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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.
Shandong Cuisine
Consisting of Jinan cuisine and Jiaodong cuisine, Shandong cuisine, clean, pure
and not greasy, is characterized by its emphasis on aroma, freshness, crispness
and tenderness. Shallots and garlic are frequently used as seasonings so
Shandong dishes taste pungent. Soups are given much emphasis in Shandong
cuisine. Thin soups are clear and fresh while creamy soups are thick and taste
strong. Jinan chefs are adept at deep-frying, grilling, pan-frying and
stir-frying while Jiaodong chefs are famous for cooking seafood with a fresh
and light taste.Typical menu items: Bird's Nest Soup; Yellow River Carp in
Sweet and Sour sauce
Sichuan Cuisine
Sichuan Cuisine, known more commonly in the West as Szechuan Cuisine, is one of
the most famous Chinese cuisines in the world. Characterized by its spicy and
pungent flavors, Sichuan cuisine, with a myriad of tastes, emphasizes the use
of chili. Pepper and prickly ash are always in accompaniment, producing the
typical exciting tastes. Garlic, ginger and fermented soybean are also used in
the cooking process. Wild vegetables and meats such as are often chosen as
ingredients, while frying, frying without oil, pickling and braising are used
as basic cooking techniques.It can be said that one who doesn't experience
Sichuan food has never reached China. Typical menu items: Hot Pot; Smoked Duck;
Kung Pao Chicken; Twice Cooked Pork; Mapo Dofu
Guangdong Cuisine (Cantonese Cuisine)
Tasting clean, light, crisp and fresh, Guangdong cuisine, familiar to
Westerners, usually has fowl and other meats that produce its unique dishes.
The basic cooking techniques include roasting, stir-frying, sauteing,
deep-frying, braising, stewing and steaming. Steaming and stir-frying are most
frequently used to preserve the ingredients' natural flavors. Guangdong chefs
also pay much attention to the artistic presentation of their dishes.Typical
menu items: Shark Fin Soup; Steamed Sea Bass; Roasted Piglet
Chinese medicinal cuisine
Chinese medicinal cuisine is unique in China and has a long history. Sun
Simiao, a leading Tang Dynasty doctor, once said, "Food has the function of
eliminating evil influences and soothing the vital organs, cultivating one's
mind and building up one's strength." In China, people contend that food tonic
is much better than medicine tonic in fortifying one's health. Based on
traditional Chinese herbal medicine practice, it combines strictly processed
traditional Chinese medicine with traditional culinary materials to produce
delicious food with health restoring qualities. To cook medicinal food, one has
a large variety of fine materials to choose from and each material has its own
unique flavor. Generally, processed herbal materials are more commonly used in
order to avoid strong odors. However, individuals of different physical status
need to select different herbs. The selection of herbs will depend on each
individual's condition of health. Due to its herbal nature, it is better to
take medicinal food according to the doctor's prescription.In the cooking of
medicinal food, slow cooking methods such as stewing, braising and simmering
are usually used in order to extract more of the herbs' healing properties.
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