Universally recognized as one of the great cuisines of the world, Chinese food in all its variety and complexity id unquestionably one of the finest pleasures a visitor can experience in China. There is vast range of restaurants, from street stalls serving noodles to revolving restaurants atop hotels and converted courtyards where the imperial family once dined.
China鈥檚 vast territory and long history have given birth to distinct regional cuisines over the centuries. The precise number of regional cuisines in China is still under dispute, but experts agree on at least eight: Sichuan, Shandong, Guangdong (Cantonese), Jiangsu, Zhejiang, Fujian, Hunan and Anhui, the eight provinces in China.
Sichuan cuisines is the most popular food in China which is well-known for its hot and pungent flavouring. Typical dishes of Sichuan are Twice Cooked Pork Slices, Spicy Diced Chicken with Peanuts, Dry-fried Shark Fin, and Fish-flavoured Pork Shreds.
Shandong Cuisine includes many well-known seafood dishes. The dishes are usually fresh, tasty, but not greasy. The representative of Shangdong Cuisine is Beijing Roast Duck, Iadeite Shark Fin, Agate Sea Cucumber, Shrimps Wearing Jade Belts, and Eight Immortals Crossing the Sea.
Guangdong Cuisine is known as Cantonese Cuisine in the West, whoes dishes are fresh, tender, and lightly seasoned. The raw material for Guangdong Cuisine is very rich, which includes snake, cat and pangolin. Dragon and Tiger Locked in Battle is the most famous snake dish, in which cobra, leopard, cat, and ove twenty spices are used. Other delicacies in Guangdong Cuisine include Roast Suckling Pig, Duck Web in Oyster auce, and Braised Chicken Feet with Wild Herbs.
Jiangsu cuisine is characterized by sweet. Sweet-sour Fish, Sweet-sour Pork and Sweet-sour Soup are common dishes at the table of the ordinary families. The most popular dishes are Sweet sour Boneless Fried Fish, Watermelon Chicken, Salted Duck and Creamed Abalone Soup.
Zhejiang Cuisine makes crisp, tender, light and fresh dishes. The region is beautiful with many rivers and lakes so that shrimps and fish are largely produced. The products fresh from the water are made into mouthwatering dishes:Shrimp-meat with Dragon-well Tea, West Lake Sour Fish, Steamed Carp, Fried Shrimp Balls. Other famous dishes are Dongpo Braised Pork, Beggar鈥檚 Chicken.
Fujian Cuisine is developed from the local food of the three cities of Fujian Province:Fuzhou, Quanzhou and Xiamen. This region is very close to the sea and seafood making is, of course, the chef鈥檚 culinary art. They are good at steaming, frying, braising the food, particularly good at pickling the ingredients before cooking. The popular dishes are Wined Chicken, Wined Sliced Fish, Deep-fried Prawns, Wined Sea Cucumber with Brown Sauce, Braised Abalone with Oyster Sauce.
Hunan Cuisine has its characteristics: a great variety of ingredients, shiny and strong colors, hot and spicy tastes, smoked and pickled flavors. The noted dishes are Hot and Spicy Chicken, Simmered Shark鈥檚 Fin in Brown Sauce,Gold Coin Fish, Sweet Lotus Seeds Soup.
Anhui Cuisine is known for its natural ingredients selected, temperature and timing of cooking closely observed, oridional color and flavor preserved. Fuli Stewed Chicken, Salted Mandarin Fish, Milky Fish King, Ham Simmered with Bamboo Shoots and Ham Simmered with Soft-shelled Turtles are noted dishes.
In China, cooking is an art. Quite different from Western cooking where recipes are followed strictly like laboratory instructions, Chinese cooking always allows for a creative and stylistic touch to it. While in Western cooking the recipe is the key to success in any culinary attempt, in Chinese cooking the experienced and well seasoned chef is the guarantee. That is why restaurants, big or small, would always boast of their chefs and advertise their dishes as well.
鈥滳olourful,鈥 鈥渧aried,鈥 鈥渄elicious,鈥 and 鈥渃omplex鈥 are often used to describe Chinese food. Great attention is paid to aesthetic appreciation of the food because the food should be good not only in flavour and smell, but also in colour and appearance.
