of culinary civilization of Central China, Henan cuisine has preserved traditions and made great innovations. With ingredients from all over the country, Henan cuisine is characterized by meticulous preparation, and especially known for delicious soup. No matter a dish is prepared by frying, stewing, braising or boiling; it is well received by customers because of its taste, shape, aromas and container. It is: moderately sweet and salty, tender and palatable, crispy but not fragmentary.
In the past several thousand years, Henan chefs have created a large number of famous dishes, many of which have the names depicting the ancient charm of the Shang (17th-11th century BC) and Zhou (11th century-256 BC) Dynasties, the traditions left over by the Han (206 BC-220AD) and Tang (618-907) Dynasties, and the excellencies of the Song Dynasty (960-1279).
Henan cuisine is mainly represented in Luoyang and Kaifeng. The Gulou Night Market in Kaifeng, which started in the Northern Song Dynasty (960-1127), is crowded with people every evening. Luoyang has a good selection of the varieties of Henan cuisine, and the best way to sample them is by settling in for the night with some friends and the many courses of the water banquet. The Luoyang Water Banquet (Luoyang shuixi) is a local custom that has been running for over a thousand years. There are two reasons why the banquet has this name. The main reason is that, unlike most meal customs in China, the dishes served in this banquet are brought one after another, like flowing water. The second reason is that around one third of the dishes served are soup or semi-soup ones.
The Shaolin Vegetarian Food is one specialty, standing out among the drab scenery of Henan cuisine. Chinese Buddhist belief has for centuries prohibited the eating of animal flesh, and the monks here have spent an age perfecting the cooking of all types of vegetarian food. Although not rich in fat or protein, this cuisine is packed full of nutrition and is healthy.
Famous dishes and snacks include peony and swallow vegetable, fried purple crisp pork, lightly fried bean curd, jadeite shredded fish, scallion stewed sea cucumber, fruit juice and shrimps, stuffed bun steamed in small bamboo utensils, sweet and pleasant buns, egg cakes which is crisp outside and tender inside, steamed ravioli, hand-stretched noodles, braised cakes, etc.
Over the vast expense of Central China, people can feel the comprehensive charm of culture and delicacy of Henan cuisine.
Known as "the kingdom of plants and animals", Yunnan is home to a rich variety of food. As a province with 26 different ethnic groups, the variety of cuisines is an important attraction for tourists.
Yunnan cuisine, also named Dian cuisine, consists of local dishes from Kunming, Northeast Yunnan, Western Yunnan and Southern Yunnan. The characteristics of Yunnan cuisine lie in moderate balance of sour and hot tastes mellow in deep oil, fresh and tender with sweetness, striving for their original tastes. Most of the ingredients are green, fresh and natural, including vegetables, fruit, bamboo and flowers. The dishes are not too spicy but have excellent flavor.
Not yet widely known outside the province, Dian cuisine is known mainly for its famous Guoqiao (Across the Bridge) rice noodle.
Guoqiao rice noodles are a dish that has long been famous in Yunnan. It came from a story in southern Yunnan. A scholar, preparing for the imperial examinations, isolated himself on an island in a lake to concentrate on his study. His devoted wife was dismayed that the meals she took to him always arrived cold after crossing a long, wooden bridge. But by chance, she discovered the way to keep soup boiling hot -- to top it with a thin layer of vegetable oil. Of course, her husband passed the exams. Soon it got quite popular and was named Guoqiao rice noodles. The dish is made of soup, sliced meat, rice noodle and seasonings. A big china bowl will be served with boiling soup and a cover of oil. The soup is made of boiled chicken and pork bone and the clearer, the better. Chicken, pork, liver, kidney, fish and pickled pork are cut into slices. Seasonings are made of boiled vegetables. The raw sliced meat should be the first to put into the soup. After a few minutes, noodles and seasonings follow. The smell and the taste never fail the gourmands. It is incomplete to visit Yunnan without trying this unique and delicious dish.
Other typical dishes include: steamed-pot chicken, earthen pot fish, Xuanwei ham, spiced squab, and chicken wing with goat stomach and local fungus.
1. Steamed-pot chicken
Steamed chicken is a famous Dian flavored dish. The chicken is sealed in a pot and steamed for several hours. Sometimes, special medicinal herbs are added, making this tasty dish even more nutritious. It is a high-quality dish of Yunnan Province, featuring tender chicken and delicious and nutritious soup.
2. Earthen pot fish
With breathtaking scenery, Dali Bai Autonomous Prefecture of Yunnan is known as Oriental Hawaii. Dali earthen pot fish, delicious, refreshing and nutritious, is a traditional dish peculiar to a place where the Bai ethnic group live in a compact community.
3. Xuanwei ham
Xuanwei ham, produced in Xuanwei City in Qujing Prefecture, Yunnan Province, enjoys a high reputation both at home and abroad. In 1915 Xuanwei ham won a gold medal at the Panama International Fair. In the shape of Pipa (a plucked string instrument with a fretted fingerboard), Xuanwei ham has thin skin, thick meat, bright color and strong aroma. Thanks to the high quality, it is also known as "Yunnan ham".
Shaanxi cuisine is represented by Guanzhong, South Shaanxi and North Shaanxi cuisine style. Shaanxi Province occupies an important position in the development history of Chinese culture. Its cooking techniques can be traced back to Yangshao Culture period. In the Han (206BC-220AD) and Tang (618-907) Dynasties, Shaanxi's cooking techniques reached a splendid period. Thanks to its unique position in Chinese history, Shaanxi chefs gathered all eating and cooking advantages from all over the country, and formed its own characteristics.
Local chefs of Shaanxi Province are good at using local materials to prepare delicious dishes, such as hump and hoof of camels, fat sheep from north Shaanxi, Qinchuan oxen, carps from the Yellow River, and black rice from Hanzhong. Through boiling, stewing, braising, frying and cooking, they produce a wide variety of dishes of different tastes.
Famous dishes include: bottle gourd chicken, mustard and upper part of a pork leg, white lotus in a limpid pond, scorpion and fish on bamboo plate, Guozi fish in milky soup, Chrysanthemum pot, Han cinnamon chicken slices sauté, chicken rice and sea cucumber, tomato juice and ox tongue, steamed mutton, etc.
1. Bottle gourd chicken
It is a famous traditional dish of Shaanxi Province, with golden red color, crisp skin, tender meat, strong smell and mellow taste.
2. White lotus in a limpid pond
This dish was created by Van Culinary Research Institute based on historical records It features well selected ingredients, meticulous preparations, a crisp and tender and refreshing taste, just like a white lotus flower in a limpid pond, hence the name.
3. Scorpion and fish on bamboo plate
This dish is a creation of Van, featuring delicious and tender fish, a strong fragrance of scorpions, a graceful smell of bamboo and a beautiful shape, with a role of dietotherapy.
4. Guozi fish in milky soup
As a traditional dish of Van of Shaanxi Province, Guozi fish in milky soup evolves from an imperial dish of the Tang Dynasty of more than 1,000 years ago. It features delicious and tender fish meat and milk-like and mellow soup. It is a nutritious dish rich in protein, minerals and vitamins.
5. Chrysanthemum pot
With a time-honored history, this traditional dish is full of fragrances of flowers, wine, meat, and vegetables.
6. Han cinnamon chicken slices sauté
It is a famous dish of Hanzhong of Shaanxi. Legend has it that when Liu Bang became King of Hanzhong, Prime Minister Xiao He, planted this cinnamon tree in person in Shengshui Temple in the south of Hanzhong, hence the name Han cinnamon. This dish features tender and delicious chicken slices, with aroma of cinnamon, and a graceful color.
Hubei cuisine consists of dishes from Wuhan, Jinnan, Xiangyun and Southeast Hubei. Wuhan cuisine originated in an area where there is a major-scale inland fishery. Fish is the main ingredient of many dishes, such as steamed Wuchang fish, penholder-like fish belly, brown-sauce-stewed fish and quick-boiled fish with oranges. Other typical local dishes include steamed triplet from Mianyang, chicken broth stewed in an earthen jar, thousand-sliced pork, calipash soup with wax gourd and medicinal soups made by the long and gentle stewing of fried chicken with seasonings.
There are also some famous local snacks in Wuhan such as "Flower" Shaomai, where the dumpling corners are drawn up into five little pockets and filled with different-colored stuffing; hot and dry noodles flavored with a sesame-paste sauce; Laotongcheng, bean-paste omelets; and steamed dumplings.
1. Steamed Wuchang fish
Wuchang fish lives in the Fankou section of the Yangtze River. The fish meat is delicate. Being the most famous and representative dish in Wuhan, this course is very delicious. It is usually braised in distinctive stocks and tastes fresh and tender. Late-chairmen Mao Zedong highly-praised the taste of Wuchang fish and ever mentioned it in his widespread poems. Since then, the blunt-stunt bream Wuchang fish has earned a nationwide fame.
2. Mandarin fish in tomato juice
This dish requires complicated process: the fish needs to be steeped in scallion and ginger sauce and cooking wine for 30 minutes before being deep-fried in 8-fold hot oil till it changes color into golden brown and looks like grapes. Then pour the cooked tomato sauce over the fish. It has an elegant shape with bright color and tastes crispy and rich.
3. Eight-Treasure sea cucumbers
In this dish, sea cucumbers are cooked with bamboo shoots, ham, chicken and water chestnuts in the chicken soup. It is stir-fried first then stewed with mushrooms, scallion and ginger. It has different colors, mouthwatering in the plate, and the soup is rich and thick, tasting fresh with strong fragrance.
4. Eight delicacies orange cups
This dish is fun to look and has special taste. The mushrooms, bamboo shoots, water chestnuts, ham, chicken breast and walnuts are chopped and mixed first, then spooned into the elegantly cut orange cups. This dish not only tastes delicious but also is nutritious.
Huai-Yang Cuisine originated from the Pre-Qin Period (221-206BC), became famous during the Sui (581-618) and Tang (618-907) Dynasties, and was recognized as a distinct regional style during the Ming (1368-1644) and Qing (1644-1911) Dynasties. This cuisine includes dishes from Huai'an, Yangzhou, Suzhou, and Shanghai.
Raw materials of Huai-Yang dishes include fresh and live aquatic products. The carving techniques are delicate, of which the melon carving technique is especially well-known. The flavor of Huai-Yang cuisine is light, fresh and sweet. If Shandong cuisine is characterized by stirring and frying over a hot fire, Huai-Yang cuisine is characterized for stewing, braising and steaming over a low fire for a long time. Famous dishes cooked this way are chicken braised with chestnuts, pork steamed in lotus leaf, duck stewed with eight treasures, meatballs with crab meat in Yangzhou style, and butterfly sea cucumber (sea cucumber cut into butterfly shapes and cooked with flavorings). Other famous dishes include stewed crab with clear soup, long boiled dry shredded meat, crystal meat, and squirrel with mandarin fish, Sautéed Eel Shreds and Liangxi crisp eel.
The vegetarian banquet is a special feature of Huai-Yang cuisine, and the vegetarian dishes in Beijing cuisine are mostly variants of Huai-Yang cuisine.
Huai-Yang snacks and refreshments are exquisite, such as boiled, shredded, dried bean curd; steamed dumplings with minced meat and gravy; steamed meat dumplings with dough gathered at the top.
Shanghai cuisine is the youngest among the ten major cuisines in China though with a history of more than 400 years. Traditionally called Benbang cuisine, it originated in the Ming and Qing Dynasties (1368-1840). Shanghai dishes usually look red and shiny, for they are often pickled in wine and their cooking methods include baking, stewing, teaming, deep-frying, etc. In the later part of 19th century after Shanghai became a major domestic and international trading port, Benbang dishes underwent some substantial changes by adopting certain merits of other cuisines. It formed a complex flavor structure, cooking style and technique norms. It stresses on using condiments and keeping the original flavors of the materials and has features of being fresh, smooth and crispy. Shanghai Dishes aim at lightness in flavor, and beautifulness in decoration.
The raw materials of Shanghai dishes are well cut, and the colors harmoniously arranged. Now, special attention is being paid to low-sugar and low-fat food, a good quantity of vegetables and nutritional values. Generally Shanghai cuisine is mellower and slightly sweet in taste. Sweet and sour is a typical Shanghai taste. Another characteristic is the use of a great variety of seafood. Rice is dominantly served over noodle or other wheat products.
To meet the appetites of people at different levels, Shanghai style offers a wide range of homey selections as well as gourmet-show pieces. Some famous local dishes are:
1. Steamed crab
Late autumn is the best time for eating crabs in Shanghai. During that time, the best-quality Yangcheng Lake hairy crabs with green shells and white bottoms, rich in fat and ovary, are shipped to restaurants. When the crabs are properly cooked, the fragrance appeals to diners' palate. There are such famous dishes like the crab meat bean curd, lily fruit in crab fat, rice cake in crab meat, delicacies much appreciated by diners. The most popular one is the steamed crab which maintains the original flavor of the crab. It focuses on bringing out the natural crab flavor. The meat is tender, juicy and delicious.
2. Shrimp with colorful vegetables
This is a stir-fried shrimp dish. The shrimps are peeled and then stir-fried with Chinese bean sauce. The dish looks beautiful and tastes tender. There will be no grease remaining on the plate when finished.
3. Squirrel-shaped mandarin fish
This dish uses very fresh mandarin fish. The fish is deep-fried and has a crispy exterior and soft interior. Yellow and red in color, it is displayed in the shape of a squirrel on the plate. Hot broth is poured over it. It sounds like a squirrel crying when the broth is poured. Sour and sweet flavors are harmonized quite well in this dish.
People also call it the Capital City cuisine. Beijing was the capital city for the Liao, Jin, Yuan, Ming, and Qing Dynasties. Except for the Ming Dynasty (1368-1644), all the rulers of these dynasties were from northern nomadic tribes. For those 500-odd years, the dishes available from Beijing's catering trade were dominated by meat dishes, which corresponded to the eating habits of the ruling class. The Mongolian rulers of the Yuan Dynasty (1271-1368) were especially fond of mutton, and 80% of the dishes in their palace were made of mutton. These mutton dishes are still made today, such as stewed mutton, instant-boiled mutton, quick-fried mutton tripe, and fried dumplings with minced mutton.
Many of the dishes classified as "Beijing" style originated in the Imperial courts, which had at their command the best of all the food in China.
Beijing cuisine makes liberal use of stronger flavored roots and vegetables such as peppers, garlic, ginger, leek and coriander (Chinese parsley). The most popular methods are roasting, frying, stewing, braising and steaming. It does not emphasize strangeness or uniqueness, only delicious food made from common ingredients with tastes that are very agreeable. It is China's most typical cuisine. Because of its more northerly location, Beijing food tends to be more substantial, to keep the body warm. Instead of rice, which is the staple diet in Cantonese cuisine, more noodles, dumplings (Jiaozi), and bread (baked, steamed or fried) are served in Beijing-style restaurants. Demonstrations of the highly skilled art of turning a lump of dough into even-sized noodles can be observed in some noodle restaurants. Prime examples of Beijing cuisine are Beijing Roast Duck and Shuanyangrou (instant-boiled mutton) or "Hot Pot", which are especially popular in cold winter months of Beijing.
In ancient times, Beijing was the gathering place of the literati, businessmen and officials, and many skilled chefs followed these people to Beijing, bringing with them different cuisines, Shandong cuisine in particular, to the capital and greatly enriched the flavors of Beijing cuisine. The quick-frying techniques of Shandong cuisine and its use of onions greatly influenced Beijing cuisine. For example, quick-fried mutton, a popular and common dish, is a typical Beijing dish that uses Shandong cooking skills and flavoring methods. On the other hand, some of them wanted to eat the dishes of their native cuisines without leaving the city, which stimulated the development of other provincial cuisines in Beijing.
As an international city, Beijing also offers many choices in western-style and non-Chinese cuisine, and the range of International cuisines here should satisfy even the most westernized of palates. Beyond this, there are plenty of fast food options, handy shopping expeditions or whenever you just need a cheeseburger. McDonald's, Kentucky Fried Chicken, Pizza Hut, Starbuck's Coffee, Subway Subs and Dunkin-Donuts have all established chain stores in the city.
Beijing Roasted Duck
Beijing Roasted Duck has the reputation of being the most delicious food in Beijing. It is usually a fixed item of dinner on any Beijing tour itinerary. Eating Beijing Roasted Duck is also one of the two things you are absolutely supposed to do while in Beijing-- the other one is climbing the Great Wall.
The hometown of roasted duck is actually Nanjing City of Jiangsu Province in East China. In the 19thyear (1421) during the Yongle reign of the Ming Dynasty (1368-1644), the emperor moved the capital from Nanjing to Beijing, and hence roasted duck was introduced to Beijing and became an imperial dish.
Beijing ducks are called force-fed ducks, which are raised for the sole purpose of making the food. Force-fed, they are kept in cages which restrain them from moving about, so as to fatten them up and make the meat comparably tender.
Beijing Roasted Duck has two kinds: Menlu Roasted Duck (duck roasted in the oven) and Gualu Roasted Duck (duck roasted over the hire). The preparations include: first rubbing the ducks with spices, salt and sugar, and then hanging them in the air for some time. To make a Menlu Roasted Duck, first burn the Kaoliang stalks in the oven till the sides of the oven turn hot, then put the ready-duck inside until the duck is baked date-red and shining with oil by the heat of the oven and the remaining heat of the ash. To make a Gualu Roasted Duck, the ready-duck is baked in the oven directly over the burning wood of peach, jujube or date trees, which give off a special fragrance, with very little smoke; bake until the duck becomes brown with rich grease perspiring outside and have a nice odor. The best roasted duck has a crisp skin and tender meat.
Beijing Roasted Duck is always served in well-cut slices. The chef cuts the meat into thin slices, each having a piece of skin and perfect with the complete layers of the meat. Then the meat is served with very thin pancakes, Chinese onions and special sauce -- usually sweet bean sauce. The way to eat it is to coat the thin pancake with sauce, slap on a few pieces of meat and roll up the pancake. Chopsticks are optional: it is much easier just to grab the thing with your bare hands. Normally there are many dishes served with the duck, including a dish of fine-cut shallot bars, a dish of cucumber bars and finally a dish of paste-like soy of fermented wheat flour. The dinner usually ends with a rich cream-colored duck soup made from the duck.
Also known as Xiang Cai, Hunan cuisine has already developed into a famous culinary school in China. Hunan dishes consist of local dishes from the Xiangjiang River area, Dongting Lake area and Western Hunan mountain area. Hunan's culinary specialties are akin to those of the chili-rich Sichuan dishes. It is also characterized by thick and pungent flavor. Chili, pepper and shallot are usually necessaries in this division. However, Chili, peppers, garlic and an unusual sauce, called "strange-flavor" sauce on some menus, enliven many dishes, with a somewhat drier intensity than that of their Sichuan counterparts. Sweetness, too, is a Hunan culinary passion, and honey sauces are favored in desserts such as water chestnut or cassia flower cakes.
Hunan is known as "the land of fish and rice". Like the west in latitude, it has the added bonus of lowlands for rice cultivation and a rich ocean's edge for fish.
Hunan food is characterized by its hot and sour flavor, fresh aroma, greasiness, deep color, and the prominence of the main flavor in the dishes. Hunan food is hot because the climate is very humid, which makes it difficult for human body to eliminate moisture. The local people eat hot peppers to help remove dampness and cold. The main cooking methods for Hunan dishes are braising, double-boiling, steaming and stewing. It is also renowned for its frequent use of preserved meat in cooking.
Rice is the staple in Hunan, but northern-style side dishes and fillers are also popular: bean curd "bread" rolls or dumplings and savory buns. They are further signs that Hunan is one of China's culinary heartland, incorporating many flavors and regional influences.
Typical courses include: Dong'an chick; peppery and hot chick, stir-fried tripe slivers, tripe in duck's web soup, lotus seed with rock candy, Xiaoxiang turtle, steamed pickled meat, and hot and spicy frog leg
Anhui cuisine, one of the eight most famous cuisines in China, features the local culinary arts of Huizhou. It comprises the specialties of South Anhui, Yanjiang and Huaibei. The highly distinctive characteristic of Anhui cuisine lies not only in the elaborate choices of cooking materials but also in the strict control of cooking process.
Most ingredients in Anhui cuisine, such as pangolin, stone frog, mushroom, bayberry, tea leaves, bamboo shoot, dates, games, etc., are from mountain area. Huangshan Mountain has abundant products for dish cooking. Huangshan Chukka has tender flesh and a sweet taste. It can be boiled in clear soup or braised in soy sauce. The dishes help relieve internal fever and build up vital energy. The white and tender bamboo shoots produced on Huangshan Mountain can be made into very delicious food. Xianggu, a kind of top-grade mushroom grows on old trees, is also very tasty.
Anhui cuisine chefs pay more attention to the taste, color of dishes and the temperature to cook them, and are good at braising and stewing. They are experts especially in cooking delicacies from mountains and sea. Anhui dishes preserve most of the original taste and nutrition of the materials. Generally the food here is slightly spicy and salty. Some master dishes usually stewed in brown sauce with stress on heavy oil and sauce. Ham is often added to improve the taste and sugar candy added to gain freshness.
High up on the menu are stewed soft shell turtle with ham, Huangshan braised pigeon, steamed stone frog, steamed rock partridge, stewed fish belly in brown sauce, bamboo shoots cooked with sausage and dried mushroom, etc.
1. Stewed soft shell turtle with ham
One whole soft shell turtle, pork, ham, bamboo shoots, a clove of garlic, shallot, ginger, soy sauce, salt, rice wine, black pepper, lard are all stewed together in a pot on charcoal fire. The dish is not greasy and can lead diners to endless aftertastes.
2. Steamed stone frog
Inhabited in caves, stone frog is a special product in Huangshan Mountain. It weights 250 grams or so, whose belly is white and back black with stripe. Stone frog is rich in protein, calcium and so on. It has the functions of clearing heat, improving vision and nutrition. It is one of the best exotic dishes from mountains.
3. Bamboo shoots cooked with sausage and dried mushroom
It is one traditional flavor in Huizhou mountainous area. Cooked with sausage and dried mushrooms, the bamboo shoots are more fragrant. It is delicious, and noted for its good color, juicy meat and thick soup.
4. Li Hongzhang Hotchpotch
Li Hongzhang hotchpotch is a popular dish named after one of Anhui's famous personages. Li Hongzhang was a top official of the late Qing Dynasty (1644-1911 AD). When he was in office, he paid a visit to the US and hosted a banquet for all his American friends. As the specially prepared dishes continued to flow, the chefs, with limited resources, began to fret. Upon Li Hongzhang's order, the remaining kitchen ingredients were thrown together into an impromptu stew, containing sea cucumber, squid, tofu, ham, mushroom, chicken meat and other less identifiable food materials! Thus appetites were quenched and a dish was created.
Jiangsu cuisine is one of the major components of Chinese cuisine, and consists of the styles of Yangzhou, Nanjing, and Suzhou and Zhenjiang dishes. It is very famous in the whole world for its distinctive style and taste. It is especially popular in the lower reach of the Yangtze River.
Known as a land of fish and rice in China, Jiangsu Province has a rich variety of ingredients available for cooking. Jiangsu cuisine has the characteristics of strictly selected ingredients, exquisite workmanship, elegant shape, and rich culture trait. The typical raw materials are fresh and live aquatic products. It highlights the freshness of ingredients. Other cooking ingredients are often carefully selected tea leaves, bamboo shoots, mushrooms, pears, and dates. Its carving techniques are delicate, of which the melon carving technique is especially well known. Due to using the methods of stewing, braising, quick-frying, warming-up, stir-frying, wine sauce pickling and adding some sugar as condiments, Jiangsu dishes taste fresh, light and mellow.
Jiangsu dishes can be classified into that of Suzhou-Wuxi style and Zhenjiang-Yangzhou style. The feature of Suzhou-style dishes is their natural flavor in original stock and a mixture of salty and sweet taste. The characteristics of Zhenjiang-Yangzhou style food are best described by the saying that the soup is so clear that you can see the bottom of the bowl and the sauce is so thick that it turns creamy white.
Typical courses of Jiangsu cuisine are Jinling salted dried duck (Nanjing's most famous dish), crystal meat (pork heals in a bright, brown sauce), clear crab shell meatballs (pork meatballs in crab shell powder, fatty, yet fresh), Yangzhou steamed Jerky strips (dried tofu, chicken, ham and pea leaves), triple combo duck, dried duck, and Farewell My Concubine (soft-shelled turtle stewed with many other ingredients such as chicken, mushrooms and wine).
Guangdong cuisine, known as Cantonese cuisine in the West, originates from China's southern province Guangdong and develops in Guangzhou, Huizhou and Chaozhou of Guangdong Province and Hainan Island. The recipes of Cantonese dishes appeared in the literature of the Han (206BC-220AD), Wei, South and North Dynasties (220-587), became famous both at home and abroad at the beginning of the 20th century. The majority of overseas Chinese, especially in Southeast Asia, are from Guangdong (Canton), so Cantonese food is perhaps the most widely available Chinese regional cuisine outside China.
Long, warm, wet days in Guangdong throughout the year create the perfect environment for cultivating almost everything. Cantonese are known to have an adventurous palate, able to eat many different kinds of meats and vegetables and other exotic ingredients. In fact, it seems that, to the Cantonese, almost everything that walks, crawls, flies, or swims is edible. A humorous saying goes like this; Cantonese will eat anything that flies except airplanes, anything that moves on the ground except trains, and anything that moves in the water except boats. This statement is far from the truth, but Cantonese food is surely one of the most diverse and richest cuisines in China. It usually has fowl and other meats that produce its unique dishes. Various unusual materials are used for their dishes, including snakes, cats and pangolins. Cooked snake is considered a delicacy in Guangdong.
As the climate of Guangdong is hot, Cantonese food does not use much spice, bringing out the natural flavor of the vegetables and meats. The dishes are fresh, crisp, tender, and lightly seasoned.
Guangdong cuisine has absorbed the cooking skills of the West as well as that of other Chinese regions, to develop its own unique methods. The basic cooking techniques include roasting, stir-frying, sautéing, deep-frying, braising, stewing and steaming. Steaming and stir-frying are most commonly used to preserve the ingredients' natural flavors. Guangdong chefs also pay much attention to the artistic presentation of their dishes.
The most famous snake dish in Guangdong is the dragon and tiger locked in battle, in which cobra, leopard cat, and over twenty spices are used. Roasted snake with chrysanthemum blooms is provided in autumn; the dish is creamy in color and garnished with beautiful petals of chrysanthemum, mushrooms, and various flavorings. Other delicacies in Guangdong cuisine are braised whole abalone with vegetable and delicious sauce, roasted suckling pig, duck web in oyster sauce, shark's fin with brown sauce, sautéed sliced beef with vegetable, fish belly in clear soup, fried shrimp, drunken shrimp (shrimp that are still alive, yet drowning in liquor), bird's nest with wax gourd, Dongjiang salted chicken and braised chicken feed with wild herbs.
In addition, Guangdong is also well known for its dim sum, snack-like delicacies of savory and sweet buns, steamed meat with vegetable and pastries. Dim sum is usually served for breakfast and lunch.
As an important component of Chinese culinary art, Shandong cuisine boasts a long history and far-reaching impact. Shandong cuisine can be traced back to the Spring and Autumn Period (770-221BC). It was quickly developed in the South and North Dynasty (960-1279), and was recognized as an important style of cooking in the Qing Dynasty (1644-1911). Shandong cuisine is representative of northern China's cooking and its technique has been widely absorbed in northeast China.
Shandong is a large peninsula surrounded by the sea, with the Yellow River meandering through the center. As a result, seafood is a major component of Shandong cuisine. Shandong's most famous dish is the sweet and sour carp. A truly authentic sweet and sour carp must come from the Yellow River.
Shandong cuisine is famous for its wide selection of material and use of different cooking methods. The raw materials are mainly domestic animals and birds, seafood and vegetables. The masterly cooking techniques include Bao (quick frying), Liu (quick frying with corn flour), Pa (stewing), roasting, boiling, using sugar to make fruit, crystallizing with honey.
Condiments such as sauce paste, fistulous onion and garlic are freely used, so Shandong dishes usually taste pungent. Soups are given much emphasis in Shandong dishes. Clear soup (or thin soup) features clear and fresh while milk soup (or creamy soup) looks thick and tastes strong, both of which are often choicely made to add freshness to the dishes. The dishes are mainly clear, fresh and fatty, perfect with Shandong's own famous beer, Qingdao Beer.
In addition to sweet and sour carp, typical courses in Shandong cuisine include braised abalone with shells, fried sea cucumber with fistulous onion, fragrant calamus in milk soup, quick-fried double fats (a very traditional Shandong dish consisting of pork tripe and chicken gizzards), and Dezhou stewed chicken. Dezhou stewed chicken is known throughout the country; the chicken is so well cooked that the meat easily separates from the bone although the shape of the chicken is preserved.
Zhejiang cuisine is one of the eight famous culinary schools in China. Comprising the specialties of Hangzhou, Ningbo and Shaoxing in Zhejiang Province regarded as land of fish and rice, Zhejiang cuisine, not greasy, wins its reputation for freshness, tenderness, softness, and smoothness of its dishes with mellow fragrance. Hangzhou cuisine is the most famous one among the three.
Hangzhou cuisine is characterized by its elaborate preparation and varying techniques of cooking, such as sautéing, stewing, and stir- and deep-frying. Hangzhou food tastes fresh and crisp, varying with the change of season. Ningbo food is a bit salty but delicious. Specializing in steamed, roasted and braised seafood, Ningbo cuisine is particular in retaining the original freshness, tenderness and softness. Shaoxing cuisine offers fresh aquatic food and poultry that has a special rural flavor, sweet in smell, soft and glutinous in taste, thick in gravy and strong in season.
Each of the three sub-cuisine traditions is noted for its special flavor and taste, but they are all characterized by the careful selection of ingredients, emphasizing minute preparation, and unique, fresh and tender tastes.
Zhejiang cuisine specializes in quick-frying, stir-frying, deep-frying, simmering and steaming, obtaining the natural flavor and taste. Special care is taken in the cooking process to make the food fresh, crispy and tender. Thanks to exquisite preparation, the dishes are not only delicious in taste and but also extremely elegant in appearance. Zhejiang cuisine is best represented by Hangzhou dishes, including Hangzhou roast chicken (commonly known as Beggar's chicken), Dongpo pork, west lake fish in vinegar sauce, Songsao Shredded Fish soup, etc.
Legend has it that Beggar's chicken was invented by a Hangzhou thief. The story goes that because the thief had no stove, he wrapped the stolen bird in clay and baked it in a hole in the ground; another version explains that he was a hungry thief who found a way to cook his bird and keep it and its aroma secret!
The famous restaurants in Hangzhou are: Louwailou Restaurant, Hangzhou Restaurant, Xizhongxi Restaurant, etc. Louwailou Restaurant boasts a history of over 100 years and is noted for west lake fish in vinegar sauce, fried shrimps with Longjing tea.
Of the eight major schools of China's culinary art, Sichuan cuisine is perhaps the most popular. Originating in Sichuan Province of western China, Sichuan cuisine enjoys an international reputation for being spicy and flavorful. Yet the highly distinctive pungency is not its only characteristic. In fact, Sichuan cuisine boasts a variety of flavors and different methods of cooking, featuring the taste of hot, and sweet, sour, salty, or tongue-numbing.
The origin of Sichuan cuisine can be traced back to the Qin and Han Dynasties (221BC-220AD), its recognition as a distinct regional system took place in the Han Dynasties (206BC-220AD). As a unique style of food, Sichuan cuisine was famous more than 800 years ago during the Southern Song Dynasty (1127-1279) when Sichuan restaurants were opened in Lin'an, now called Hangzhou, the capital. The hot pepper was introduced into China from South America around the end of the 17th century. Once it came to Sichuan, it became a favored food flavoring. In the late Qing Dynasty around 19th century, Sichuan cuisine became a unique local flavor, enjoying the same reputation with Shandong, Guangdong (Canton) and Huaiyang cuisines.
Sichuan has high humidity and many rainy or overcast days. Hot pepper helps reduce internal dampness, so it was used frequently in dishes, and hot dishes became the norm in Sichuan cuisine. The region's warm, humid climate also necessitates sophisticated food-preservation techniques which include picking, salting, drying and smoking.
Sichuan has been known as the land of plenty since ancient times. It produces abundant domestic animals, poultry, and freshwater fish and crayfish. Sichuan cuisine is well known for cooking fish. The raw materials are delicacies from land and river, edible wild herbs, and the meat of domestic animals and birds. Beef is more common in Sichuan cuisine than it is in other Chinese cuisines, perhaps due to the widespread use of oxen in the region. Stir-fried beef is often cooked until chewy, while steamed beef is sometimes coated with rice flour to produce rich gravy.
Sichuan dishes consist of Chengdu, Chongqing and vegetarian dishes. Masterly used cooking techniques are sautéing, stir-frying without stewing, dry-braising, Pao (soaking in water) and Hui (frying then braising with corn flour sauce). Sichuan cuisine is famous for its distinct and various flavors, the most outstanding ones are fish flavors, pepper powder boiled in oil, strange flavor and sticky-hot.
Statistics show that the number of Sichuan dishes has surpassed 5,000. Dishes typical of Sichuan are twice cooked pork, spicy diced chicken with peanuts, dry-fried shark fin, and fish-flavored pork shred. One of the popular dishes is Pockmarked Woman's bean curd (or Mapo Doufu in Chinese) which was invented by a Chengdu chef's pockmarked wife hundreds of years ago in the Qing Dynasty (1644-1911). The cubed bean curd is cooked over a low flame in a sauce which contains ground beef, chili, and pepper. When served, the bean curd is tender, spicy, and appetizing. Although many Sichuan dishes live up to their spicy reputation, often ignored are the large percentage of recipes that use little or no spice at all, including recipes such as "tea smoked duck".
Characteristics of Chinese Medicated Diet
Zhejiang cuisine is one of the eight famous culinary schools in China. Comprising the specialties of Hangzhou, Ningbo and Shaoxing in Zhejiang Province regarded as land of fish and rice, Zhejiang cuisine, not greasy, wins its reputation for freshness, tenderness, softness, and smoothness of its dishes with mellow fragrance. Hangzhou cuisine is the most famous one among the three.
Hangzhou cuisine is characterized by its elaborate preparation and varying techniques of cooking, such as sautéing, stewing, and stir- and deep-frying. Hangzhou food tastes fresh and crisp, varying with the change of season. Ningbo food is a bit salty but delicious. Specializing in steamed, roasted and braised seafood, Ningbo cuisine is particular in retaining the original freshness, tenderness and softness. Shaoxing cuisine offers fresh aquatic food and poultry that has a special rural flavor, sweet in smell, soft and glutinous in taste, thick in gravy and strong in season.
Each of the three sub-cuisine traditions is noted for its special flavor and taste, but they are all characterized by the careful selection of ingredients, emphasizing minute preparation, and unique, fresh and tender tastes.
Zhejiang cuisine specializes in quick-frying, stir-frying, deep-frying, simmering and steaming, obtaining the natural flavor and taste. Special care is taken in the cooking process to make the food fresh, crispy and tender. Thanks to exquisite preparation, the dishes are not only delicious in taste and but also extremely elegant in appearance. Zhejiang cuisine is best represented by Hangzhou dishes, including Hangzhou roast chicken (commonly known as Beggar's chicken), Dongpo pork, west lake fish in vinegar sauce, Songsao Shredded Fish soup, etc.
Legend has it that Beggar's chicken was invented by a Hangzhou thief. The story goes that because the thief had no stove, he wrapped the stolen bird in clay and baked it in a hole in the ground; another version explains that he was a hungry thief who found a way to cook his bird and keep it and its aroma secret!
The famous restaurants in Hangzhou are: Louwailou Restaurant, Hangzhou Restaurant, Xizhongxi Restaurant, etc. Louwailou Restaurant boasts a history of over 100 years and is noted for west lake fish in vinegar sauce, fried shrimps with Longjing tea.
There are many fantastic destinations and attractions for you to explore in China. The hot tourism cities as followed Beijing, Xi'an, Shanghai, Lhase,Guilin, Hangzhou, Sanya, Dalian, Harbin, Lijiang , and the hot attractions as followed The Great Wall , Terracotta Warriors and Horses, Jiuzhaigou National Park, Li River Cruise, Lama Temple.