Description of Chinese Food

Book Review

Preface

Acknowledgements

Chronology

Chapter 1: The Natural Environment

Chapter 2: Prehistory and the Beginnings of History

Chapter 3: The Crucial Millennium: The Zhou to the Han Dynasties

Chapter 4: Food from the West: Medieval China

Chapter 5: The Establishment of a Food System: The Song and the Conquering Dynasties

Chapter 6: Involvement: The Late Chinese Empire

Chapter 7: The Apex of Traditional Agriculture Establishing the Food System: The Song Dynasty and the Conquering Dynasties

Chapter 6 Involvement: The Late Chinese Empire

Chapter 7 The Zenith of Traditional Agriculture

Chapter 8 Chinese Food Today

Chinese cuisine has many schools of thought in cooking. The most influential and representative of them are also recognized by the community: Lu, Sichuan, Guangdong, Fujian, Jiangsu, Zhejiang, Hunan, Hui and other cuisines, which are often referred to as the "eight major cuisines" in China.

The formation of a cuisine and its long history and unique culinary characteristics are inseparable. At the same time, it is also affected by the region's natural geography, climatic conditions, resources, specialties, eating habits and so on. Some people put the "eight cuisines" with anthropomorphic techniques depicted as: Suzhou, Zhejiang cuisine is better than the beautiful beauty of the South; Lu, Anhui cuisine is like the ancient and simple northern health; Guangdong, Fujian cuisine is like the elegant son of the wind flow; Szechuan, Hunan cuisine is like the connotation of the rich and full of talent full of celebrities.

China's "eight cuisines" cooking techniques have their own charm, and the characteristics of their dishes are also different.

China's cuisine refers to a set of self-contained cooking techniques and flavors that have evolved over a long period of time in a certain region due to differences in climate, geography, history, produce and dietary customs, and are recognized as local dishes throughout the country.

Lu, Sichuan, Guangdong, Huaiyang four major cuisines formed earlier in history, and later, Zhejiang, Fujian, Hunan, Hui and other local dishes have gradually become famous, the formation of China's eight major cuisines.

(1) Lu Cuisine: Lu Cuisine is the Shandong flavor dishes, by Jinan, Jiaodong, Kongfu cuisine point three parts. Jinan cuisine, especially heavy soup, broth, milk soup and the use of boiling have strict rules, dishes are known for fresh and crisp. Jiaodong Cuisine originated from Fushan, Yantai and Qingdao, and is famous for cooking seafood, and its taste is mainly fresh and tender, light and colorful. Kongfu cuisine is a concrete embodiment of "food is not too refined, chopping is not too fine", the materials used in the wide range of exquisite, sumptuous feasts can be compared with the past Imperial Palace Palace Relocation Imperial meals. Shandong cuisine is highly flavored, pure and mellow, with few complex synthetic flavors, one dish, one flavor, and try to reflect the original flavor of the raw materials. Another feature is that there are many varieties of pasta, wheat, corn, sweet potatoes, soybeans, sorghum, millet can be made into different flavors of pasta, become a feast point. Shandong famous flavor dishes are: fried scorpion, Dezhou off the bone steak chicken, the original shell steak abalone, nine turns of large intestine, sweet and sour Yellow River carp and so on.

(2) Sichuan Cuisine: the flavor of Chengdu, Chongqing and Leshan, Zigong and other local dishes. The main feature lies in the variety of flavors and subtle changes. Chili, pepper, peppercorns, bean paste and other major condiments, different ratios, out of the spicy, hot and sour, pepper, sesame sauce, garlic, mustard, red oil, sweet and sour, fish, strange flavors and other flavors, all thick and mellow and thick, with a "one dish, one frame", "a hundred dishes, a hundred flavors It has a special flavor of "one dish, one style" and "a hundred dishes, a hundred flavors", and all kinds of dishes are popular. Among the most famous dishes are: dry-roasted rock carp, dry-roasted osmanthus fish, shredded pork with fish flavor, strange chicken, Kung Pao chicken, steamed beef, ma po tofu, maw maw hot pot, dry-frying shredded beef, husband and wife's lungs, lampshade beef, dan dan mian, lai tangyuan, dragon copious hand and so on.

(3) Cantonese Cuisine: Cantonese Cuisine, or Guangdong Cuisine, developed from the specialties of Guangzhou, Chaozhou, and Dongjiang, is a cuisine with a late start, but it is very influential, not only in Hong Kong and Macao, but also in Chinese restaurants around the world, most of which are based on Cantonese Cuisine. Cantonese cuisine draws on the strengths of various cuisines to form a variety of culinary forms, and is a cuisine with its own unique flavor. Guangzhou cuisine is clear but not bland, fresh but not vulgar, the selection of materials, a variety of varieties, but also compatible with many Western practices, pay attention to the momentum of the dish, grade. Chaozhou ancient Min land, so Chaozhou cuisine convergence of Fujian and Guangdong flavors to cook marine dishes and sweets, taste mellow, of which the soup dishes are the most distinctive. Dongjiang Cuisine, also known as Hakka Cuisine, Hakka is a southward migrating Han Chinese in the Central Plains, living in the mountainous areas of the Dongjiang River, and its cuisine is rich in local flavor, with stir-frying, deep-frying, baking, and simmering as its strengths. Cantonese cuisine in general is characterized by a wide range of materials, novelty and still fresh, the taste of the dishes is still light, rich in flavor, pay attention to the clear and not light, tender and not raw, oily and not greasy, there are "five nourishment" (fragrant, loose, soft, fat, thick), "six flavors" (sour, sweet, bitter, spicy, salty, (sour, sweet, bitter, spicy, salty and fresh). Seasonal, summer and autumn, light, winter and spring, a lot of dishes with a unique flavor.

Famous dishes include: chicken braised with snake, dragon and tiger fights, roasted suckling pig, Dongjiang salt-baked chicken, white-burnt prawns, roasted goose, beef with oyster sauce, Cantonese mooncake, sandy rice noodles, and boat congee.

(4) Huaiyang Cuisine: Huaiyang Cuisine is a famous cuisine in the middle and lower reaches of the Yangtze River in China, which covers a wide area, including present-day Jiangsu, Zhejiang, Anhui, Shanghai, as well as Jiangxi, Henan part of the region, which has the "Southeast's first good taste", "the world's most beautiful!

With the reputation of "the first flavor of the southeast", "the world's most beautiful", the reputation spread far and wide at home and abroad.

Because of the later Zhejiang cuisine, Anhui cuisine with its distinctive characteristics of each for one of the eight cuisines, Huaiyang Cuisine convergence in Jiangsu, while the culinary industry is accustomed to Huaiyang Cuisine belonging to the Jiangsu region cuisine called Jiangsu cuisine, so that Huaiyang Cuisine has become a single Yangzhou, Huai'an as the center to the Grand Canal as the main south to Zhenjiang, north to the Lake Hongze, Huaihe River, east to the coastal areas of the local flavors of the dishes. Huaiyang cuisine is rigorous in the selection of ingredients, freshness, prominent main ingredients, fine knife work, good at stewing, braising, burning, baking, emphasis on soup, the original flavor, and excellent at modeling, melons and fruits carved lifelike. The taste is salty and light, suitable for both the north and the south, and can be cooked "full eel mat". Huaiyang fine point, beautiful shape, taste, production of sophisticated, fresh and tasty, the four seasons are different.

Representative dishes include: stewed lion's head, braised chub head, grilled whole pig's head, steamed crucian carp, crystal hoofs, three sets of ducks, soft pockets of eel, choking the tiger's tail, stir-fried butterfly slices, melon cups, three ding buns, emerald shao mai, crab roe soup dumplings, thousand-layer oily rice cake, and so on.

Jiangsu cuisine in addition to the above mentioned Huaiyang cuisine also includes Nanjing cuisine, SuXi cuisine and XuZhou cuisine and other local dishes. Nanjing cuisine is good at stewing, stewing, fork and baking. Special attention is paid to the seven nourishing seven flavors: sour, sweet, bitter, spicy, salty, fragrant, smelly; fresh, rotten, crispy, tender, crispy, thick, fat. Nanjing cuisine is famous for its duck dishes, known as "Jinling Duck Food". Suxi cuisine is good at stewing, stewing, simmering, warming, focusing on maintaining the original flavor, color fine, seasonal fresh, sweet and salty moderate, crispy and delicious, fresh and rich. In recent years and cooking "Wuxi Qianlong Jiangnan Banquet", "Wuxi Xishi Banquet", "Suzhou dishes feast" and Taihu Lake boat dishes. Xuzhou cuisine flavor in the history of the Lu cuisine, with the changing times, its dishes have been between the Su, Lu two major cuisines, the taste of fresh and salty moderately, the habit of five Xin, five flavors and respect, clear and not light, thick and not turbid. No matter what the food is made from, it pays attention to the role of "therapeutic and complementary food". In addition, Xuzhou dishes with large crabs and dog meat, especially the whole dog is very famous.

Jiangsu famous dishes are: brine duck gizzard, stewed Su nuclear, stewed raw knock, raw fried turtle, clove ribs, stewed chicken, Jinling scallops, hibiscus crucian carp, chrysanthemum mackerel, chrysanthemum leaf jade version, Jinling brine duck, fork-roasted duck, fork-roasted Mandarin fish (the above for the famous dishes in Nanjing); squirrel Mandarin fish, Biluo shrimp, emerald shrimp doo, snowflake crab doo, crabmeat, butterfly fish lips, butterfly sea cucumbers, shark's fin in clear broth, deep-fried silverfish, dyeing Xi Crispy eel, mirror box tofu, Wuxi meat bones, Changshu called chicken, Changzhou糟扣肉(以上为苏锡菜);霸王别姬, Peigong dog meat, Pengcheng fishballs, Lotus Tiequan, fish skin in milk soup, fish maw in crab roe, anchovy shrimp, stir-fried wuhua, stewed gaji fish, braised sardines (above for Xuzhou dishes); Tianmu Lake casserole fish head, Huaian soft pockets, gold webbing fairy skirt. Jiangsu dim sum is rich in specialties, such as Qinhuai snacks, Suzhou cake dumplings and soup dumplings, all of which are famous.

(5) Min Cuisine: Min Cuisine is based on the formation of Fuzhou, Minnan, Minxi three regions of local flavor dishes. Fuzhou cuisine, fresh, light, sweet and sour, especially pay attention to the soup, another feature is good at using brown sugar as ingredients, with anti- spoilage, deodorization, aroma, taste, color effects. Southern Fujian cuisine represented by Xiamen, also has the characteristics of fresh and light, pay attention to the condiments long use of chili sauce, salsa sauce, mustard sauce and other seasonings. Western Fujian is located in Guangdong, Fujian, Gan provinces at the junction of Hakka cuisine as the main body, more unique to the mountainous regions of the strange taste of exotic products as raw materials, a strong color of the mountainous countryside. Fujian cuisine to fry, simmering, stewing, frying, stewing, steaming as a characteristic, especially in cooking seafood, knife work is exquisite, people interested in taste, soup dishes mostly, with fresh, fragrant, rotten, light and slightly sweet, sour and spicy unique flavor. Fujian snack snacks have another merit, it is taken from the coastal shoals of all kinds of seafood, with special seasoning and become, can be described as delicious.

The most famous flavors are: Buddha jumps over the wall, chicken soup blanch sea mussels, light bad snail pieces, sarnai stewed duck pieces, seven stars fish balls, bad drunken chicken, fried bad eel, half-moon sinking river, Swallow skin ravioli, Fuzhou noodles, oyster fried and so on.

(6) Zhejiang Cuisine: Zhejiang Cuisine has a long history, its flavor includes Hangzhou, Ningbo and Shaoxing, three local cuisine characteristics. Hangzhou cuisine attaches importance to raw materials, fresh, live, tender, to fish, shrimp, seasonal vegetables, pay attention to knife work, taste fresh, highlighting the flavor. Ningbo cuisine is a combination of salty and fresh, and is famous for cooking seafood, paying attention to tenderness, softness and smoothness, and emphasizing the original flavor and taste. Shaoxing cuisine is good at cooking river poultry, dishes emphasize the entrance of the fragrant sticky, soup, heavy flavor, rich countryside flavor.

Zhejiang cuisine has a bright color, taste smooth and tender, crisp and refreshing, small and delicate dishes, the characteristics of the handsome and beautiful. It is stewed, fried, stewed, steamed, heavy original flavor. Zhejiang point in the heart of the dough, cake, soup, noodle varieties, good taste.

Famous dishes are: Longjing shrimp, West Lake Brunswick soup, shrimp eel back, West Lake vinegar fish, fried ringing bells, grabbing crabs, new wind eel replica bags, salted vegetables and yellowtail soup, ice sugar turtle, oysters running eggs, honey filling lotus root, Jiaxing rice dumplings, Ningbo soup dumplings, Huzhou thousands of buns and so on.

(7) Hunan cuisine: Hunan cuisine, including the Xiangjiang River Basin, the Dongting Lake area and the western Hunan mountainous areas of the three regions of the cuisine characteristics. Xiangjiang River Basin, centered on Yangtze River, Hengyang and Xiangtan, is the main representative of Hunan Cuisine. It is characterized by heavy oil and thick color, affordability, fresh aroma, sourness, spiciness, softness and tenderness, especially famous for simmered and waxed dishes. The Dongting Lake area is famous for cooking river food and poultry and livestock, characterized by a large amount of thick oil, salty, spicy, fragrant and soft, and famous for stewed and roasted dishes. Xiangxi cuisine is good at making mountain delicacies and wild game, smoked bacon and all kinds of cured meat, wind chicken, the taste focus on salty, sour and spicy, there is a strong flavor of the mountainous countryside. Hunan cuisine is characterized by spiciness and wax.

Famous dishes include: Dong'an sub-chicken, preserved meat with steam, group-an shark's fin, Hunan lotus with rock sugar, preserved beef with red pepper, hairy beef peper, stinky tofu in the Palace of Fire, sour meat in Jishou, and eggs with heart.

(8) Hui Cuisine: Hui Cuisine flavor including southern Anhui, along the river, along the Huaihuai place of the dish characteristics. South Anhui cuisine, including Huangshan, Shexian (ancient Huizhou), Tunxi and other places, pay attention to the fire power, good cooking game, the amount of oil heavy, simple and affordable, to maintain the original flavor; a lot of dishes are taken with charcoal stewed over small fires, simmering and into the soup clear taste mellow, the original pot on the table, the aroma is overflowing; south of the Anhui Province, although there is not a lot of aquatic products, but cooking by the cured "stinky gui fish" is very high visibility. The cuisine along the river is popularized by Wuhu, Anshan, and Anshu. Along the river dishes to Wuhu, Anqing area as a representative, later also spread to the Hefei area, it is to cook river food, livestock, pay attention to knife work, pay attention to the color, shape, make good use of sugar seasoning, especially smoked dishes are unique. Along the Huai cuisine to Bengbu, Su County, Fuyang and other places as a representative of the dishes to pay attention to salty with spicy, soup color thick mouth heavy, also used to use cilantro color and seasoning. Famous flavor dishes are: WUWEI smoked duck, Mao Feng smoked anchovy, Fuli set of roast chicken, square wax fish, chicken stewed with stone ear, cloudy meat, mung bean pancakes, butterfly noodles and so on.

Chapter 9 Some Basic Cooking Techniques

Chapter 10 Regions and Places

Chapter 11 Traditional Medicinal Values of Food

Chapter 12 Food in Society

Appendix: The Main Meal at the Next-Door Neighbor's House

Notes

Bibliography

Attached to the First Eating in Chinese Culture --Anthropological and Historical Perspectives Zhang Guangzhi

Attachment II Chinese Thought and Food in Chinese Culture Frederick J. Simon