Chinese Food
Chinese cuisine
Chinese cuisine is as wide as the country. There are Imperial dishes and local cuisines, ethnic minority's dishes -such as Mongolian dishes, Tibetan dishes, Manchu dishes, or Zhan dishes- and vegetarian dishes, even dishes with strong religious flavor, such as those from an Islamic background.
Popular Chinese dishes like chop suey or fortune cookies are a fruit from the adaptation of traditional Chinese cuisiine to western tastes ad they born in the United States
We recommend going a step beyond the fast Chinese buffet or take away. Exploring Chinese cuisine is an indispensable part to know the nation's heritage and culture. It started with Szechuan, Shandong, Guangdong and Hunan cuisine, then evolved into 8 styles, and more afterwards. As we explore the best know cooking styles, be aware Chinese cuisine is changing.
The main styles
In such a vaste country with its varitety of landscapes and climatic regions, there are marked differences in techniques and ingredients between the main cooking styles.
We will talk of Canton style cuisine, with the freshness of its ingredients and the subtle but dinstinct contrast of flavors and textures, Szechuan style cuisine, Hunan style cuisine, Shanghai style cuisine, and, of course, of the delicate Mandarin style cuisine, knowing we are giving only a very quick glance to a very sophiticated world of food preparation.
Preparation methods
Stir frying is the most popular and best known technique as it is simple and fast, a wok, a little oil and you are good to cook. Don't disdain other methods, like stewing in the traditional clay pots or roasting Chinese style a piece of meat marinated overnight in a liquid liberally doused with garlic and five spice powder.
Chinese cuisine is nourishing and artistic
Althoug Chinese food is not prepared regularly in western kitchens, it should be. Chinese dishes are espcially healthy when prepared at home and eaten in the traditonal way.
Chinese cooking is delicious, careful of the presentation, and the variety of flavors is so cleverly contained in each dish that, in our opinion, you could even cook that table or that plane and they would taste great.
Where to go from here? Taste more Chinese food, explore food in Asia, enjoy wine in Asia, or return to World Food and Wine home page and seek a new adventure.
