Chinese Eight Cuisines
2 min readChina covers a large territory and has many ethnic groups, hence a var- iety of Chinese food with different but fantastic and mouthwatering flavor.
Chinese cuisine is characterized by its special seasoning, featured cooking methods, diversified cooking material and distinctive flavor, and can be roughly divided into eight regional cuisines, which have been widely accepted around. The eight distinctive cuisines of China are Shandong cuisine,Sichuan cuisine, Guangdong cuisine,Jiangsu cuisine and Fujian cuisine,Hunan cuisine,Anhui cuisine and Zhejiang cuisine.
Shandong Cuisine is the most widespread cuisine throughout China and was conceived as far back as the Qin Dynasty in 221 B.C. Common cooking techniques are”bao”and”pa”,which involves cutting cooked food into a shape,covering it in powder,frying it and sautéing with sauce.The classic of Shangdong cuisines are Fried Carp with Sweet and Sour Sauce,Fried Two Crispy Ingredients, Braised Pork Balls in Gravy,Braised Intestines in Brown Sauce.
Sichuan Cuisine is characterized by pungent,spicy seasonings known as”three peppers”,”three aroma”,”seven tastes” and”eight flavors”.Chili,local peppers called”huajiao”,garlic and ginger are usually involved in the mix.The dry spiciness leaves a hot aftertaste.Frying without oil and pickling are common techniques used.The most famous Sichuan cuisines are Fish-flavored Shredded Pork,Kung Pao Chicken,Mapo Tofu and Hotpot.
Guangdong cuisine tastes clear,light,crisp and fresh.Its basic cooking techniques include roasting,stir-frying,sautéing,deep- frying,braising,stewing and steaming.Among them steaming and stir-frying are more commonly applied to preserve the natural flavor. Guangdong chefs also pay much attention to the artistic presentation of dishes.The representative dishes are Sliced Boiled Chicken,Roast Goose,Barbecued Pork in Honey,Preserved Vegetable&Pork etc.
