Differences of Food Culture between China and Japan

With the development of the times, people's living standards have improved. In addition to basic material satisfaction, we pursue Excellence in basic diet. As the saying goes, "Food is the most important thing for the people", which shows the importance of diet in China's 5,000-year culture. Japan is our "neighbor" separated only by a strip of water. Since ancient times, Japanese culture has been deeply influenced by China. Even though the early Japanese eating habits came from China, they all changed after a long historical evolution.

First, the difference in ingredient selection.

China is mostly land, while Japan is a typical country born around the sea. Although the coastline of China is very long, there will be a lot of seaweed in the offshore area, but it is essentially different from Japanese cooking. People in Asia can basically tell 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 products. The raw materials of Japanese cuisine are mostly terrestrial plants, but also fish from rivers, seas and lakes. China and China eat fish differently. In Japan, due to the geographical characteristics of being surrounded by the sea, the raw materials of dishes are mostly rice, fish and seaweed, and each person in Japan can eat about 70 kilograms of fish every year on average. In China, the average person eats about 10 kg of fish every year, which varies greatly according to the geographical environment.

1. The cooking method is exquisite.

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

(2) Cooking technology: 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 is a nutritious dish. Japanese people's treatment of raw materials is very simple. As far as fish is concerned, they try not to process it after obtaining the fresh fish medium, and only dip it in condiments and eat it directly. Foods that must be cooked with fire, such as Lamian Noodles and sushi, are all processed with 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. There are more than 20 cooking methods for ingredients in China, such as "burning, frying, frying, boiling, frying, steaming and frying". They like to marinate, air-dry, bake and add various spices to cook, so as to achieve color, fragrance and taste.

2. Use of tableware

In the food culture of China and China, dining tools play an important role, while traditional dining 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 China and Japanese chopsticks, there are the following differences:

(1) Japanese chopsticks are short and sharp, mostly made of wood. This is because they often eat fish, so there is no need to use great strength when using chopsticks. In order to prevent food from slipping, the tip of chopsticks can be used to pierce the food. Chopsticks in China are long and heavy, and most of them are made of wood or bamboo. Because food in our country is cooked with oil, it can prevent slipping when holding food with wooden chopsticks.

(2) As a "chopstick country", the frequency of Japanese changing chopsticks is much higher than that of China. They change chopsticks once every two or three months on average, while China only changes chopsticks once every two or three years. However, with the improvement of economic level, people pay more and more attention to the hygiene of chopsticks, which is now 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. Only when everyone puts down chopsticks can the host leave his seat. If you don't finish eating by yourself, you should put down your chopsticks and leave your seat. Japanese chopsticks etiquette is similar. Don't put chopsticks anywhere after eating. They should put them beside their bowls in a proper way 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 "drinking to drown my sorrows", and the traditional concept of "no wine and no joy". In fact, wine has other magical uses, and moderate drinking can relieve fatigue and dredge bones and muscles.

About wine culture, it is more common in social places. China people not only like to set dishes at banquets, but also like to share them with friends and family with old 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 of dinner relaxed and pleasant. Therefore, many businessmen talk about business while socializing with customers, which leads to a success rate beyond your imagination. This also gave birth to the idea that drinking is also the job of 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 for the company's entertainment, drinking with people is only a cautious surface form.

Third, look at the eating habits of China and Japan from a historical perspective.

Japanese eating habits are often evaluated as "light, small and fine". Generally speaking, its diet belongs to a plant-based diet. Cooking in China uses a lot of oil, also known as "oil cooking", and the practice is very complicated. Almost every ingredient is inseparable from oil; Japanese cuisine uses almost no oil, and refined vegetable oils, such as rapeseed oil and soybean oil, make it less oily and light.

In ancient times, the dietary concepts of China and Japan were very 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 China's. In the past, the Japanese judged a person's status and upbringing by his clothes, means of transportation and residence. They didn't care about diet. In the process 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 China and Japanese are also different. Japan is a world-famous longevity country, and its average 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 today's society are related to the large intake of fat and cholesterol. Some experts believe that the reason why Japanese people live long is largely because of their good eating habits, focusing on light nutrition and not overeating. With the development of China's economy and the continuous improvement of people's living standards, people's dietary concepts are gradually changing, and it is common that people in China prefer banquets and dinners without paying attention to nutrition.