• About Us
  • Vision & Mission
  • Advisory Board
  • Associates
  • University Partners
• Events
  • Calendar
  • Call for Papers
• Resources
  • News/Links
  • Rollins China Courses
  • Asian Library Resources
  • Asian Studies Programs
  • Faculty Publications
  • Organizations
    • China Centers
    • Florida Organizations
    • Business
    • Government
    • NGO's
    • Asia Centers
• Travel to China
  • Student
    • Rollins Approved Programs
    • Study in China
    • Scholarship
  • Faculty
  • General Travel Information
• Media
  • Blogs
  • China Center Groups
  • Video
  • Podcasts and Audio Files
  • The China Center in the News
• Culture
  • Language
    • Learning Sites
    • Basic Overview
  • Etiquette
    • General Etiquette
    • Business Etiquette
  • Food
  • Regions
  • Traditions & Celebrations
• 汉语
  • 汉语

 

Culture - Food

Chinese cuisine is as diverse and varied as one would expect from a country with such distinct regional cultures and traditions. While there are dozens of culinary styles, Chinese cooking can be broken down into Eight Great Culinary Traditions:

Anhui cuisine is known for its use braising and stewing as well as the incorporation of brown sauces and heavy oils. Common ingredients used in this particular style are pangolin, stone frog, mushroom, bayberry, tea leaves, bamboo shoot, dates, and game.

Famous Anhui dishes:           

 

Cantonese cuisine is the most well-known form of Chinese cuisine outside of China. Most Chinese restaurants in Western countries serve Cantonese cuisine. Besides pork, beef, chicken, and seafood, this style uses almost every edible animal part. A variety of cooking methods are used, but due to its emphasis on freshness and a minimal use of oil, steaming, stir-frying, and boiling are the preferred methods. The Cantonese style is also famous for the creation of “dim sum”, steamed dumplings that can be filled with anything from barbequed pork to boiled shrimp.

Famous Cantonese dishes:

 

 

Fujian cuisine is similar to the Cantonese style in its use of seafood and an emphasis on freshness. Almost every dish is served in either a soup or a broth, and the main cooking methods employed by this style are stewing, boiling, and steaming. One interesting characteristic of Fujian cuisine is the use of rice fermented with red yeast. After being kept in a sealed vessel for one year, this ingredient is then used to flavor and color other ingredients like chicken, fish, and shellfish.

Famous Fujian dishes:

 

Hunan cuisine is well known for its vibrant color and spiciness. While this style relies heavily on seasonal ingredients, chili peppers, shallots, and garlic are often used, as are heavy oils. Common preparation methods include stewing, frying, roasting, and smoking.

Famous Hunan dishes:

 

Jiangsu cuisine differentiates itself from the other styles by maintaining a consistently soft, tender texture in many of its dishes. The preparation methods are predominantly stewing, braising, stir-frying, and pickling, and some of the staple ingredients are tea leaves, bamboo shoots, mushrooms, pears, and dates.

Famous Jiangsu dishes:

 

Shandong cuisine is characterized by dishes that are crisp, tender, and salty. It also incorporates the use of onions, potatoes, tomatoes, cabbages, mushrooms, and eggplant, as well as dried products such as shrimp, scallops and sea cucumber.

Famous Shandong dishes:

 

Szechuan cuisine, Szechwan cuisine, or Sichuan cuisine is considered to be the spiciest and hottest of the eight culinary traditions, so much so that it is said to have a numbing effect on the tongue. To achieve this result, Sichuan peppercorns (also called fagara), chili pepper oil, and red and black peppers are used extensively in many of the main dishes. This style is also known for the use of beef, often stir-fried until chewy.
The main preparation methods for Sichuan cuisine are stir-frying, steaming, and braising.

Famous Szechuan/Szechwan/Sichuan dishes:

 

Zhejiang cuisine, with its use seafood and many types of vegetables, is considered to be very light and not as greasy as some of the other culinary styles. Preparation methods include stir-frying, simmering, and steaming.

Famous Zhejiang dishes:

 

Work Cited:

http://www.chinese-culture.net/html/chinese_food.html
http://www.index-china-food.com/index-china-food/overview.htm
http://www.wikipedia.org
http://chinesefood.about.com/od/cantonesecuisine/p/profile.htm
http://www.chinadaily.com.cn/english/doc/2004-01/09/content_297512.htm
http://www1.china.org.cn/english/imperial/26131.htm
http://www.chinadaily.com.cn/english/doc/2004-01/09/content_297518.htm
http://chinesefood.about.com/od/regionalchinesecuisine/p/hunan.htm
http://china-corner.com/article_list.asp?id=834