Chinese Cuisine - Food

The development and diversity of the delights of Chinese cuisine represent China's long history. With each dynasty new recipes were created until the art of food preparation reached its peak during the Qing Dynasty (1644 - 1911). The dinner called Man Han Quan Xi which incorporates the best of Man and Han Cuisine is rated the highest in esteem as it involves countless dishes, each with its own distinctive flavor and appeal. In its preparation and presentation, this veritable banquet typifies all of the culture and culinary arts that have been perfected over centuries and is a comprehensive blend of taste, instruments, and manners. It is no exaggeration to say that Chinese cuisine is dainty, in its items, aesthetics, atmosphere, and effects.

Eight Cuisines :

The diversity of geography, climate, costumes and products have led to the evolution of the 'Four Flavors' and 'Eight Cuisines' . As catering is a living art, sub-classifications continue to increase. This includes the dishes in various flavours and tastes created by expert chefs, local specialities in cuisines, the cuisine of the majority Han people and the many minorities who have their own fantastic traditions and appeal.

Cuisine in China is a harmonious integration of color, redolence, taste, shape and the fineness of the instruments. For the cooking process, chefs pick various ingredients and seasonings while employing unparalleled complicated skills to create a masterpiece perfect in all senses. Among the many cooking methods they use are boiling, stewing, braising, frying, steaming, crisping, baking, simmering and so on. When they finish their masterpieces they are arranged on a variety of plates and dishes so that they are a real pleasure to view, to smell and ultimately to savor. The facility to partake of these delights is also distinctive - chopsticks!. The use of two simple sticks in this way is an art in itself and chopsticks have determined the way in which Chinese food is presented at table.

Cuisine can rise to many different occasions from luxury court feasts, fetes, holy sacrificial rites, joyous wedding ceremonies to simple daily meals and snacks. The art of a good cook is to provide a wholesome and satisfying dish to suit the occasion.

Chinese Medicinal Cuisine: Good cuisine has the effect of prolonging life, sustaining the constitution and promoting energy and in this respect bears some relationship to Chinese medicine.

Food Culture : Just as the ingredients of each dish and presentation is important, table manners and courtesy among diners are very much part of the Chinese cultural tradition. The high art of Chinese cuisine can be truly enjoyed to the full only by combining excellent food with good manners.

Minority Cuisine : It also has its own flavor and appeal in ethnic groups, which is quite distinctive.

Colorful, aromatic and delicious are characteristics of China's varied cuisines. Wherever you find yourself in China, your senses are tested to the extreme whilst enjoying the unusual dishes, often unique to the area you are visiting.

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 the chef to present a delicious platter of fragrant delicious art.

In prepared dishes, the stronger fragrant aroma stimulates one's appetite, by using scallion, fresh ginger, root garlic or chili pepper; with the use of wine, aniseed, cinnamon, peppercorn or sesame oil. Complementary nuances are added. Soy sauce, sugar, vinegar and other seasonings may used discreetly, adding to the complex play on the taste buds.

All chefs of the Chinese kitchens, professional or in the home, strive for harmony of sight, smell, taste, texture, so that each individual dish has it's unique features highlighted; contrasted and balanced if it is a dinner of many dishes, be it 3, 6, 9 or 12. The flavors must not overpower, yet subtle enough to meet the tastes of those dining and to play on the eaters' real and imagined visions of the dishes and its ingredients. Complex or simple dishes may be prepared quickly or much longer. Over festive periods, well meaning felicitous names of dishes keep many people trying to guess what they are about to eat, thereby adding fun to eating.

Chinese cuisine has a number of different genres, but the most influential and typical known by the public are the 'Eight Cuisines'. These are as follows: Shandong Cuisine, Sichuan Cuisine, Guangdong Cuisine, Fujian Cuisine, Jiangsu Cuisine, Zhejiang Cuisine, Hunan Cuisine, and Anhui Cuisine. The essential factors that establish the form of a genre are complex and include history, cooking features, geography, climate, resources and life styles. Cuisines from different regions are so distinctive that sometimes their styles are completely alien despite the fact that two areas are geographical neighbors.

Shandong Cuisine

This is the local flavor of Jinan City and Jiaodong peninsula derived from the use of shallots and garlic. Both restaurant chefs and those in families are expert in cooking seafood, soups, meat and offal. The recipes are those that once delighted the royal court and were served to the emperor. The typical menu can include many delicate dishes such as:

Braised abalone - smooth, delicate, fresh and savory

Sweet and Sour Carp - with crisp exterior and tender fish interior, a little sweet and sour

Bree with a complex - clear, mild and fresh

‘Eight Immortals Crossing Sea teasing Arhats' - This is a starter before a celebration feast. It is luxurious and traditionally uses as its eight main ingredients: fin, sea pumpkin, abalone, asparagus, prawns and ham. The stock is flavored with fish's swimming bladder and fish bones. These symbolize the eight immortals and the Arhats [Buddhist saints] are symbolized by the inclusion of chicken breast.

Guangdong Cuisine

Guangdong Cuisine takes fine and rare ingredients and is cooked with polished skills in a dainty style. It emphasizes a flavor which is clear but not light, refreshing but not common, tender but not crude. In summer and autumn it pursues clarity and in winter and spring, a little more substance. The sauted dishes always rely upon exquisite presentation involving cutting and carving skills. Typical menu can include the following:

Chrysanthemum fish - chefs with expert cutting techniques shape the fish like chrysanthemums, each individual morsel being convenient to enjoy with either chopsticks or forks.

Braised Snake porridge - choose rare meat of cobra, grimalkin, and pullet, braised elaborately, also called 'Dragon and phoenix contending' (Long Feng Dou).

Roast suckling pig - a famed dish with rather long history, golden and crisp exterior, and tender meat, with dense aroma.

Sichuan Cuisine

This combines the cuisines from Chengdu and Chongqing. From as early as the Qing Dynasty (1644 - 1911), books had systematically recorded a total of 38 cooking methods like to scald, wrap, bake, mix, stew, and adhere, etc. it features pungent seasonings which were famed as 'Three Peppers' (Chinese prickly ash, pepper and hot pepper), 'three aroma' (shallot, ginger, and garlic), 'Seven Tastes' (sweet, sour, tingling, spicy, bitter, piquant, and salty), and 'eight flavors' (fish-flavored, sour with spice, pepper-tingling, odd flavor, tingling with spice, red spicy oily, ginger sauce, and home cooking). Delicious dishes menu includes:

Stir-fried Tofu with Minced Beef in Spicy Bean Sauce - A real feast of tender bean curd, minced beef, pepper and bean sauce. It is said that it was made by a pock-marked but ingenious woman, thus the name Ma Po Tofu (pock-marked woman's bean curd).

Lamp-shadow Beef - with larruping techniques, the beef is cut in very thin sheet. When a piece is carried, it looks like translucent paper, slippery and reddish. When put under the lamp or light, a red shadow will appear.

Lung Pieces by Couple - a quite popular in Chengdu. It got the name because the dish was ever sold be a couple and today it remains the original savor, tender meat, tingling and spicy.

Gong Bao Ji Ding -In Chinese it is called Gong Bao Ji Ding. This is a tender chicken dish, tender as the meat is quickly fried. Flavored with peanuts, this is tasty and very popular.

Hunan Cuisine

Hunan cuisine lays a stress on the use of oil, dense color, and techniques that produce crispness, softness and tenderness as well as the savory flavors and spices. Stewed fins, fried fresh cabbage with chestnuts, Dong Anzi chicken, immortal chicken with five elements, are of the highest reputation.

Stewed fins - had been famous during the Qing Dynasty. Choice fins, chickens, pork are stewed in chicken soup and sauce, tasting really fresh and mellow.

Immortal chicken with five elements - means to put five elements, litchi, longan, red dates, lotus seeds, and medlar, into the body of a chicken, then to braise. The taste is rather peculiar but it is said to have the effect of strengthening the constitution.

Jiangsu Cuisine

Jiangsu Cuisine developed from the local recipes of Yangzhou, Suzhou and Nanjing. Its main cooking techniques are braising and stewing, thereby enhancing the original flavor and sauce. The elegant color, novel sculpts, with salt and sweet taste will soothe your stomach. The cuisine has several branches, including Shanghai cuisine, Nanjing cuisine is known for its duck recipes, Suxi cuisine with flowery hue, etc. The most highly recommended courses are:

Three sets of ducks - an interlinking dish, that is to put pigeon into wild duck, then put the wild duck into a fowl duck. When stewed, the fowl duck is tender, the wild one crisp, and the little pigeon delicate!

Boiled dry thread of Tofu - With the exquisite skill of the chefs, the Tofu can be cut into very thin threads which have chances to absorb the savor of soup. When chicken pieces are added to the soup, the dish is called 'chicken dry thread'; likewise, when shrimp is added, it makes 'shrimp dry thread'.

Lion's head braised with crab-powder - There is a metaphor in the dish name. In actual fact the Lion's head is a conglomeration of meat that is shaped like a sunflower and resembles a lion's head. It can be braised in a clear soup, or be red-cooked in a dense soup. A seasoning of crab powder enhances the flavor.

Zhejiangze Cuisine

As Zhejiang cuisine consists of hundreds of small delicacies from its main cities, it takes in Hangzhou's fineness and diversification Ningbo's softness and originality, and Shaoxing's pastoral interests. Hangzhou was once the capital of the Southern Song Dynasty (1127 - 1279), it is customary to give the cuisine dainty place-names. The chief techniques of cooking lie in the methods used such as frying, quick-fry, stir-fry, braising, and steaming thus rendering the dishes both salubrious and savory. The main diishes are:

West-lake braised fish in vinegar - is a traditional delicacy in Hangzhou. It is said that there was once a boy who made his living by fishing. When he fell ill, his sister-in-law fished for him and braised the fish she caught with a marinade of vinegar and sugar. He was said to have made an immediate recovery after eating it. The boy's story aroused the attention of the emperor and the recipe has been used ever since.

Shelled shrimps cooked in Longjing tea - As the Longjing tea is taken from the best tea in Hangzhou, which is recognized for greenness, fragrance, pure taste and elegant looks, when the living shrimps are stir-fried in the Long tea, the dish sends an artistic aroma and is quite delicious.

Fujian Cuisine

Fujian cuisine has 4 distinctive features, that is, fine cutting techniques, alternative soups, unique seasonings, and exquisite cooking. Chefs can always cut the thin jellyfish into 3 pieces and into very thin thread. The soup of this cuisine genre has its freshness and keeps its own savor with ease. The seasonings add sweet and sour flavors to the dishes. To add to its appeal the food is served in or on elegant bowls or plates. There are countless appealing dishes, Some of them are :

Fried golden bamboo shoot with chicken mince - Every 100g of winter bamboo shoots will be cut into 500- 600 strips with the same length and breadth. Then they can blend with the very small pieces of chicken.

Buddha jumping over the wall - The most famous and classical dish, which has a long history since the Qing Dynasty.

Dongbi dragon pearl - It chooses materials from the rare longan trees of thousand year's history in Kaiyuan Temple in Quanzhou, the delicate scent is rather catching.

'Fried Xi Shi's tongue' - is made from the locally produced Fujian mussel. According to legend the concubine Xi Shi of the king of Wu state was thrown in the sea tied to a huge stone by the wife of Gou Jian, the king of Yue who destroyed Wu, to prevent her husband being seduced by her beauty. In the area of the sea where she sank, a special breed of mussel appeared and this was said to be Xi Shi's tongue.

Anhui Cuisine

It is mainly composed of local flavors of Huizhou and other areas along the Yangtze River and the Huai River. Among the dishes on the Ahhui cuisine menu, you will find less fried or quick-fried dishes than those that are braised. People here are inclined to add ham as seasoning and sugar candy to enrich the freshness and are quite accomplished in the art of cooking. Among these delicacies, some of the traditional ones are outstanding:

'Braised turtle with ham' - The oldest dish using the special 'Mati turtle'. The delightful taste of this dish has inspired poets.

'Fuliji Grilled chicken'- The cooking technique was derived from Dezhou braised chicken of Shandong Province, with improvement of the technique by the Fuliji chef.
The grilled chicken is golden and tempting, and the meat is so well cooked that it falls easily from the bone.

Other Cuisines

In other places there are also great tastes such as Beijing cuisine, Dongbei cuisine, Uygur cuisine and Huibei cuisine. As the capital of China, Beijing has always enjoyed a selection of delectable cuisines and offers a vast variety of dishes from all over the country. Consequently, no matter where you visit, there will be fascinating food that you can enjoy.
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Sindhi Cuisine

The Sindhis are originally from Sindh, now a part of Pakistan. Since the sindhis were under Muslim rule for centuries, Muslim influence on Sindhi food is strongly felt. In he 8th century, the Caliph of Bhagdad sent his general, along with his Arab soldiers to march over Sindh,. The Arabs fought and defeated the Rajput rulers and took over Sindh. From the Arabs, Sindh was taken over by the Mughals, who were fascinated by its difficult terrains, its vast stretches of desert land and iits mighty river, the Sindhu, which flowed fast and often very treacherously. Sindh also became an ideal hiding place for the Mughals. The great Mughal ruler Humayun is said to have taken shelter in the small village of Amarkot in Sindh to escape from Shershah, and it was here also that Pronce Akbar was born. Later, Dara, the step brother of Auramgzeb took shelter in Sindh fromhis brother. In 1590 Akbar annexed Sindh to Delhi and after his death, Shahjahan appointed his son Aurangzeb asthe governor of Sindh. Mughal rule abated in Sindh only with the coming of the Europeans on the Indian scene.

It is not surprising that the pullaos and biryanis and some of the most exotic dishes in Sindhi cuisine, are an influence of the Mughals. Besides the Muslims, the Punjabis too have influenced Sindhi food. This is due to the fact that both Punjabis and Sindhis mixed freely with each other through centuries of Muslim rule, for Punjab too like Sindh, was under the Mughals.

But this does not mean that the Sindhis do not have their own distinctive cuisine. The Sindhis have a rich heritage in traditional dishes,which have remained unchanged through the centuries. These include dishes like Palo Kok, and lotus stems cooked in earthenware pots. They are so old that their origin is lost in antiquity. Sindhis fancy themselves as gourmets and they are correct in their belief because they evince great interest in food. Today, Sindhi cuisine is recognized all over India. Sindhi halwas, mithais and above all, papads are unbeatable and eaten throughout India by people of various castes and creeds. They are also exported to various parts of the world. In Sindh only pure ghee was used in the preparation of food.

Papads and Kheecchas:

With every meal the Sindhis consume a large quantity of crisp and crunchy papads and khechas. These spicy preserves add zest to even the most prosaic of meals.

Fish:

Fish is a regular part of Sindhi food, but only fresh water or river fish, mainly hilsa and surmai, are favoured by the majority of Sindhis. However, pomfret has also gained popularity ever since the Sindhis migrated to India. Shellfish is not highly regarded and prawn is the only shellfish which is eaten.

Rotis:

The only bread popular in Sindh is roti which in Sindhi is called koki. The koki is prepared in a variety of ways, from plain to creamy to sweet to savoury, to the stuffed koki. Besides this the only other authentic Sindhi bread is called phulkas. Parathas are also popular but they are not of Sindhi origin but typically punjabi preparation. Kokis are ideal for breakfast, for taking to school o work, or for picnic and travel. They are not only very nutritious but also retain their flavour and appearance for a long period of time.

Mutton Recipes:

The Sindhis are not often very given to meat eating as is the case with most Indians. Only lamb is appreciated by them appears frequently in their diet. There are no recipes of either pork or beef. Beef is out completely because Sindhis are staunch Hindus, and pork is not eaten because Sindhis come from a Muslim country where the killing of pigs was absolutely taboo. Neither are there any outstanding poultry and wild game recipes because they are not favoured much by Sindhis. But the mutton dishes are deliciously satisfying, whether made into curries, fried or roasted or combined with vegetables.

Desserts and Sweetmeats:

Desserts are not unusual in Sindhi cuisine, being limited largely to a few standbys like halwas, sheeras and kheers. However, the art of sweet making is inmate in the Sindhis. This is evident from the fact that many sweetmeat shops belong to the Sindhis, where there is an amazing array of sweets to choose from.

Tea- time savouries:

The Sindhis are extremely fond of savouries, which are served with spicy chutneys and preserves. A typical Sindhi housewife offers her guests a plate of savouries as soon as they arrive. Whenever a guest is invited for tea it is more often a substantial meal, consisting entirely of mouth watering, delicious savouries which, if eaten once, cannot be easily forgotten.

Pickles and Chutneys:

No Sindhi meal is complete without a bowl of chutney and pickle. Every Sindhi housewife has jars of piquant pickles and chutneys in her pantry. Making pickles at home not only saves money but also gives an individuality to meals which is hard to come by in commercial varieties. At the same time, they are easy to prepare.

Rice:

Rice is eaten at least once every day in every Sindhi home. Usually plain boiled rice is served, but on special occasions, pullaos and biryanis with exotic garnishing are prepared. Most of the pullaos and biryanis are adapted from Mughlai cuisine Of special mention is yakhani pullao, which, though an authentic and original Mongol dish, has been taken up by the Sindhis with great gunto. Today no Sindhi wedding is complete without a dish of yakhani pullao on the menu.

Vegetarian Dishes:

Most of the Sindhis are vegetarians. This is probably due to the climate and geographical condition of their homeland. The climate of Sindh is such that bountiful crops of a variety of vegetables are produced all the year round which ake it possible for the people to exclude meat from their diet completely. Vegetables of all types are so overwhelmingly popular in Sindhi cuisine, that the infinite variety of vegetable recipes surpasses in taste and appearance even the best of non vegetarian dishes.

Kasmiri Cuisine

The history of modern Kashmiri cuisine can be traced back to the 15th century invasion of India by Timur, and the migration of 1700 skilled woodcarvers, weavers, architects, calligraphers and cooks from Samarkand to the valley of Kashmir. The descendants of these cooks, the Wazas, are the master chefs of Kashmir.

The ultimate formal meal in Kashmir is the royal Wazwan. If is made up of 36 courses, out of which about 15-30 can be preparations of meat, cooked overnight by the master chef, Vasta Waza, and his attendant wazas. Guests are seated in groups of 4 and share the meal out of a large metal plate called the trami.

The meal begins with a ritual washing of hands at a basin called the tash-t-nari, which is taken around by attendants. Then the tramis arrive, heaped with rice, quartered by 4 seekh kababs and contains 4 pieces of methi korma, 1 tabak maaz, 1 safed murg, 1 zafrani murg, and the first few courses. Curd and chutney are served separately in small earthen pots. As each trami is completed, it is removed, and a new one brought in, until the dinner has run its full course. 7 dishes are a must for these occassions -- Rista, Rogan Josh, Tabak Maaz, Daniwal Korma, Aab Gosht, Marchwangan Korma and Gushtaba. The meal ends with the Gushtaba.

Konkani Cuisine

Malvani cuisine, is a variation of the Karwari and Goan cuisines peppered with associations with the Gaud Saraswat Brahmin community.

This is perhaps the only region in which boiled fish is used for the famous coconut-based curries. In most other regions and styles, fish is generally fried before being cooked into the curry. What distinguishes Malvani fish curries is not just the variety of gravies but also the variety of recipes for the same kind of fish made by a dazzling permutation and combination of spices and ingredients and "dry to wet" cooking styles.

Mackerel alone is made with more than 50 recipes; the more popular of these are Udad, Methi, Tikhalen, Kalputi, Dabdabeet, Suken and Tirphalanche. Shell fish is another speciality of the region. The speciality of Malvani food is its delicately balanced punch As in Goa, some chicken, mutton and wild boar preparations called Xacuti are available. Derived probably from Portuguese etymology, the dish is equivalent to the Marathi Saguti.

Some years ago, Pernemchi Xacuti used to be available on the menu of one of the five-star hotels in Bombay. Every Malvani-Karwari-Goan or Saraswat meal is rounded off with a delicately fragrant, carmine coloured brew, the Solkadhi. This is made from Kokum, the dried peel of the luscious red fruit, Ratamba or Garcinia, which the Portuguese brought into India along with chilies and potatoes from the land of the Incas and Aztecs

Goan Cuisine

Goan cuisine is a blend of different influences. The staple food in Goa is fish, both among the Hindus as well as the Catholics. But there is a vast difference in the foods of these two communities. This is because the Christians also eat beef and pork which are prohibited in most Hindu households. Hindu Goan food has not picked up any Portuguese influence. The Christian food has been influenced not only by the Portuguese, but also by its overseas settlements. However, it has not been a one way transfer. The Portuguese and other settlements have adopted many Goan recipes. An example is canjade galinha, which is a type of chicken broth with rice and chicken pieces, and is originally a Goan recipe. Another example is arroz doce, which is a Portuguese adaptation of pais or kheer (sweetened rice) found in India.

Bengali Cuisine

To the casual taste, Bengali food means rice and fish. This is because Bengal is on the monsoon-drenched east coast of India. The other characteristic is the use of coconut, which is the usual characteristic of coastal cuisines. Which is also clear in the the cuisine of eastern Bengal (Bangladesh). Unlike other coastal kitchens, however, coconut oil is not used. The preferred cooking medium is mustard oil. Bengali spicing is somewhat different from the norm in the heartland of India, but similar to that used further east.

The utensils used in a Bengali kitchen are very similar to those in other parts of India. Such as the karai, a deep hemispherical vessel for deep frying, the hanri, a deep pot for boiling, the degchi, a deep rimmed flat bottomed pot for cooking, the tawa, a flat cast iron griddle for rotis and parathas, and the sil-nora, a grinding stone for spices. The traditional cutting instrument is the wicked looking boti, which is difficult to use and requires some practice. It is now slowly being replaced by knives. Dry sweets, made of chhana or grated coconuts are often shaped in molds.

The food was traditionally eaten on plates made of bell metal or stone. Traditionally, to eat food people would sit cross legged on mats with plates and bowls placed in front of them on the floor, or on a small wooden pallet.