Culinary Culture丨China Food Characteristics

China is a vast country with a lot of products. The actual foodstuffs are not only fresh, but also dried and flavored.

Not only that, but when faced with an abundance of food ingredients, we Chinese often make the best use of them, eat them up, and strive for zero waste.

During the Spring and Autumn Period, Confucius said in the Analects: "Cutting the immoderate is not eating." The fable of "The Butcher's Ox" is almost a household name in China.

Chongqing old Sichuan lampshade beef founder Zhong Yifeng, cut the large sheet of beef slices as thin as a cicada wing, can be seen through the beef slices of lampshade! It can be seen that the knife skills to become a Chinese chef's artistic pursuit!

And the name of the knife skills of the knife, quite a lot, including slices, blocks, strips, etc., up to more than two hundred kinds. Based on the nature and texture of different raw materials, or the same raw material of the difference between the old and the young, choose a different knife skills.

The delicacy of Chinese food seasoning is reflected in the very good at the heating process of seasoning, the main ingredients, auxiliary ingredients and seasonings, the orderly convergence of a furnace, through the subtle nuances of the "tripod of change" to achieve the "taste so that the out of the flavor, no taste so that the in", as well as the "five flavors and harmony. and the supreme state of "harmonizing the five flavors". In this process, generally pay attention to two aspects, one is the use of the type and amount of seasoning, that is, the qualitative and quantitative work of seasoning; one is the timing and sequence of ingredients, so that the dishes on the table to achieve the best flavor.

Shanghai bad three mainly include, pork belly tip, river shrimp and wool beans, these three, the ingredients themselves do not have a particularly strong flavor, but through the taste of the bad system method, you can make the bad aroma of the rich dishes.

Chinese food production process, good use of rich natural seasonings as well as unique processing of seasonings, with a variety of flavors, layers of characteristics. In the combination of main and auxiliary ingredients, the auxiliary ingredients set off the main ingredients.

Chinese cuisine emphasizes the mastery of fire.

The fire is usually composed of four elements, one is the fire, that is, the heat energy released during combustion, including large fire, small fire, fire, martial arts, etc., pay attention to the big fire, small fire conversion, a breath of fresh air, unbiased, just right, you can identify through the temperature of the oil; the second is the degree of fire, that is, the fire to achieve the temperature, you must fully understand the effectiveness of the stove, to ensure that the supply of oxygen is sufficient, well ventilated, the fuel is sufficiently combustible, the heat energy effectively utilized; the third is the fire, that is, the fire to achieve temperature, you must fully understand the effectiveness of the stove, to ensure that the supply of oxygen is adequate, well ventilated, the fuel is fully combustible, the Effective use of heat; three is the fire potential, that is, the size of the flame burning range, that is, the stove heated area; four is the fire time, that is, the fire contact with the stove for a long time.

For example, the explosion of three kinds of pork liver, cashews and gizzards, different ingredients, respectively, with different fire, cooking, half-cooked or broken raw state, and then put into the same pot of cooking and seasoning before being able to become a dish.

In the cooking methods, the use of water and steam as a medium for the production of food, the mastery of the fire is relatively small difficulty, the most difficult to master is to oil as a heat transfer medium, the production of rapid fire into the production method, because of a slight deviation from the use of fire will seriously affect the quality of the dishes, but this method of cooking is also China's most skillful. The most typical example is stir-frying, in which the fire is accurately mastered and the technique is sharp, in order to present the ingredients with style characteristics such as freshness and crispness.

Whether it is diced, shredded, sliced, striped, blocked or any other shape, it needs to be the same thickness, thickness, length and length in order to cook the food with good color and flavor. For example, frying, oil explosion method using fierce fire time is short, fast flavor, so the raw material needs to be cut and small and thin; stewing method using small fire, longer, raw materials can be cut large and thick.

The perfect combination of food and beauty, in order to show its beauty, complement each other. According to the shape of the dishes, color, flavor and ingredients, choose to match the utensils. At the same time, in the process of plating, the food as a work of art, reflecting the fusion of life pictures and thoughts and feelings. Chinese chefs often create emotional, vivid and wonderful moods on the plate.