Chinese cuisine goes far back in time with an extensive history. It is considered one of the world’s mother kitchens alongside Roman and Iranian cuisine. From China today, Chinese cuisine is found all over the world.
What is known today about Chinese cuisine has long since emerged and enriched with imported raw materials, inventions, and cooking techniques.
In China, it is often said that the Beijing man and his use of fire gave rise to the first kitchen over 400,000 years ago. However, other more modest reports consider that Chinese cuisine started during the Chinese Stone Age when rice and noodles began to be used as part of the diet. Chopsticks began to be used a little later and wok became popular during the Tang Dynasty. Most familiar Chinese dishes eaten today were added at the beginning of the Qing Dynasty and the Republic of China.
Eight types of kitchens
Chinese cuisine can be divided into many different genres, but what is best known are the eight cuisines. It is the decisive factors that create a form of the genre that includes history, cooking character, climate, geography, resources, and lifestyle.
Shandong kitchen
The historic kitchen Shandong also called Lu Cai was formed even before the birth of Christ. The food tradition comes from northern China and has a strong influence on the northeast and Beijing. The cuisine is characterized as healthy with an oily appearance and is characterized by its taste of crispness, freshness, and tenderness. Common spices are shallots and garlic and the cooking technique used mainly is deep-fried, grilled, or roasted.
Zhejiang kitchen
The kitchen includes flavors from three cities located in Zhejiang province. The cities are Hangzhou, Ningbo, and Shaoxing. The kitchen has low-fat dishes and is characterized as fresh, light, and tender with a light scent of melon.
Jiangsu kitchen
Jiangsu cuisine is also called Huaiyang and is popular in the eastern parts of China where the Yangtze River flows. The kitchen is best known for its distinctive style and slim and has succeeded in creating a cuisine that appeals to large parts of the world.
The province is known for the fish and rice in its dishes as well as many other ingredients that make the food more varied.
The main ingredient is aquatic animals and it is very important that everything is completely fresh. The cutting technique is delicious especially with regard to cutting the melon, but great effort is also put into the performance of the ingredients. When it comes to the cooking technique, it is most common that the food is either quick-cooked or cooked. The dishes have a light, mild, and fresh taste.
Guangdong / Canton kitchen
One of the most famous kitchens in the world is the Guangdong / Canton kitchen also called Yue Cai. The food tradition originally comes from Guangdong in the southern province. The food is probably the most readily available outside of China as the majority of foreign Chinese have traveled from Guangdong or Hong Kong.
The tradition is one of the most diverse and extensive of China’s cuisine. Vegetables originating from all parts of the world belong to the Cantonese style. The taste is fresh, light, and crunchy. The natural taste of vegetables is emphasized without great use of spices, the meat is most important.
The food is cooked as fried, deep-fried, fried, stewed or steamed. Dishes that are steamed or roasted retain the natural flavor in the dish. The chefs are very keen to create a tasteful presentation of the dish.
Sichuan Kitchen
If you have not tried Sichuan, you have never been to China. The kitchen can also be called Szechuan and is one of the most famous internationally. Spicy and tasty dishes are typical of the kitchen. Spices like chili and red pepper are common, but garlic, ginger, and fermented soybeans are also used extensively. The cuisine is famous for its multifaceted flavors where almost every dish is unique in its kind. Anyone visiting China should also try Sichuan food.
Anhui kitchen
The kitchen is also called Hui Cai and is a mixture of the local kitchens in southern Anhui, Huaibei and Yanjiang. Common ingredients are myrrh, mushrooms, bamboo shoots, tea leaves, and dates from the nearby mountain area which is very enriched with plants for cooking. The main focus is on preserving the original nutrition and taste of the food. In general, the food is quite strong and salty. Salt is often added to enhance the taste and candy sugar to increase freshness.
Fujian cuisine
Fujian kitchen’s other name is Min Cai. The cuisine is well known for its use of seafood, colors and sweet flavors of sweet, salty, sour, and well-seasoned food. The most common feature is dishes with pickled taste.
The female kitchen
Hunan cuisine is also known as Xiang Cai and has been influenced by local cuisine from the Xiangjiang region, the Xiangxi area, and Dongting Lake. The cuisine is characterized by its acidic and strong flavors with a fresh aroma, deep colors, and bold texture. Pepper, chili and shallots are often used as spices. The food is suitable for those who love strong food and are brave.