Pakistani Chinese cuisine
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Pakistani Chinese cuisine
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Pakistani Chinese cuisine (Urdu: چینی پکوان) refers to the styles and variations of Chinese cuisine that are cooked and consumed in Pakistan. Chinese migrants to Pakistan have developed a distinct Pakistani-style Chinese cuisine.[1]
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Contents
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History
Chinese cuisine in areas which today make up Pakistan has a history going back to restaurants established in the 1930s. One of these, the ABC Chinese Restaurant, was once patronised by Zhou Enlai, and continued operating until 1988. Chinese restaurants are very popular amongst families as opposed to fast food and continental cuisine which is more favoured by the youth.
Pakistani chinese resembles Cantonese cuisine with its liberal use of chicken stock based sauces seasoned with soy sauce, chilli sauce, vinegar, ajino moto and oyster sauce but very rarely any fresh herbs. It is also a common practice in restaurants to serve chinese dishes in sizzling platters. Vegetables used in chinese cuisine are mostly cabbage, capsicum and onion since broccoli or bok choy are not native vegetables. The extent of the popularity of chinese food can be estimated from the fact that chinese variations of local dishes have become quite popular like chinese samosa, chinese broast and chinese pulao.
More recently in Islamabad, the Phoenix restaurant has become well-known. Their clientele includes ex-president Pervez Musharraf and ex-prime minister Shaukat Aziz; Musharraf is said to enjoy their prawns, Peking duck, stir-fried beef, and garlic lamb chops.[2][3] Chicken Manchurian, one of the most popular Pakistani Chinese dishes, is a South Asian-developed Chinese dish that normally consists of chicken with occasional vegetables in a spicy sauce. It is entirely a creation of Chinese restaurants in South Asia, being consumed in India and Pakistan in general, and bears little resemblance to traditional Chinese cuisine.[4]
Dishes
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Amongst some of the most popular Pakistani-Chinese dishes are:
- Chicken Manchurian is the most popular dish with pieces of stir fried chicken served in a red ketchup based sauce. It is normally served with Egg or chicken fried rice.
- Chicken with Lime: stir fried chicken served in a sizzling lemon sauce.
- Sweet and Sour chicken or prawns-meat, capsicum, onions and pineapple chunks with a red sweet and sour sauce.
- Chinese rice - Basmati is the most common form of rice used. The most famous rice recipes are egg and chicken fried rice.
- Chicken Honey Wings - Chicken wings dipped in a coating of sweet honey paste
- Chinese soup - Chicken corn soup and hot and sour soup are ubiquitous in restaurants, homes and on TV. these are served with staples such as vinegar (sirka) and chili pepper.
- Noodles - Chicken chowmein and Chopsuey are popular. Their method of cooking employs hearty use of soy sauce, ajino moto, vinegar and chilli sauce with vegetables, boneless chicken and/or Keema (minced meat). Oil concentrations are higher than normal Chinese noodles.
Overseas restaurants
In the recent past, many Overseas Pakistanis have opened and catered Pakistani-Chinese restaurants. In the United Kingdom, the Lahore Karahi Halal Chinese Restaurant, which offers authentic Pakistani Chinese food, is amongst the most well-known. The restaurant has been appreciated by the likes of people such as HRH Prince Philip, Amitabh Bachan, boxer Amir Khan, Charles Kennedy, Waqar Younis, the English national cricket team, retired Pakistani cricketing ace and politician Imran Khan and the Pakistan national cricket team.[5]
Similarities with Balti cuisine
The British-Pakistani Balti cuisine is often starkly contrasted with Chinese cuisine. According to Pat Chapman, the origins of the word Balti can be traced back to the Pakistani area of Baltistan, in northern Pakistan, where the people cook in a cast iron wok similar to the Chinese way of cooking. (Baltistan shares a border with China). In his Curry Club Balti Curry Cookbook, Chapman states: "The balti pan is a round-bottomed, wok-like heavy cast-iron dish with two handles." He also states "The origins of Balti cooking are wide ranging and owe as much to China (with a slight resemblance to the spicy cooking of Szechuan cuisine) and Tibet as well as to the ancestry of the Mirpuris, the tastes of the Moghul emperors, the aromatic spices of Kashmir, and the 'winter foods' of lands high in the mountains."
See also
References
- ^ Malik, Iftikhar Haider (2006), Culture and customs of Pakistan, Greenwood Publishing Group, p. 118, ISBN 978-0-313-33126-8
- ^ 猎讯军情网: 中餐馆在巴基斯坦受青睐
- ^ China Central Television: 穆沙拉夫常进中餐馆用餐 乐为普通食客买单
- ^ Mukherjee, Sipra; Gooptu, Sarvani, "The Chinese community of Calcutta", in Banerjee, Himadri, Calcutta Mosaic: Essays and Interviews on the Minority Communities of Calcutta, Anthem Press, pp. 131–142, ISBN 978-81-905835-5-8
- ^ Lahore Karahi Limited (home page)
External links
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