Chinese cuisine (Chinese: 中國菜) originated from different regions of
China and has become widespread in many other parts of the world — from East Asia to North America, Australasia and Western Europe.
Regional cultural differences vary greatly amongst the different regions of China, giving rise
to the different styles of food. There are eight main regional cuisines, and they are:
Anhui (Hui 徽), Cantonese (Yue 粵),
Fujian (Min 閩), Hunan (Xiang 湘), Jiangsu (Su 蘇 or Yang 揚), Shandong (Lu 魯), Szechuan (Chuan 川), Zhejiang (Zhe 浙).
National cuisine
A meal in Chinese culture is typically seen as consisting of two or more general
components: (1) a carbohydrate source or starch, known as
主食 in the Chinese language, (zhǔshí Pinyin , lit. "main food", staple) — typically rice, noodles, or
mantou (steamed buns), and (2) accompanying dishes of vegetables, meat, fish, or other items, known as 菜
(càiPinyin , lit. vegetable") in the Chinese language. This cultural
conceptualization is in some ways in contrast to cuisines of Northern Europe and
the USA, where meat or animal protein is often considered the main dish, and analogous to the one of most Mediterranean cuisines, based typically on wheat-derived
components like pasta or cous cous.
Rice is a critical part of much of Chinese cuisine. However, in many parts of China, particularly northern China, wheat-based products including noodles and steamed buns (such as mantou) predominate, in contrast to southern China where rice is dominant. Despite the importance of rice in Chinese cuisine, at
extremely formal occasions, sometimes no rice at all will be served; in such a case, rice would only be provided when no other
dishes remained, or as a token dish in the form of fried rice at the end of the meal. Soup is
usually served at the start of a meal and at the end of a meal in Southern China.
Chopsticks are the primary eating utensil in Chinese
culture for solid foods, while soups and other liquids are enjoyed[1] with a wide, flat-bottomed spoon (traditionally made of
ceramic). It is reported that wooden chopsticks are losing their dominance due to recent
logging shortfalls in China and East Asia [citation needed]; many Chinese eating establishments are considering a switch to a more
environmentally sustainable eating utensil, such as plastic or bamboo chopsticks [citation needed]. More expensive materials used in the past included ivory and silver. On the other hand, disposable chopsticks made of wood/bamboo
have all but replaced reusable ones in small restaurants.
In most dishes in Chinese cuisine, food is prepared in bite-sized pieces (e.g. vegetable, meat, doufu), ready for direct picking up and eating. Traditionally, Chinese culture considered using knives and forks at the table barbaric due to
fact that these implements are regarded as weapons. It was also considered ungracious to have
guests work at cutting their own food. Fish are usually cooked and served whole, with diners
directly pulling pieces from the fish with chopsticks to eat, unlike in some other cuisines where they are first filleted. This is because it is desired for fish to be served as fresh as possible. It is common in many
restaurant settings for the server to use a pair of spoons to divide the fish into servings at the table. Chicken is another meat popular in Chinese meals. While the chicken is cut into pieces, every single piece of
the chicken is served including gizzards and head. The emphasis in Chinese culture on wholeness is reflected here. It is
considered bad luck if fish or chicken is served without its head and tail, as that is synonymous with something that does not
have a proper beginning or end.
In a Chinese meal, each individual diner is given his or her own bowl of rice while the accompanying dishes are served in
communal plates (or bowls) that are shared by everyone sitting at the table. In the Chinese meal, each diner picks food out of
the communal plates on a bite-by-bite basis with their chopsticks. This is in contrast to western meals where it is customary to
dole out individual servings of the dishes at the beginning of the meal. Many non-Chinese are uncomfortable with allowing a
person's individual utensils (which might have traces of saliva) to touch the communal plates;
for this hygienic reason, additional serving spoons or chopsticks （公筷, lit.
common/public/shared chopsticks) may be made available. In areas with increased Western influence, such as Hong Kong, diners are provided individually with a heavy metal spoon for this purpose. The food selected is
often eaten together with some rice either in one bite or in alternation.
Vegetarianism is not uncommon or unusual in China, though, as is the case in the West,
it is only practiced by a relatively small proportion of the population. The Chinese vegetarians do not eat a lot of tofu, unlike
the stereotypical impression in the West. Most Chinese vegetarians are Buddhists. Chinese vegetarian dishes often contain large
varieties of vegetables (e.g. pok choy, shiitake mushroom, sprouts, corn) and some "imitated meat". Such "imitated meat" is
created mostly with soy to imitate the texture, taste, and appearance of duck, chicken, or pork. Chinese Buddhist cuisine has many true vegetarian dishes that contain no meat at all.
In contrast to most western meals, a Chinese meal does not typically end with a dessert. However, a sweet dish is usually
served at the end of a formal dinner or banquet, such as sliced fruits or a sweet soup (糖水, lit. sugar water) which is served warm.
In traditional Chinese culture, cold beverages are believed to be harmful to digestion of hot food, so items like ice-cold water or soft drinks are
traditionally not served at meal-time. Besides soup, if any other beverages are served, they would most likely be hot
tea or hot water. Tea is believed to help in the digestion of greasy foods. Despite this tradition, nowadays beer and soft drinks are popular accompaniment with meals.
A popular combo in many small restaurants in parts of China is hot pot served with cold beer, a
combination known as 冷淡杯 (Pinyin: leng3 dan4 bei1, literally: cold and bland cup, despite being strongly flavored), which is the
very opposite of what traditional wisdom would admonish. Ideas from Chinese herbology,
such as the four natures, influence the food combinations favored in traditional Chinese meals.
Common dishes found on a national level
There are many dishes that are considered part of the nation's national cuisine today. Below are lists of a few of the more
common dishes available in China on a national level.
Contemporary health trends
According to the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization estimates for 2000–2002, 11% of the population of
the People's Republic of China were undernourished. [1] The number of undernourished people in the country has fallen from 386.6 million in
1969–1971 to 142.1 million in 2000–2002. [2] The country still receives international food aid, but the World Food Program
notes that the country achieved its goal of national agricultural self-sufficiency in
the mid 1990s. The WFP says that hunger is concentrated in rural, resource-poor areas of northern, northwestern, and southwestern
China. [3]
A typical Chinese peasant before industrialization would have eaten meat rarely and most meals would have consisted of rice
accompanied with green vegetables, with protein coming from foods like peanuts. Fats and sugar were luxuries not eaten on a regular basis by most of the population. With increasing
wealth, Chinese diets have become richer with more meats, fats, and sugar being consumed.
While economic change has significantly reduced undernourishment, new health problems related to overconsumption and poor
dietary choices have increased significantly. The incidence of nutrition-related disease and overweightness, including obesity
(especially among children) has risen dramatically in mainland China over the last 10–15
years. [4] Health advocates put some of the blame on the increased popularity of Western foods, especially fast food, and other culinary products and habits. Many Western, especially American, fast food chains have
appeared in China, and are highly successful economically. These include McDonald's and
Kentucky Fried Chicken (KFC).
An extensive epidemiological study called the China Project is being conducted to observe the relationship of disease patterns to diet, particularly the
move from the traditional Chinese diet to one which incorporates more rich Western-style foods. Controversially, Professor
T. Colin Campbell has implicated the increased consumption of animal protein in
particular as having a strong correlation with cancer, diabetes, heart disease, and other
diseases that, while common in Western countries, were considered rare in China. He
suggests that even a small increase in the consumption of animal protein can dramatically raise the risk of the aforementioned
diseases.
References
Note
- ^ Note: In most varieties or
dialects of Chinese, the verb for consuming soup is actually
translatable literally as "drink".
See also
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