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Pasta
also plays an important role in Northern cooking; noodles,
ravioli-like dumplings, steamed stuffed buns, fried meat dumplings,
and steamed bread are the favoured flour-based treats. The cooking
styles of Peking, Tientsin, and Shantung are probably the best known
styles of Northern Chinese cuisine. An elaborate, stuffed chicken
symbolizes the Chinese wish for plenitude and satisfaction.
Representative of the Southern cooking styles are: Szechwan and Hunan
cuisine which are famous for their liberal use of chili peppers; the
Kiangsu and Chekiang styles which emphasize freshness and tenderness;
and Cantonese food which tends to be somewhat sweet and full of
variety. Rice and rice products such as rice noodles, rice cakes, and
rice congee are the usual accompaniments to Southern style cooking.
In
Chinese cooking, colour, aroma, and flavour share equal importance
in the preparation of each dish, thereby, satisfying the gustatory,
olfactory, and visual senses. Any one entree will combine three to
five colours, selected from ingredients that are light green, dark
green, red, yellow, white, black, or caramel-coloured. Usually, a
meat and vegetable dish is prepared from one main ingredient and two
to three secondary ingredients of contrasting colors. It is then
cooked with the appropriate method, seasonings, and sauces to result
in an aesthetically attractive dish. The primary methods of
preparation include stir-frying, stewing, steaming, deep-frying,
flash-frying, and pan-frying. A dish with a fragrant aroma will whet
the appetite. Among many others, some ingredients that contribute to
a mouth-watering aroma are scallions, fresh ginger root, garlic,
chilli peppers, wine, star anise, stick cinnamon, pepper, sesame oil,
and dried black Chinese mushrooms. Of utmost importance in cooking
any dish is preserving the fresh, natural flavour of the ingredients
and removing any undesirable fish or game odours. In Western cooking,
lemon is often used to remove smells of fish; in Chinese cooking,
scallions and ginger serve a similar function. Soy sauce, sugar,
vinegar, and other seasonings add richness to a dish without covering
up the natural flavour of the ingredients. A well-prepared dish will
be rich to those who like strong flavours, not over-spiced to those
who like a blander taste, sweet to those who like a sweet flavour,
and hot to those who like a piquancy. A dish that is all of these
things to all of these people is a truly successful one.
Northern
Cuisine: Beijing, which has developed from the Shandong school,
is famous for Peking Duck, which is roasted in a special way, and
eaten in a thin pancake with cucumber and a sweet plum sauce. Another
speciality of the North of China is Mongolian Hotpot, which is a
Chinese version of fondue. It is eaten in a communal style and
consists of a central simmering soup in a special large round pot
into which is dipped a variety of uncooked meats and vegetables,
which are cooked on the spot. A cheap and delicious local dish is
shuijiao, which is pasta-like dough wrapped round pork meat, chives
and onions, similar in idea to Italian ravioli. These can be bought
by the jin (pound) in street markets and small eating houses, and are
a good filler if you are out all day and do not feel like a large
restaurant dinner. It should, however, be noted that in the interests
of hygiene, it is best to take your own chopsticks.
Southern
Cuisine: Guangdong (Cantonese) food is famous for being the most
exotic in China. The food markets in Guangzhou are a testimony to
this, and the Western visitor is often shocked by the enormous
variety of rare and exotic animals that are used in the cuisine,
including snake, dog, turtle and wildcat.
Eastern
Cuisine: Shanghai and Zhejiang cooking is rich and sweet, often
pickled. Noted for seafood, hot and sour soup, noodles and vegetables.
Western
Cuisine: Sichuan and Hunan food is spicy, often sour and
peppery, with specialities such as diced chicken stirred with soy
sauce and peanuts, and spicy doufu (beancurd).
One
of the best-known national drinks is maotai, a fiery spirit
distilled from rice wine. Local beers are of good quality, notably
Qingdao, which is similar to German lager. There are now some decent
wines, which are produced mainly for tourists and export.
Chinese
food is as varied and regional as that of any large land mass and
the standard menus we see in UK are not representative of the range
and complexity. Popular regions are :
"
Northwestern Chinese cuisine
"
Mandarin cuisine
"Jiang-Huai
cuisine
"
Northeastern Chinese cuisine
"
Cantonese cuisine (Guangdong province)
"
Chiuchow cuisine (Chaozhou region, Guangdong)
"
Hakka cuisine (Hakka ethnic group)
"
Hunan cuisine
"
Shanghai cuisine
"
Sichuan cuisine
"
Fujian cuisine
"
Yunnan cuisine
"
Hainan cuisine
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American
Chinese cuisine is a unique style of cooking served by Chinese
restaurants in the United States. This new type of cooking was
created for Western tastes, but Westerners exposed only to this
variety may not realize that it differs from the cuisine of China.
Some restaurants advertise their status by writing "Western
food" on their signs in Chinese, or by using the term
Chinese-American in their signage. It alerts those who seek more
traditional dishes, while still attracting those who are either
unable to read Chinese or are looking for westernized fare. Canadian
Chinese cuisine is quite similar to American Chinese cuisine. |
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In
the 19th century, Chinese restaurateurs developed American Chinese
cuisine when they modified their food for American tastes. First
catering to railroad workers, they opened restaurants in towns where
Chinese food was completely unknown. These restaurant workers adapted
to using local ingredients and catered to their customer's tastes, in
the process inventing numerous new dishes such as chop suey. As a
result, they developed a style of Chinese food never seen in China.
These
"chop suey houses" are now increasingly rare, as modern
Chinese restaurants in the United States are now more likely to be
run by more recently immigrated generations of Chinese. The influx of
immigrants in the late 20th century disdained the Americanized
dishes, preferring more traditional Chinese food. More authentic
classical Chinese cuisine now dominates major cities with large
Chinese populations like San Francisco and New York.
Modern
American Chinese cuisine targeting non-Chinese customers, found in
especially in places with few Chinese Americans, typically offers
cuisine adopted from traditional Chinese dishes to suit American
tastes, along with classic staples of Chinese American cuisine, such
as fortune cookies. One finds this type of Americanized cuisine in
"mom and pop" restaurants, "tourist trap" diners,
and small town restaurants. Panda Express and Manchu WOK are popular
franchise restaurants that offer Westernized dishes in shopping malls.
American
Chinese food treats vegetables as garnish while authentic styles
emphasize vegetables. Authentic Chinese cuisine makes frequent use of
Asian leafy vegetables like bok choy and gai-lan, and puts a greater
emphasis on seafood. American Chinese food is usually less pungent
than authentic cuisine.
American
Chinese food tends to be cooked very quickly with lots of oil and
salt. Many dishes are quickly and easily prepared, and require
inexpensive ingredients. Stir-frying, pan-frying, and deep-frying
tend to be the most common cooking techniques which are all easily
done using a wok. The food also has a reputation for high levels of
MSG to enhance the flavor; the symptoms of MSG sensitivity have been
dubbed "Chinese restaurant syndrome" or "Chinese food
syndrome". While there is heated scientific debate over whether
or not MSG is harmful, market forces and customer demand have
encouraged many restaurants to offer "MSG Free" or "No
MSG" menus.
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