INITIAL PREPARATION
1 min readBecause of some kind of “uniqueness”which distinguishes Chinese food from the Western world. Such a bold statement requires further qualification:
To start with, there is the Chinese division, when preparing and serving food, between fan (grains and other starch food) and cai (meat and vegetable dishes). Grains in the various forms of rice or wheat flour (bread, pancakes, noodles or dumplings, etc), make up the fan half of the meal. Vegetables and meats (including poultry and fish, etc), cut up and mixed in various combinations into individual dishes constitute the cai half. A balanced meal must have an appropriate amount of both fan and cai.
It is in the combining of various ingredients and the blending of different flavours for the preparation of cai that lie the fine art and skill of Chinese cooking. A Chinese cook abroad can always produce a Chinese meal, even using only local ingredients. For the ‘Chineseness’ of the food depends entirely on how it is prepared and cooked, not what ingredients are used.
