What are the differences between Chinese and Japanese food cultures?

on the differences between Chinese and Japanese food cultures

217-5-9 17:32:12 Science and Fortune 217, No.1

Ma Yingni++Miao Dehou

Abstract: China's food culture has a special influence on the surrounding world and even the whole world. As we all know, Chinese and Japanese cultures have deep roots, but due to the differences in geographical location, historical background and religious thoughts, there are great differences in food culture between the two countries. This paper analyzes the differences between Chinese and Japanese cooking materials, methods, eating tools and eating etiquette.

Keywords: differences in diet culture between China and Japan

Preface

With the development of the times, people's living standards have improved. Apart from basic material satisfaction, we are more striving for perfection in basic diet. As the saying goes, "Food is the most important thing for the people", which shows how important diet is in China's 5,-year culture. Japan is a "neighbor" separated only by a strip of water from us. Since ancient times, Japanese culture has been deeply influenced by China. Even though Japan's early eating habits came from China, they have all changed after a long historical evolution.

1. Differences in food selection

China is mostly on land, while Japan is a typical country born around the sea. Although China has a long coastline and there will be a large number of marine dishes in offshore areas, its cooking is fundamentally different from that of Japan. People in Asia can basically easily distinguish which foods belong to China and which belong to Japan, and they can casually name some traditional Japanese foods, such as sushi and Lamian Noodles.

China's staple food is mainly pasta in the north and rice in the south, all of which are cereals, unlike western countries, which rely on meat and dairy food. The raw materials of Japanese cuisine are mostly terrestrial animals and plants, as well as fish from rivers, seas and lakes. There are still differences between China and China in eating fish. In Japan, due to the geographical features surrounding the sea, the raw materials of dishes are mostly rice, fish and seaweed, and each person in Japan can eat about 7 kilograms of fish every year on average. In China, the average person eats about 1 kilograms of fish every year, which varies greatly according to the geographical environment.

1. Cooking methods include paying attention to

(1) Cooking concept: When cooking Chinese food, cooking food pays special attention to the temperature. They think that only after cooking can the food kill bacteria and microorganisms, and seasoning can bring out the original nutrients of the food, which can also warm up the body and make it more easily absorbed by the human body. Its workmanship is fine, and the carved patterns on the food are vivid and vivid, and there are many kinds. Japan, on the other hand, not only pays attention to the appearance of food, but also pays attention to health. According to their concept, fresh things have the highest nutritional value, and the best eating period of any living thing is its freshness period, that is, the most vigorous time.

(2) Cooking process: In the process of cooking food, there are also differences between China and Japan. Japanese cuisine pays attention to the unity of "novelty, novelty and freshness", and it is a nutritious dish. Japanese people's treatment method of raw materials is very simple. As far as fish is concerned, they try not to process them as much as possible after obtaining fresh fish medium, and only dip them in condiments and eat them directly. Foods that must be cooked with fire, such as Lamian Noodles and sushi, are processed by hot food, and there are only limited daily cooking methods such as boiling, burning, roasting and frying. Chinese food pays attention to the combination of "color, aroma and taste" and belongs to delicious dishes. China people have more than 2 cooking methods for ingredients, such as "burning, frying, frying, boiling, frying, steaming and frying". They like to marinate, air-dry and roast the ingredients and add various spices to cook them, so as to achieve full color, flavor and flavor.

2. Use of tableware

In the food culture of China and China, eating tools play an important role, while the traditional eating tools are chopsticks, bowls and plates. Before eating, the tableware must be set before eating. We Japanese are also used to scooping soup or liquid food with spoons, but Japanese only use chopsticks when eating western food and soup. Comparing chopsticks between China and Japan, there are the following differences:

(1) Japanese chopsticks are shorter, with sharp tips, mostly made of wood products. This is because they often eat fish, so it is unnecessary to use great effort when using chopsticks. In order to prevent food from slipping, the sharp tips of chopsticks can be used to puncture food; Chopsticks in China are long and heavy, mostly made of wood or bamboo, because the food in our country is cooked in oil, so it can prevent slipping when holding food with wooden chopsticks.

(2) Being both "big chopsticks users", the frequency of Japanese changing chopsticks is much higher than that of China. On average, they change chopsticks once every two or three months, while that of China only once every two or three years. However, with the improvement of economic level, people are increasingly concerned about the hygiene of chopsticks, and now it is shortened to about once a year.

(3) In China, after eating, chopsticks should be neatly placed on the table on the right side of the bowl, and the host can only leave the seat when everyone puts down the chopsticks. If you don't finish eating by yourself, you should leave the seat without throwing down the chopsticks. The etiquette of chopsticks in Japan is almost the same. After eating, chopsticks should not be placed at will. They should be placed beside their bowls in a proper manner and bow to the table again, not only at home, but also in public.

second, the cultural differences between Chinese and Japanese drinks

Since ancient times, wine has become a magical tool for making friends and other purposes. Not to mention the gorgeous poems written by the ancients, such as "drown your sorrows with wine", and the traditional concept of "no wine can't make you happy" in dinner. In fact, wine has other magical uses, and moderate drinking can relieve fatigue and dredge the tendons.

wine culture is more common in social places. People in China not only like to spread dishes at banquets, but also like to share them with friends and relatives with aged wine. Many people will have a glass of wine to relax themselves after work or at home. They think that eating and drinking can make the atmosphere at dinner relaxed and cheerful. Therefore, many businessmen talk about business while drinking when socializing with customers, which leads to a success rate beyond your imagination. This also creates the idea that drinking is also a job for China people. Japanese also love to drink, but they are absolutely not allowed to drink at work. They think that drinking is a time to relax and have fun, and they can't talk about serious things, especially things at work. This will be very lax, even if it is for company entertainment, it is only a cautious superficial form to drink with people.

III. Looking at Chinese and Japanese eating habits from a historical perspective

Japanese eating habits are often evaluated as "light, small in quantity and fine". On the whole, their diet belongs to a plant-based diet. China cuisine will use a lot of oil, also known as "oil cuisine", and the practice is also complicated. Almost every ingredient can't be cooked without oil; However, Japanese cuisine hardly uses oil, and refined cuisine uses vegetable oil, such as rapeseed oil and soybean oil, which makes its cuisine less oily and light.

In ancient times, the dietary concepts of China and Japan were quite different. China's diet concept is "food is the most important thing for the people", and it attaches great importance to diet, while Japanese diet concept is completely different from that of China. In the past, the Japanese judged a person's status and upbringing by his clothes, means of transportation and residence, and they didn't care about diet. In the course of development, Japanese people are constantly influenced by the food culture of China and other countries, and gradually attach importance to the nutrition and health of diet, and the status of diet is gradually improved. Because these concepts of diet are deeply rooted, the dietary level and health level of Chinese and Japanese people are also different. Japan is a famous country with long life span in the world, and its life expectancy is higher than that of China people. China's life expectancy has increased rapidly, but it still can't reach the Japanese life expectancy level, which should be analyzed from the economic level and eating habits. It is an indisputable fact that the cardiovascular and cerebrovascular diseases suffered by many middle-aged and elderly people in our society today are related to the high intake of fat and cholesterol. Some experts believe that the reason why Japanese people live long is largely due to their good eating habits, which pay attention to light nutrition and do not overeat. With the development of China's economy and the continuous improvement of people's living standards, people's concept of eating is gradually changing.