Chinese Cuisine
Chinese cuisine originated from the various regions of China and has become widespread in many other parts of the world from Asia to the Americas, Australia, Western Europe and Southern Africa. In recent years, connoisseurs of Chinese cuisine have also sprouted in Eastern Europe and South Asia. American Chinese cuisine and Canadian Chinese food are popular examples of local varieties.
Regional cultural differences vary greatly within China, giving rise to the different styles of food. There are eight main regional cuisines, or Eight Great Traditions : Anhui, Cantonese, Fujian, Hunan, Jiangsu, Shandong, Sichuan and Zhejiang. There is also Huaiyang Cuisine, a major style and even viewed as the representation of the cuisine.
Occasionally, Beijing cuisine and Shanghai cuisine are also cited along with eight regional styles as the Ten Great Traditions . There are also featured Buddhist and Muslim sub-cuisines within the greater Chinese cuisine, with an emphasis on vegetarian and halal-based diets respectively.
Presentation
Pork
Dongpo rou Fried pork belly stewed in soy and wine
Pork is generally used over beef in Chinese cuisine due to economic, religious, and aesthetic reasons; swine are easy to feed and are not used for labour, and are so closely tied to the idea of domesticity that the character for "home" depicts a pig under a roof. The colour of the meat and the fat of pork are regarded as more appetizing, while the taste and smell are described as sweeter and cleaner. It is also considered easier to digest. Buddhist cuisine restricts the use of meats and Chinese Islamic cuisine excludes pork.
Vegetarianism
Vegetarianism is not uncommon or unusual in China; though, as is the case in the West, it is only practiced by a relatively small fraction of the population. Most Chinese vegetarians are Buddhists, following the Buddhist teachings about minimizing suffering. Chinese vegetarian dishes often contain large varieties of vegetables (e.g. Bok Choy, shiitake mushroom, sprouts, corn) and some imitation meat. Such imitation meat is created mostly with soy protein and/or wheat gluten to imitate the texture, taste, and appearance of duck, chicken, or pork. Imitation seafood items, made from other vegetable substances such as konjac, are also available.
Chinese desserts
Chinese desserts are sweet foods and dishes that are served with tea or at the end of meals in Chinese cuisine. The desserts encompass a wide variety of ingredients commonly used in East Asian cuisines such as powdered or whole glutinous rice, sweet bean pastes, and agar. Due to the many Chinese cultures and the long history of China, there are a great variety of desserts of many forms.
Bing
Bing are baked wheat flour based confections, these are either similar to the short-pastry crust of western cuisine or flaky like puff pastry, the latter of which is often known as su (?). The preferred fat used for bing is usually lard. One of the more commonly
known bing is the moon cake.
Candies
Chinese candies and sweets,called tng, are usually made with cane sugar, malt sugar, and honey. These sweets often consists of nuts or fruits that are mixed into syrup whole or in pastes to flavour or give the candies their textures. Tanghulu, dragon's beard candy, and White Rabbit Creamy Candy are a some examples of this category.
Gao
Gao or Guo are rice base snacks that are typically steamed and may be made from glutinous or normal rice. In Fukien speaking Chinese populations, these are known as Kuei, which are based on the pronunciation of . These rice based snacks have a wide variety of
textures and can be chewy, jelly-like, fluffy or rather firm. One of the more commonly known gao is the niangao.
Jellies
Chinese jellies are known collectively in the language as ices . Many jelly desserts are traditionally set with agar and are flavored with fruits, though gelatin based jellies are also common in contemporary desserts. Some Chinese jellies, such as the grass jelly and the aiyu jelly set by themselves.
Soups
Chinese dessert soups typically consists of sweet and usually hot soups and custards, and are collectively known as tongsui in Cantonese. Some of these soups are made with restorative properties in mind, in concordance with traditional Chinese medicine.
A commonly eaten dessert soup is douhua, which is sometimes taken for breakfast
Chinese Popular Cuisine Names
Thirteen Great Traditions- Regional Dishes
Anhui
* Ginger Duck
* Hay Wrapped Fragrant Ribs
* Caterpillar Fungus Duck
* Dry Pot Tofu
* Potato Croquets
* Crab-apple Flower Cake
* Soy Braised Mandarin Fish
* Friend Tofu Balls
* Fried Pumpkin Dumplings
* Silver Fish Fried Egg
* 5 Colors Fish Cake
* Jade Rabbit Sea Cucumber
* Flower Mushroom Frog
* Bright Pearl Abalone
* Bagongshan Tofu
* Crab and Fish Stomachs
* Phoenix Tail Shrimp
* Fuli Roast Chicken
* Lotus Seed Pod Fish
* Cream FattyKingfish
Beijing
* Peking Duck (usually served with pancakes)
Cantonese
* Preserved-salted fish
* Preserved-salted duck
* Preserved-salted pork
* Chinese steamed eggs
* Rice congee
* Boiled bok choy with oyster sauce
* Stir-fried vegetables with meat (e.g. chicken, duck, pork, beef, or intestines)
* Steamed frog on lotus leaf
* Zhaliang
* Youtiao
* Dace fishballs
* Cantonese seafood soup
* Winter melon soup
* Snow fungus soup
* Northeast watercress sparerib soup
* Old fire-cooked soups
* Wonton noodle
* Beef chow fun
* Shahe fen
* Char siu
* Roast goose
* Roasted pig
* White cut chicken
* Orange cuttlefish
* Brine-soaked duck
* Soy sauce chicken
* Little pan rice
* Layered egg and beef over rice
* Layered steak over rice
* Preserved chinese sausage over rice
* Steamed chicken over rice
* Pork Spareribs over rice
* Crispy fried chicken
* Seafood birdsnest
* Suckling pig
* Taro duck
* Roast young pigeon/squabs
* Sour sparerib
* Salt and pepper rib
* Salt and pepper cuttlefish
* Salt and pepper shrimp
* Red bean soup
* Gou dim
* Shaved Ice
* Deng egg
* Bao yu
* Shark fin soup
* Hoi sam
* Bird's nest soup
* Tea smoked duck
Fujian
* Popiah
* Buddha jumps over the wall
* Yen pi
Hainan
Hunan
Jiangsu
Manchu
Mongolian
* xianbing
* niurougan
Shandong
Szechuan
* Kung Pao chicken
* Zhangcha duck
* Twice Cooked Pork
* Mapo dofu
* Sichuan hotpot
* Fuqi Feipian
* Chongqing Spicy Deep-Fried Chicken
* Shuizhu, or literally "Water cooked", or Dishes
* Dan dan noodles and Bon bon chicken
Teochew
* Yusheng
* Popiah
Yunnan
* Crossing the bridge noodles
Zhejiang
Chinese cuisine originated from the various regions of China and has become widespread in many other parts of the world from Asia to the Americas, Australia, Western Europe and Southern Africa. In recent years, connoisseurs of Chinese cuisine have also sprouted in Eastern Europe and South Asia. American Chinese cuisine and Canadian Chinese food are popular examples of local varieties.
Regional cultural differences vary greatly within China, giving rise to the different styles of food. There are eight main regional cuisines, or Eight Great Traditions : Anhui, Cantonese, Fujian, Hunan, Jiangsu, Shandong, Sichuan and Zhejiang. There is also Huaiyang Cuisine, a major style and even viewed as the representation of the cuisine.
Occasionally, Beijing cuisine and Shanghai cuisine are also cited along with eight regional styles as the Ten Great Traditions . There are also featured Buddhist and Muslim sub-cuisines within the greater Chinese cuisine, with an emphasis on vegetarian and halal-based diets respectively.
Presentation
Pork
Dongpo rou Fried pork belly stewed in soy and wine
Pork is generally used over beef in Chinese cuisine due to economic, religious, and aesthetic reasons; swine are easy to feed and are not used for labour, and are so closely tied to the idea of domesticity that the character for "home" depicts a pig under a roof. The colour of the meat and the fat of pork are regarded as more appetizing, while the taste and smell are described as sweeter and cleaner. It is also considered easier to digest. Buddhist cuisine restricts the use of meats and Chinese Islamic cuisine excludes pork.
Vegetarianism
Vegetarianism is not uncommon or unusual in China; though, as is the case in the West, it is only practiced by a relatively small fraction of the population. Most Chinese vegetarians are Buddhists, following the Buddhist teachings about minimizing suffering. Chinese vegetarian dishes often contain large varieties of vegetables (e.g. Bok Choy, shiitake mushroom, sprouts, corn) and some imitation meat. Such imitation meat is created mostly with soy protein and/or wheat gluten to imitate the texture, taste, and appearance of duck, chicken, or pork. Imitation seafood items, made from other vegetable substances such as konjac, are also available.
Chinese desserts
Chinese desserts are sweet foods and dishes that are served with tea or at the end of meals in Chinese cuisine. The desserts encompass a wide variety of ingredients commonly used in East Asian cuisines such as powdered or whole glutinous rice, sweet bean pastes, and agar. Due to the many Chinese cultures and the long history of China, there are a great variety of desserts of many forms.
Bing
Bing are baked wheat flour based confections, these are either similar to the short-pastry crust of western cuisine or flaky like puff pastry, the latter of which is often known as su (?). The preferred fat used for bing is usually lard. One of the more commonly
known bing is the moon cake.
Candies
Chinese candies and sweets,called tng, are usually made with cane sugar, malt sugar, and honey. These sweets often consists of nuts or fruits that are mixed into syrup whole or in pastes to flavour or give the candies their textures. Tanghulu, dragon's beard candy, and White Rabbit Creamy Candy are a some examples of this category.
Gao
Gao or Guo are rice base snacks that are typically steamed and may be made from glutinous or normal rice. In Fukien speaking Chinese populations, these are known as Kuei, which are based on the pronunciation of . These rice based snacks have a wide variety of
textures and can be chewy, jelly-like, fluffy or rather firm. One of the more commonly known gao is the niangao.
Jellies
Chinese jellies are known collectively in the language as ices . Many jelly desserts are traditionally set with agar and are flavored with fruits, though gelatin based jellies are also common in contemporary desserts. Some Chinese jellies, such as the grass jelly and the aiyu jelly set by themselves.
Soups
Chinese dessert soups typically consists of sweet and usually hot soups and custards, and are collectively known as tongsui in Cantonese. Some of these soups are made with restorative properties in mind, in concordance with traditional Chinese medicine.
A commonly eaten dessert soup is douhua, which is sometimes taken for breakfast
Chinese Popular Cuisine Names
Thirteen Great Traditions- Regional Dishes
Anhui
* Ginger Duck
* Hay Wrapped Fragrant Ribs
* Caterpillar Fungus Duck
* Dry Pot Tofu
* Potato Croquets
* Crab-apple Flower Cake
* Soy Braised Mandarin Fish
* Friend Tofu Balls
* Fried Pumpkin Dumplings
* Silver Fish Fried Egg
* 5 Colors Fish Cake
* Jade Rabbit Sea Cucumber
* Flower Mushroom Frog
* Bright Pearl Abalone
* Bagongshan Tofu
* Crab and Fish Stomachs
* Phoenix Tail Shrimp
* Fuli Roast Chicken
* Lotus Seed Pod Fish
* Cream FattyKingfish
Beijing
* Peking Duck (usually served with pancakes)
Cantonese
* Preserved-salted fish
* Preserved-salted duck
* Preserved-salted pork
* Chinese steamed eggs
* Rice congee
* Boiled bok choy with oyster sauce
* Stir-fried vegetables with meat (e.g. chicken, duck, pork, beef, or intestines)
* Steamed frog on lotus leaf
* Zhaliang
* Youtiao
* Dace fishballs
* Cantonese seafood soup
* Winter melon soup
* Snow fungus soup
* Northeast watercress sparerib soup
* Old fire-cooked soups
* Wonton noodle
* Beef chow fun
* Shahe fen
* Char siu
* Roast goose
* Roasted pig
* White cut chicken
* Orange cuttlefish
* Brine-soaked duck
* Soy sauce chicken
* Little pan rice
* Layered egg and beef over rice
* Layered steak over rice
* Preserved chinese sausage over rice
* Steamed chicken over rice
* Pork Spareribs over rice
* Crispy fried chicken
* Seafood birdsnest
* Suckling pig
* Taro duck
* Roast young pigeon/squabs
* Sour sparerib
* Salt and pepper rib
* Salt and pepper cuttlefish
* Salt and pepper shrimp
* Red bean soup
* Gou dim
* Shaved Ice
* Deng egg
* Bao yu
* Shark fin soup
* Hoi sam
* Bird's nest soup
* Tea smoked duck
Fujian
* Popiah
* Buddha jumps over the wall
* Yen pi
Hainan
Hunan
Jiangsu
Manchu
Mongolian
* xianbing
* niurougan
Shandong
Szechuan
* Kung Pao chicken
* Zhangcha duck
* Twice Cooked Pork
* Mapo dofu
* Sichuan hotpot
* Fuqi Feipian
* Chongqing Spicy Deep-Fried Chicken
* Shuizhu, or literally "Water cooked", or Dishes
* Dan dan noodles and Bon bon chicken
Teochew
* Yusheng
* Popiah
Yunnan
* Crossing the bridge noodles
Zhejiang