Chinese Food
Chinese food culture has a long history that is extensive and profound. It has gone through thousands of years of development and has become an important part of traditional Chinese culture. During its long term development, evolution and accumulation process, Chinese people have gradually formed their own unique food customs on diet structure, food production, food utensils, nutrition and food aesthetics, and ultimately create Chinese food culture with a unique flavor. China possesses one of the world’s greatest cuisines, and you may be shocked by its surprising range and variety of ingredients.
During its continuous development, Chinese food has formed "ten beauties style": paying attention to the harmony of taste, color, aroma, quality, shape, order, dining ware, environment and fun. Chinese cooking not only requires skill, but also emphasizes the beauty of food, pays attention to food color, smell, taste, shape, dining ware coherence, and many more. The demonstration of the beauty of the dishes has multiple facets, whether it is a carrot, or a cabbage heart, it can be carved into a variety of shapes, each with its own unique characteristics, achieving the harmony of color, smell, taste, shape and beauty and provides people with unified spiritual and material joy.
About the ingredients
"The Chinese eat everything with four legs, except tables, and everything that flies, except airplanes.” - Anon.
China has a long history, vast territory, diverse geographical environment, rich climate conditions, and a wide variety of animals and plants. Ever since the beginning of the Qin Dynasty, Chinese people's dietary structures were based upon grains, beans, vegetables, fruits, cereals and other plant foods. Their staple food is grain, non-staple food is vegetables, plus small amounts of meat. The Chinese love to eat, so Chinese food includes a large variety of ingredients. Various creatures, from ones in the sky, to underground ones, to water ones and to land ones, can be turned into food that can form a dazzling variety of diets.
Regional Cuisines
Chinese cuisine have a number of different genres with their own local flavors, but the most influential and typically known by the public are the "Eight Cuisines": Shandong Cuisine, Sichuan Cuisine, Guangdong Cuisine, Fujian Cuisine, Jiangsu Cuisine, Zhejiang Cuisine, Hunan Cuisine, and Anhui Cuisine. The formation of these different regional cuisines is mainly defined by climate, available resources, cooking methods, and history.
Local products and customs determine the ingredients used. For example, northern China has more cattle and sheep, therefore, they often make dishes with beef and mutton; southern China has more fish, poultry, so people like to eat fish and meat; Chinese coastal area has plenty of seafood, therefore, they are good at cooking seafood.
Different climates form different tastes. Generally speaking, it's cold in northern China, so dishes are mainly with strong and salty flavor; it's mild in eastern China, so the dishes are mainly sweet and salty; it's wet and rainy in the southwestern area of China, so the dishes there has more spicy flavor.
Different cooking methods form different cuisine characteristics. For example, Shandong and Beijing cuisines specialize in stir-frying, roasting, and quick-frying; Jiangsu cuisine specializes in steaming, stewing, and simmering; Sichuan cuisine specializes in roasting and stir-frying; Guangdong cuisine specializes in roasting, stir-frying, and deep-frying.
The main features of China’s regional cuisines can be found as follows:
