Chinese food is famous all around world.Dumpling,dim sum,fried rice,noodle,wonton...
Common people in China enjoy them as well...
But the style of cooking in China is much more than those above.

In a word,China has 8 major cooking styles:（Guangdong,Sichuan,Shandong,Jiangsu,Zhejiang,Fujian,Hunan,Anhui)粤菜、川菜、鲁菜、苏菜、浙菜、闽菜、湘菜、徽菜

1.粤菜

Cantonese cuisine is the most famous style in these 8.Most Chinese food restaurants abroad is server this style.

It's character is using many kinds of materials,think much of novelty.
Taste light

Typical example:
沙河粉 rice noodle
烤乳猪 roast suchling pig
广式月饼 mini moon cake
龙虎斗 dragon and tiger




Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 07/30/2009 11:48PM by Olive.

Sichuan cooking style is the most popular food style in China now.

Simply,its character can be described by one word:Hot.
Pimiento,Chinese red pepper is indispensable.Using these hot materials skillfully,Many amazing taste can be made.

Typical example:

宫保鸡丁：Kung Pao Chicken
鱼香肉丝hredded pork with garlic sauce
麻婆豆腐：Mapo tofu
毛肚火锅：Cattle tripe chaffy dish
担担面：dandan noodle

ShanDong is the place where confucius bron.And Shandong style is the most orthodox food in China.Imperial cuisine.
Shandong style is composed by three styles:Fushan,Jinan,Kong House.

Fushan is a district in Yantai,nearby the Yellow Sea.So the materials have many seafood.
Jinan is the provincial capital of Shandong.
Kong house(孔府），is the home of Confucius.

Shandong style is strong in the taste,not complex tasting and tried to show the genuine taste of the food.And many kinds of cooked wheaten food.

typical examples:

九转大肠：Braised intestines in brown sauce
原壳鲍鱼：Boiled fresh abalone
糖醋黄河鲤鱼：Fried Yellow River carp with sweet and sour sauce
德州扒鸡:Braised chicken,Dezhou style
鲅鱼饺子：Mackerel Jiaozi
四喜丸子：Four-joymeatbals

Jiangsu style is the tradition of the middle and lower reaches of the changjiang river.
It is called "The most beautiful food in the world" in china.
This style has more strict rules in choosing materials.And seek to made much more sculpts.
It is good at soup,and the taste is moderate.

typical examples:

蟹黄汤包：crab dumplings in soup
翡翠烧麦：steamed vegetable shaomai
冬瓜盅：stuffed white gourd
三套鸭：Three-nested duck
千层油糕：Multiple layer oil cake
清蒸鲫鱼：steamed crucian carp

zhejiang style:
Zhejiang style is similar as jiangsu.It is daintily,wants materials to show their real taste.

examples:

龙井虾仁：shelled shrimps with dragon well tea leaves
嘉兴粽子：Jia xing Tzung Tzu
冰糖甲鱼：steamed turtle in crystal sugar soup

Fu jian is nearby Taiwan,so their food style is similar.
Seafood is the typical style.

example:

佛跳墙：fotiaoqiang
七星鱼丸：Qi xing fish balls
鸡汤氽海蚌:Braised Sea Clam with Chicken Soup

Hunan style is hot too.

examples:

东安子鸡：dongan chicken
火宫殿臭豆腐：huo gong dian stinky tofu.
腊味合蒸teamed Multiple Preserved Hams

Anhui style is good at heat control

examples:

无为熏鸭：wuwei smoked duck
符离集烧鸡：Roast chicken,fuliji style
绿豆煎饼：Green Bean Pancakes
毛峰熏鲥鱼：smoked fish,maofeng style






Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 07/30/2009 11:51PM by Olive.

我也想吃~~~~~

Ajin, thanks for cooking us up a tasty bit of Chinese culture. Now i'll be hungry all day! Some of the cuisines you listed were unfamiliar to me. I guess i'll like Jiangsu, Zhejiang and Fujian cuisine the most. I have been to Taiwan and still remember with great fondness some of the seafood banquets i had there. Most of the food in Chinese restaurants in the US is okay but nothing special. That's probably because people here want inexpensive meals when going to ethnic restaurants. When you pay top-dollar here for a Chinese meal, just as you would for French cuisine, the food is divine as well.

The following is an observation, so please don't construe it as a criticism. Chinese like to see the head and feet attached to the animals. This may be to get the assurance they're indeed getting what they ordered. Westerns abhor this practice. Most of us would recoil at the sight of the first picture under the Anhui cuisine. We may want to eat exotic things but want to see it presented sort of anonymously. Yeah, hypocritical.

Thank you for all your trouble in putting this presentation together.

I definitely prefer Jiangsu food to Beijing food but by far my favourite is Hunan. So good... Though it does cause problems with my stomach sometimes because of just how spicy it can be.... (Mala Youhuo... God I love it!)

Quote:
Most of the food in Chinese restaurants in the US is okay but nothing special. That's probably because people here want inexpensive meals when going to ethnic restaurants.

Yeah I think the spices they need are not as easily procurable int he west and cost more so they cheap out a lot. It's the same with Western food in China, most of it is TERRIBLE unless you pay top dollar.
Though some Chinese restaurants in the West apparently have a second menu for Chinese people that has the real food on it. Always ask! Especially good if you learn a bit of Chinese for this procedure or learn some dishes names in Chinese to ask for!

Quote:
Chinese like to see the head and feet attached to the animals. This may be to get the assurance they're indeed getting what they ordered. Westerns abhor this practice.

Funny story! In Shanghai when Subway (the sandwich restaurant) first started opening no one would order the Tuna subs because the Tuna is so processed and mashed that it doesn't at all resemble Tuna, apparently they didn't really believe it was Tuna. What makes it more interesting is Tuna is now the best selling sub in China by far!

Don't mind me... I love Subway... (Although if they had Quiznos here I'd abandon Subway in a second)