Chinese Kitchen

from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Carving a baked Peking duck in a restaurant in Hong Kong, at the guest's table

The Chinese cuisine ( Chinese  中國 菜  /  中国 菜 , Pinyin Zhōngguócài ) includes various Chinese regional cuisines, some of which are very different.

Subdivision

The great regional cuisines of China
China buffet in the USA

In principle, most of China's 23 provinces have their own regional cuisine , which sometimes differ considerably from one another. The 8 most important regional cooking traditions whose dishes are popular across China include:

  • The spicy Chuan cuisine from Sichuan , in which spring onions, chilli, soy sauce and ginger are used
  • The spicy Xiang cuisine from Hunan
  • The Cantonese Yue cuisine, which is known for its balance and variety, but also for the use of unusual ingredients (e.g. dog meat)
  • The Min cuisine from Fujian is light but tasty, with particular emphasis on umami
  • Northeast Chinese Lu cuisine is best known for its pasta (noodles, Maultaschen (Jiaozi), pancakes).
  • The east Chinese kitchens Hui , Zhe and Su are very versatile and place great value on the flexible selection of ingredients based on seasonal availability

Other well-known kitchens are:

  • The Shanghai -Kitchen used a lot of fish, seafood and sweet and sour spicy sauces
  • Among the Chinese regional cuisines, the Uyghur Xinjiang cuisine differs in particular because it uses fried potatoes, meat skewers and flatbreads in Persian style.

The individual regional cuisines are sometimes roughly divided according to cardinal points: North (including Dongbei, Xinjiang, Manchu, Mongolian); West (including Sichuan, Yunnan, Hunan); South (including Canton, Guangxi, Hong Kong) and East (including Shanghai, Jiangsu, Zhejiang).

Another possibility is the division into special kitchens:

A distinction is also made between red cooking (with soy sauce) and white cooking according to the ingredients and thus the color . The so-called Nyonya cuisine , a fusion cuisine that combines Chinese and Malay traditions, is very popular today . It is based in Malaysia , Singapore and Hong Kong .

overview

ingredients

Many ingredients and preparation methods were adopted from other Asian cultures, and some have now also become indigenous to the West. For example, tofu , soy sauce , rice wine , green tea and the tea ceremony do not come from Japan , but were brought to Japan from China. In the realm of legends, however, noodles came to Europe from China: Noodle dishes were already known to the Greeks and Etruscans.

With a few exceptions among ethnic minorities in China , all Chinese cuisines have one thing in common: the absence of dairy products . The reason for this is that in China, as in most Asian countries, lactose intolerance is widespread.

The most popular type of meat is pork , followed by chicken , beef, and duck . Also lamb and mutton is due to the influence of Islamic popular minority. The dog and cat meat consumed in some southern regions is comparatively expensive and only available sporadically.

Whilst wheat is traditionally the staple food in the north , rice is mainly eaten in the south. The seasoning is also hotter further south. The preference of the Cantonese cuisine for rather unusual ingredients, such as various insects , snakes or wild animals, is also known .

Overall impression

In addition to color, aroma and flavor, the consistency is generally important - swallow's nest and shark fin soup are almost only eaten because of their consistency and because they are supposed to strengthen the body - as well as the harmonious overall impression of a dish. The five elements play an important role :

This is just a simple insight into this concept, which also permeates other areas of life and - in addition to the division into Yin and Yang preparations and food - forms the basis for various health aspects of the food. Even very cold dishes should be avoided according to this idea, as they rob the body of energy.

Yuan Mei , famous poet during the Qing Dynasty of the 18th century, writes:

“When you put the dishes on, you first serve the salty dishes, then the sweet dishes. Heavy dishes before light ones, dry ones before those in broth. There are 5 tastes: salty, sour, hot, bitter and sweet, they must not all be covered with a salty taste. You have to know and understand beforehand when the guests' stomachs are sufficiently full and when tiredness sets in. Then spicy foods have to be served for stimulation. If you fear that the guests might drink too much wine, they should be stimulated by sour or sweet sauces to also relieve tiredness. "

Kitchen equipment

Burner with direct gas flame of a wok or china stove
A wok on a Chinese cooker in a restaurant
Typical bamboo basket for steaming

The traditional kitchen equipment within the home is a stone brick oven - zào , - or a mobile barrel-shaped Tonherd - ,  /  , the wok with brass strainer for fried food - to better dissipate the heat and be less hot, a Chinese spatula - chǎn ,  /  or guōchǎn , 鍋鏟  /  锅铲 - made of metal, bamboo basket as Steamer - see also Steamers , various sized pots - Shaguo 沙鍋  /  沙锅 to rice - now mostly an electric rice cooker to prepare, stews or soups - cheaper than metal and not through metal taste influence, see also Römertopf or caquelon for Swiss fondue - and a large rectangular kitchen knife. As in European cuisine, there are a variety of cutting techniques that are possible with this one knife.

Everything about Chinese cuisine is geared towards economy, from the type of cooking and preparation to the food itself. The wok is the ideal pan for quickly and economically turning chopped ingredients into a dish over an open fire. That is its strength and also its weakness, because the wok , as it is used in Europe, has very little to do with the Asian original. Almost nobody has a sufficiently large and therefore hot open flame - between 4 and 8 kW of energy, if gas is used at home at all. A sauté pan or a large uncoated pan is a sufficient substitute for the wok .

Food culture

Eating in China is mainly a communicative matter. The traditional table manners differ considerably from the European ones. So it is quite common to smack your lips and slurp or talk with your mouth full, sometimes even burping. People laugh and talk loudly, and the guests or the elderly or respected people are cared for by handing them the best pieces, usually with their own chopsticks , which are otherwise different from the Japanese - the Chinese chopsticks are slightly longer than them Japanese and have a blunt end and not a point. It is also quite common to remove the remains of meat between your teeth with your finger at the table, while blowing your nose is a taboo for which you go to the toilet.

In addition to the chopsticks, there are also spoons - mostly made of ceramic - and small brass baskets with long handles for the Mongolian fire pot . Knife and fork as part of the cutlery were not in use earlier. In today's China, however, the usual international table manners are gaining more and more importance, especially in the context of urban gastronomy and society. An exception is slurping soups, noodle dishes - see also ramen - or liquids, which is favored by the shape of the spoons commonly used in Asia. The aroma and taste of the food really come into their own when liquid and air are absorbed at the same time, similar to when tasting wine.

Due to the traditional method of preparation, the chef cuts the ingredients into bite-sized pieces. In the restaurants, a lot of emphasis is placed on the appearance and appearance of the dishes, and small works of art are often carved out of vegetables and fruits.

When eating, you usually order several dishes. Rice must be ordered separately and, like soup, is often served as one of the last courses.

For example, a traditional feast can consist of 4 starters, 6 main courses and a soup. Soup is often served as the last course because one has the idea of ​​filling the last cavities in the stomach with it.

A variant that comes as a surprise to many Europeans in China can also be that the entire food order is placed on the table in one go. It is up to the guest to order in doses and one after the other; The service staff or the cook is not expected to think along about the staggered sequence of dishes in accordance with Western expectations, because Chinese food does not have a chronological sequence of dishes according to European ideas.

Regional differences

In southern China, rice is served last. Sweet desserts are not very important in traditional Chinese cuisine - the canton cuisine is an exception - and are consumed alongside the other dishes in the main course. However, that has slowly changed over the past few decades. In addition to green tea and beer , strong spirits are also very popular, as are drinking games. Wine, on the other hand, is less widespread, although wine-growing can look back on a long regional tradition. In terms of taste, however, it does not go well with the intense spices, which often dominate too much in relation to wine.

Traditional Chinese cuisine is characterized by its healthy preparation due to its short cooking time and includes a balanced ratio of meat, vegetables and starchy dishes - rice, wheat or other grains. In addition, there are restaurants in the cities that specialize in the preparation of certain ingredients and dishes - see canton cuisine .

In addition to some ingredients such as tofu - doufu , soy sauce , pak choi , kai-lan or mongoose sprouts , various dishes of Chinese cuisine have become international standard and just as international as pizza . Covering such areas as spring rolls , dim sum , Peking duck and sweet and sour pork - rarely Gulao Rou , 咕咾肉 , including: 古老肉 , gūlǎoròu . Chop Suey became popular with Chinese immigrants in California .

Manners

Chinese round table (with green tea and brandy)

In China, people usually eat at round tables and the dishes are arranged on a rotating plate in the middle of the table. The guests of honor sit to the left and right of the host, who also takes care of refilling and puts particularly good pieces of meat or fish on the plate for the guests of honor.

The host always tries to offer more food than the guests can eat. If the guests ate all of the food, this would be a sign that the host would have offered too little food, which leads to the host losing face .

Large amounts of alcohol are also consumed when eating, and drinking games are also popular. Basically, the glass (usually 0.1 l) is emptied in one go. The usual toast ganbei - 乾杯  /  干杯 , Jyutping gon 1 bui 1  - "the glass empty" - see Jap. カンペイ kanpei , Kanji 乾杯 what mutatis mutandis Prost is meant and literally means "dry glass" means quite well taken and here literally. Classic Chinese alcoholic beverages are rice wine , strong liquor and Chinese plum wine . The popular beer was added later. Beer production was strongly influenced by the German colony in Qingdao , where a brewery is still located today . The wine consumption is not common in China, but the middle class and rich Chinese families in Chinese - even for reasons of prestige - more popular.

literature

Films (selection)

See also

Web links

Commons : Chinese Cuisine  - Collection of Images