Chinese cuisine

 Chinese cuisine is an important

part of Chinese culture, which
includes cuisine originating from the
diverse regions of China, as well as
from Chinese people in other parts
of the world.
 Because of the Chinese diaspora
(emigration), Chinese cuisine has
influenced many other cuisines in
Asia, with modifications made to
cater to local palates.
 The preference for seasoning and
cooking techniques of Chinese
provinces depend on differences in
historical background and ethnic
groups.
 Geographic features including
mountains, rivers, forests and
deserts also have a strong effect on
the local available ingredients,
considering climate of China varies
from tropical in the south to
 Imperial,royal and noble
preference also plays a role in
the change of Chinese cuisines.
Because of imperial expansion
and trading, ingredients and
cooking techniques from other
cultures are integrated into
Chinese cuisines over time.
 The most praised "Four
Major Cuisines"
 1.Chuan,
 2. Lu,
 3.Yue
 4. Huaiyang,

 representing
West, North, South
and East China cuisine
correspondingly
 Huaiyang
 is one of the traditions in Chinese
cuisine.
 It is derived from the native cooking
styles of the region surrounding the
lower reaches of the Huai and
Yangtze rivers, and centered upon
the cities of Huai'an, Yangzhou and
Zhenjiang in Jiangsu province
 Huaiyang
 Huaiyang cuisine characteristically
founds each dish on its main
ingredient, and the way that
ingredient is cut is pivotal to its
cooking and its final taste.
 The cuisine is also known for
employing its Zhenjiang vinegar,
which is produced in the Jiangsu
region. Huaiyang cuisine tends to
have a slightly sweet side to it and is
almost never spicy, in contrast to
 Huaiyang
 Pork,freshwater fish, and other
aquatic creatures serve as the meat
base in most dishes, which are
usually more meticulous and light
compared to the more "brash" eating
styles of northern China.
Modern "Eight Cuisines" of
China
1. Anhui 6.Shandon
2.Cantone g
se 7.Sichuan
3.Fujian 8.Zhejiang
4.Hunan cuisines.
5. Jiangsu
Color, smell and taste are
the three traditional aspects
used to describe Chinese
food, as well as the
meaning, shape and
nutrition of the food.
Cooking should be
appraised from ingredients
used, cuttings, cooking time
Itis considered
inappropriate to use knives
on the dining table.
Chopsticks are the main
eating utensils for Chinese
food, which can be used to
cut and pick up food.
HISTORY
Chinese society greatly
valued gastronomy and
developed an extensive
study of the subject based
on its traditional medical
beliefs.
 Nobles hunted various wild game
and consumed mutton(sheep),
pork, dog, and beef as these
animals were domesticated.
 Grain was stored against famine
and flood and meat was preserved
with salt, vinegar, curing, and
fermenting.
 The flavor of the meat was
enhanced by cooking it in animal
fats though this practice was mostly
 By the time of Confucius in the late Zhou,
gastronomy has become a high art.
 He was recorded discussing about the
principles of dining: "The rice would never
be too white, the meat would never be too
finely cut... When it was not cooked right,
man would not eat. When it was cooked
bad, man would not eat. When the meat
was not cut properly, man would not eat.
When the food was not prepared with the
right sauce, man would not eat. Although
there are plenty of meats, they should not
be cooked more than staple food. There is
no limit for alcohol, before a man gets
 During Shi Huangdi's Qin dynasty, the
empire expanded into the south. By the
time of the Han Dynasty, the different
regions and cuisines of China's people
were linked by major canals and leading
to a greater complexity in the different
regional cuisines.
 Not only is food seen as giving "qi",
energy, but food is also about
maintaining yin and yang.
 The philosophy behind it was rooted
in the I Ching(an influential text read
throughout the world, providing
inspiration to the worlds of religion,
psychoanalysis, business, literature,
and art) and Chinese traditional
medicine: food was judged for color,
aroma, taste, and texture and a
good meal was expected to balance
the Four Natures ('hot', warm, cool,
and 'cold') and the Five Tastes
(pungent, sweet, sour, bitter, and
salty). Salt was used as a
preservative from early times, but in
cooking was added in the form of
The predominance of
chopsticks and spoons as
eating utensils also
necessitated that most
food be prepared in bite-
sized pieces or (as with
fish) be so tender that it
could be easily picked
apart.
During the Han dynasty,
the Chinese developed
methods of food
preservation for military
rations during campaigns
such as drying meat into
jerky and cooking,
roasting, and drying grain
 Chinese legends claim that
the roasted, flat bread
shaobing was brought back
from the Xiyu (the Western
Regions, a name for Central
Asia) by the Han dynasty
General Ban Chao, and that
it was originally known as
hubing (胡餅, lit. "barbarian
bread").
Foreignwesterners
made and sold
sesame cakes in
China during the
Tang dynasty.
 During the Southern and
Northern Dynasties non-Han
people like the Xianbei of
Northern Wei introduced their
cuisine to northern China, and
these influences continued up to
the Tang dynasty, popularizing
meat like mutton and dairy
products like goat milk, yogurts,
and Kumis(a fermented dairy
product traditionally made from
mare's milk) among even Han
 The Han Chinese rebel Wang Su
who received asylum in the Xianbei
Northern Wei after fleeing from
Southern Qi, at first could not stand
eating dairy products like goat's
milk and meat like mutton and had
to consume tea and fish instead,
but after a few years he was able
to eat yogurt and lamb, and the
Xianbei Emperor asked him which
of the foods of China (Zhongguo)
he preferred, fish vs mutton and
tea vs yogurt.
 The great migration of
Chinese people south during
the invasions preceding and
during the Song dynasty
increased the relative
importance of southern
Chinese staples such as rice
and congee.
 Su Dongpo(poet) has
improved the red braised
pork as Dongpo pork
 The Yuan and Qing dynasties
introduced Mongolian and
Manchu cuisine, warm
northern dishes that
popularized hot pot cooking.
 During the Yuan dynasty
many Muslim communities
emerged in China, who
practiced a porkless cuisine
now preserved by Hui
restaurants throughout the
 Yunnan cuisine is unique in
China for its cheeses like
Rubing and Rushan cheese
made by the Bai people, and
its yogurt, the yogurt may
have been due to a
combination of Mongolian
influence during the Yuan
dynasty, the Central Asian
settlement in Yunnan, and the
proximity and influence of
 As part of the last leg of the
Columbian Exchange,
Spanish and Portuguese
traders began introducing
foods from the New World to
China through the port cities
of Canton and Macao.
 Mexican chili peppers
became essential ingredients
in Sichuan cuisine and
calorically-dense potatoes
and corn became staple
Duringthe Qing Dynasty,
Chinese gastronomes such
as Yuan Mei focused upon a
primary goal of extracting
the maximum flavor of each
ingredient.
 As noted in his culinary work
the Suiyuan shidan, however,
the fashions of cuisine at the
time were quite varied and in
some cases were flamboyantly
ostentatious,especially when
the display served also a
formal ceremonial purpose, as
in the case of the Manchu Han
Imperial Feast
As the tempo is getting
faster in modern China,
fastfood like fried noodles,
fried rice and gaifan (dish
over rice) become more
and more popular.
STAPLE
FOODS
Staple foods in
China: Rice,
breads and
various kinds of
 Rice
 Rice is a major staple food for people from
rice farming areas in southern China.
 Steamed rice, usually white rice, is the
most commonly eaten form. Rice is also
used to produce beers, wines and
vinegars.
 Rice is one of the most popular foods in
China and is used in many dishes.
 Glutinous rice ("sticky rice") is a variety of
rice used in many specialty Chinese
dishes.
 Wheat
 In wheat-farming areas in Northern
China, people largely rely on flour-based
food, such as noodles, breads, jiaozi (a
kind of Chinese dumplings), and mantou
(a type of steamed buns)
 Noodles
 Chinese noodles come dry or fresh in a
variety of sizes, shapes and textures and
are often served in soups or fried as
toppings.
 Some varieties, such as Shou Mian
(literally noodles of longevity), are
symbolic of long life and good health
according to Chinese tradition.
 Noodles can be served hot or cold with
different toppings, with broth, and
occasionally dry (as is the case with mi-
fun). Noodles are commonly made with
rice flour or wheat flour, but other flours
SOYBEAN
PRODUCTS
 Tofu is made of soybeans and is
another popular food product that
supplies protein. The production
process of tofu varies from regions
to regions, resulted in different
kinds of tofu with a wide range of
texture and taste.
 Other products such as soy milk,
soy paste, soy oil, and fermented
soy sauce are also important in
Chinese cooking.
There are many kinds
of soybean products,
including tofu skin,
smoked tofu, dried tofu,
fried tofu and so on.
 Stinky tofu
 is fermented tofu.
 Like blue cheese or durian, it
has a very distinct, potent
smell, and is an acquired
taste.
 Hard stinky tofu is often
deep-fried and paired with
soy sauce or something salty
and spicy.
 Doufuru
 is another type of fermented
tofu that has a salty taste.
 Doufuru can be pickled
together with soy beans, red
yeast rice or chili to create
different color and flavor.
 This is more of a pickled type
of tofu and is not as strongly
scented as stinky tofu.
 Doufuru
Doufuru has the
consistency of slightly soft
blue cheese, and a taste
similar to Japanese miso
paste, but less salty.
Doufuru can be used as a
spread on steamed buns,
or paired with rice congee
HERBS AND
SEASONINGS
 Seasonings such as fresh
ginger root, garlic, scallion,
cilantro and sesame are
widely used in many
regional cuisines. Sichuan
peppercorns, star anise,
cinnamon, fennel, cloves
and white peppers are also
Toadd extra flavors to
dishes, many Chinese
cuisines also contain
dried Chinese
mushrooms, dried baby
shrimps, dried tangerine
peel,and dried Sichuan
 When it comes to sauces, China
is home to soy sauce, which is
made from fermented soybeans
and wheat.
 Oyster sauce, clear rice vinegar,
chili, Chinkiang black rice vinegar,
fish sauce and furu (fermented
tofu) are also widely used.
 A number of sauces are also
based on fermented soybeans,
including Hoisin sauce, ground
Desserts
and snacks
Generally, seasonal
fruits serve as the most
common form of dessert
consumed after dinner
 Dim Sum (点心), originally means
small portion of food, can refer to
dessert, pastries.
 Later to avoid the
disambiguation, tian dian (甜点)
and gao dian (糕点) are used to
describe desserts and pastries
Chinese desserts are sweet
foods and dishes that are
served with tea, usually
during the meal, or at the
end of meals in Chinese
cuisine
 Besides served as a dim sum
along with tea, pastries are used
for celebration of traditional
festivals. The most famous one is
moon cake, used to celebrate the
Mid-Autumn Festival.
 A wide variety of Chinese desserts
are available, mainly including
steamed and boiled sweet snacks.
Bing is an umbrella term for all
breads in Chinese, also including
pastries and sweets.
 These are baked wheat flour based
confections, with different stuffings
including red bean paste, jujube and
 Su (酥) is another kind of pastry
made with more amount of oil,
making the confection more friable.
 Chinese candies and sweets, called
táng are usually made with cane
sugar, malt sugar, honey, nuts and
fruit.
 Gao or Guo are rice based snacks
that are typically steamedand may
 Another cold dessert is called
baobing, which is shaved ice with
sweet syrup.
 Chinese jellies are known
collectively in the language as ices.
 Many jelly desserts are traditionally
set with agar and are flavored with
fruits, though gelatin based jellies
are also common in contemporary
 Chinese dessert soups typically
consist of sweet and usually are
hot soups

 Ex. Green bean dessert soup

Dairy products

 Chinese in earlier dynasties

evidently drank milk and ate dairy
products, although not
necessarily from cows, but
perhaps koumiss (fermented
mare's milk) or goat's milk.
 Tapioca pudding and "double-skin
milk" as dessert is also quite
 Many Chinese until recently have
avoided milk, partly because
pasturage for milk producers in a
monsoon rice ecology is not
economic.
 Ice cream is commonly available
and popular throughout China
 Quiz
 1. What are the staple foods of China?
Explain briefly
 2. what are the soybean product? Explain
briefly
 3. What are the desserts? Explain briefly
 4. What are the herbs and spices of
China?
 5. What are the similarities of China
cuisine to Philippine cuisine?