Local Chinese Cuisine

From Wikiasiantravel

Local Chinese Cuisine

The Chinese Cuisine varies greatly from region to region, having considerable differences in styles of food. The Chinese style of cooking is also famous overseas, though Chinese restaurants abroad indulge to the foreign tastes even giving birth to dishes not seen in China. The culinary practices in China use main ingredients such as sea cucumbers, geoduck, turtle, shark fin and bird's nest made from the saliva of a certain species of bird. Vegetarianism can also be found in China, the Chinese Buddhist Cuisine having vegetable-based dishes containing no meat.

Picture Gallery

1 Main Dishes
2 Soups & Stews
3 Noodles, Buns and Others
4 Desserts

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Main Dishes

Bao Yu - a Chinese delicacy using abalone, a kind of shellfish, as its primary ingredient. Some side ingredients are cabbage, scallops, mushrooms and broccoli.

Buddha's Delight - a vegetarian dish made with a number of vegetable ingredients. The ingredients may reach 18 to 35 though they may vary greatly.

Century Egg - preserved egg usually of chicken, duck or quail. It is preserved for several weeks or months in an amalgam of ash, salt, clay and rice straw.

Chicken Feet - a Chinese delicacy usually served as an option in Dim Sum. This dish offers mostly skin and tendons instead of meat. It is sometimes known in restaurants as Phoenix Talons.

Chinese Steamed Eggs - a dish mainly consisting of eggs beaten constantly then steamed. Some additional ingredients such as minced pork or chicken and spring onions are also added along with broth or soy milk.

Crispy Fried Chicken - Cantonese style fried chicken with very crunchy skin and tender white meat. This fried chicken variant uses shrimp paste and ginger juice as breading mix.

Fuqi Feipian - a spicy dish made with thin slices of beef, beef lung/offal and spices. It is usually served cold.

Geoduck clam - a delicacy wherein geoduck(a kind of clam) is cooked into a Hot Pot or served raw with dipping sauce. Geoducks can reach over 100 years old.

Hoi Sam - refers to sea cucumbers or sea slugs used in Chinese cuisine. A sea-cucumber based delicacy is usually cooked with vegetables such as cabbage and broccoli.

Kung Pao Chicken - a classic dish primarily using chicken as a main ingredient. The dish usually differs depending on the version. The original version in Sichuan cuisine is prepared with Sichuan peppercorn and red chili, a hot and spicy treat. In the western version, the chicken may be replaced by seafood. The Sichuan version has been distinct from the Western version since the 37-year ban of Sichuan peppercorn export to the United States.

Mapo Doufu - a Chinese dish consisting of tofu and minced beef in spicy sauce.

Moo Shu Pork - a pork-based dish eaten with pancakes and hoisin sauce. The dish may consist of shredded pork tenderloin, mushrooms, bean sprouts, cabbage, bamboo shoots and seasoning though the ingredients may vary from restaurant to restaurant.

Orange Squid - squid or cuttlefish cooked and dyed with orange food coloring. Its taste greatly depends on the dipping sauce it is served with.

Oyster Omelet - an egg omelet added with starch and stuffed with small oysters. A sauce may also be added on top for added taste.

Peking Duck - the famous duck-dish of Beijing. Traditionally, the duck is carved by the cook in front of the diners. The duck is bred purposedly for the dish.

Seafood Bird's Nest - a moderate to expensive dish consisting of seafood held in an intricate basket/nest. The nest is made entirely of crunchy fried taro. The price depends mainly on the seafood used. Despite its name, this Chinese dish has nothing to do with birds.

Shuizhu - a Chinese dish made with boiled meat, either pork, beef or fish, boiled vegetables and vegetable oil. Chili pepper, Sichuan pepper and garlic are also added for a spicy touch.

Stinky Tofu - fermented tofu with a strong odor.

Sweet and Sour Pork - deep-fried pork stir fried in a sweet and sour sauce. The sauce may be made of sugar, ketchup, white vinegar and soy sauce. Additional ingredients such as bell pepper, onion and pineapple may also be added.

Twice Cooked Pork - boiled pork steak chunks cut into thin slices then shallow cooked in hot oil, thus being cooked twice.

White Cut Chicken - a steam roasted chicken dish. This Cantonese dish is served with a condiment made of salted ginger and scallions.

Yusheng - raw fish salad consisting of a mixture of raw fish and shredded vegetables. It also comes with various sauces and condiments. This traditional dish is usually served during the seventh day of the Chinese New Year.

Zhangcha Duck - a duck cuisine often prepared during special occasions. Its complex preparation includes the special marination, smoke treatment over camphor leaves, steaming and finally frying. It is also known as Tea Smoked Duck.

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Soups & Stews

Bird's Nest Soup - soup made from the saliva of cave swifts, bird's that make their nest using their saliva.

Buddha Jumps Over The Wall - a very complex soup made with numerous ingredients. Some of the main ingredients may consist of shark's fin, quail eggs, chicken, pork, lamb, ham, scallions, bamboo shoots, mushrooms, wine and may also contain abalone and sea cucumber. The preparation of this festive dish demands a lot of effort since it takes one to two days to make.

Egg Drop Soup - a soup made of beaten eggs, boiled water and broth, preferably chicken. Table salt and black pepper are added for taste.

Hot and Sour Soup - a regional dish made spicy by red pepper and sour by vinegar. It comes in vegetarian and meat-based variations. The usual ingredients are tofu, bamboo shoots, wood ear fungus, dried lily buds and other spices.

Hot Pot - Chinese fondue with thinly sliced meat, leafy vegetables, wonton and seafood.

Qing Tang Wan Zi - a traditional meatball soup. The ingredients involved are tenderloin, wood ear mushrooms, eggwhite and spices. The dish is often served with vegetables.

Shark Fin Soup - an expensive soup using fins obtained from certain species of shark.

Turtle Soup - a soup made using the meat, skin and innards of the turtle. The Chinese soft-shelled turtle is usually the species used in making the delicacy.

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Noodles, Buns and Others

Baozi - a steamed bun with meat or vegetarian fillings. There is a wide variation to the fillings and preparation, from meat to broth to lotus seed paste.

Beef Chow Fun - a Cantonese dish made with stir-fried beef, wide rice noodles and bean sprouts.

Chai Tow Kway - a fried dim sum item made primarily of white radish and rice flour. Even though it uses radish, it is also known as carrot cake.

Dan Dan Noodles - a noodle dish with a spicy sauce. The sauce is a mixture of ground peanut, sesame sauce and garlic.

Dim Sum - light dishes served with Chinese tea. The light meal may include steam buns and rice noodle rolls. The ingredients vary widely. Most Dim sum dishes are cooked by steaming and frying.

Jiaozi - Chinese-style dumpling. The filling may consist of ground meat and vegetable. It could either be boiled, steamed or fried. It is usually dipped in soy-vinegar sauce.

Popiah - Chinese fresh spring roll. The crepe is made of wheat/rice flour and covered with sauce while the stuffing may consist of bean sprouts, lettuce carrots, jicama, tofu, Chinese sausage, powdered peanut and egg. The ingredients may consist of more or less depending on the discretion of the one preparing.

Rice Noodle Roll - a thin roll of rice noodle stuffed with shrimp, vegetables or meat. It is usually a dim sum item.

Suanla Chaoshou - steamed, meat-filled dumplings topped with a spicy sauce.

Wonton - a type of dumpling commonly served in soup or deep fried. It may be filled with minced meat or vegetables for vegetarians.

Xiaolongbao - is similar to Baozi but is made with unraised flour and has a lot more filling compared to other buns. The fillings may either be soup and meat, seafood or vegetarian. It is a Chinese bun but it may also be considered a dumpling since its appearance is similar to Jiaozi.

Xiao Kou Zao - a sweet sesame dough ball. It is a dim sum item and is also served during the Chinese Lunar New Year. The sesame balls acquire cracks during cooking said to resemble smiles.

Youtiao - a deep-fried strip of dough usually served at breakfast.

Zhajiang Mian - thick wheat noodles with ground pork and soybean paste as toppings.

Zhaliang - youtiao wrapped with rice noodle roll. It is often eaten with soy milk for breakfast and is also considered a dim sum item.

Zongzi - sticky rice wrapped with bamboo leaves stuffed with a wide variety of fillings.

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Desserts

Guilinggao - a Chinese medicinal dessert made from the powdered shell of three-lined box turtles, an endangered species. Herbal additives are also included to increase the medicinal value of the dessert. Guilinggao is usually eaten in jelly form. The commercially available guilinggao doesn't contain the powdered shell component but has the same herbal additives.

Mooncake - a traditional Chinese pastry. Mooncakes are labor-extensive and expensive.

Tong Sui - sweet soup served as dessert. Tong Sui has many variations depending on the ingredients used. Some varieties are:

Black Sesame Soup - a thick soup made of crushed black sesame seeds. Sugar is sometimes added even though sesame seeds are already sweet.

Douhua - a dessert made from soft tofu and eaten with either soy sauce or spicy condiments. It is also called tofu pudding.

Egg Tong Sui - a sweet soup made with boiling water, egg and sugar.

Hasma - refers to the fallopian tubes of a certain species of frog, used as an ingredient in sweet soups. It is used to give texture to the soup and is said to have medicinal health benefits.

Mung Bean Soup - a simple soup consisting of boiled mung beans, sugar and water. Coconut milk and other ingredients may also be added, depending on the discretion of the one preparing the soup.

Red Bean Soup - a dessert made of red beans(azuki beans) served hot or cold depending on the climate. Taro is sometimes added. The Chinese soup is relatively thinner than the Japanese version.