Why China? - Chinese food
A Chinese proverb says, "Food is the Heaven of the Masses!" This expresses the importance of the Chinese people's daily meals. The traditional Chinese approach to the wholeness of things is also expressed in many ways during eating: on the one hand, the individual dishes should strive for perfection in terms of aroma, appearance and taste, and on the other hand, a good meal should give the five tastes spicy, sour, sweet, bitter and salty in harmony. In addition, many ingredients are selected according to traditional Chinese medicine and sometimes used only in the preparation and not in the dish itself.
Chinese spices
Chinese love their food fresh and therefore like to eat out, especially because it is cheap. As a rule, you order at least one dish per person. These are then in the middle of the table and each of the participants at the meal gets its own bowl and a plate and can be used at will. As strict as the rules are in the preparation, they are so free when eating with friends themselves: The most important thing is coziness.
Typical Chinese food
Clear rules of the table are only available on official occasions. To tables, these are very similar to the western, apart from the ritualized seating order. But do not worry, as a foreigner you will always be kindly directed to his place or given the place of honor. In China, it is considered polite to pour drinks and food onto other people nearby. The more often you do that, the more you will appreciate and praise your intercultural skills. If something should land on your plate, which you do not like, just pretend to try it for a while and then leave the rest behind. This politely signals to your host that you do not want a lookup. Also you should on official celebrations such. Weddings do not eat you right at the beginning, because usually several courses are served.
The various Chinese regional kitchens
Due to the size of China and its different climate zones, all of which produce very different spices and herbs, there can be up to 500 local variations in one dish alone. Here, locals are always very proud of their regional cuisine and will make every effort to convince a foreigner of their excellence. But do not worry too: as much as you hear about extravagant dishes in China - and you can certainly get them - most of the main ingredients are by no means unusual for us.
The Chinese regional kitchens are caused by the climate and influences of other cultures. For example, the traditional ingredients in the Northeast are not very different from those in Europe, just because the climate is similar. Dividing the regional kitchens is sometimes difficult because there are no fixed definitions. Also, you will find in all Chinese cities representatives of other regional kitchens and Western national kitchens and is therefore not bound to the taste of the region. One possible classification is the following:
Dongbei Cuisine:
This refers to the cuisine of the Chinese Northeast, which is also called Peking cuisine. The main ingredients are wheat, cabbage, leek, lamb and pork. Especially famous are the pasta dishes and dumplings as well as the world famous Peking duck, which you eat in small pancakes. The Dongbei kitchen tends to be a little saltier and barely spicy compared to the other kitchens.
Fujian cuisine:
This means the food of the region around Shanghai and Hangzhou. Due to the long coastline and the numerous large rivers, traditional seafood plays an important role here. Local people are particularly keen on a colorful presentation of the food. The typical regional taste is sweet to sweet and sour.
Canton cuisine:
A contemporary Chinese Food Recipes joke is: "People from Canton (Guangzhou) eat everything in the sky, on earth and in water - except airplanes, tanks and submarines!" This is meant to express that no other regional cuisine in China so many Knows ingredients and you can eat here things that are difficult to get in the rest of China. As exotic as the ingredients are, so little exotic is the dominating flavor for most westerners: less spicy and a little more sweet.