Chinese food is one of the most popular in the whole world. It affects not only the variety of dishes, but also the original way of serving them. So, for example, all products should be cut as small as possible, so that they can be comfortably eaten with sticks and eliminate the additional cutting of food directly on the plate.
For the Chinese, it is important that the food must be attractive on the surface, it had good taste and a pleasant aroma. A feature of Chinese cuisine can be called the fact that there are not five universally accepted flavors, but eight. In addition to sweet, sour, spicy, bitter and salty, the Chinese also distinguish a fragrant (a properly cooked dish has a special flavor), fresh (such as rice and bread for them) and even a golden taste (similar to the taste of kumquat).
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Kitchens of different regions and schools
Due to the fact that China is located on a vast territory, the climatic conditions in many regions of this country are significantly different from each other, their flora and fauna are different. And this, in turn, influenced the characteristics of the diet in different Chinese provinces. Traditionally, four culinary schools are singled out in the national kitchen of Katai - Peking cuisine, which is also called the imperial cuisine, the catholic, Szechuan and Shanghai. Accordingly, they are inherent in the north, south, west and east of the country.
Beijing cuisine
In the north, most rice is grown, so it is the basis of local cuisine .Rice is served as an independent dish for breakfast, and in addition to meat, fish or vegetables, it can be loose or viscous .Also in Beijing cuisine, special attention is paid to meat dishes, in particular mutton and the famous duck in Beijing .To prepare this dish, use a special breed of birds, grown on special farms with a certain diet, resulting in duck meat becomes soft and juicy, and the skin is very thin..
Cantonese cuisine
The catholic, southern, cuisine is distinguished by the abundance of fish dishes, and thanks to the Ming dynasty that lived here, many of them are also extremely exquisite and unusual .In addition, the Cantonese cuisine is famous for its unconventional recipes, among the ingredients of which are meat of cats and dogs, snakes and various insects .True, they are quite rare and in local restaurants you are likely to be offered to try something simpler .In this region tea houses are also common, where you can not only drink traditional Chinese green tea, but also read a newspaper, set up a business meeting or just relax with a family..
Sichuan cuisine
Sichuan cuisine is almost the best in China. This region is surprisingly fertile and there is everything to cook food worthy of the emperors themselves. Here, various spices and spices are used most often, and the main method of preparation is steam processing or smoking. The most popular dishes of this cuisine are a young chicken with peanuts, a duck baked in green tea leaves, as well as some kind of Chinese dumplings, the varieties of fillings for which there are more than two hundred.
Shanghai Cuisine
Shanghai cuisine completely adopted all the culinary traditions of the two neighboring provinces - Zhejiang and Jiangsu .Here, meat dishes with rice vodka are preferred, as well as various spices that give meat (usually pork) a dark red color .Popular here and in a variety of ways cooked duck .Dishes made of eel, octopus, furry freshwater crab and other exotic seafood are traditional for Shanghai cuisines .It is here that the famous tofu is prepared - soy cottage cheese, which has a rather specific smell .
Main ingredients
In general, it is impossible to imagine Chinese cuisine without rice, various cereals, noodles and flour products, and, of course, soy. Soya contains a very valuable protein of vegetable origin, and is an excellent alternative to meat. From soybeans do not only the popular sauce in the world, but also milk, butter and cottage cheese.
In China, try to eat as much as possible vegetables, a special place among which is occupied by Peking cabbage. A special feature of culinary preferences in this country can be called eating young bamboo shoots as food. As for meat, the Pork and poultry meat, in particular ducklings and young chicken meat, are especially appreciated by the Chinese.
In China, they take food strictly three times a day, and lunch is obligatory at noon, and dinner is at six o'clock in the evening. For the sake of justice it is worth noting that the ration of the local residents is rather modest, any Chinese man can culinary delights only on a special occasion.