CHINESE CUISINE– HISTORY AND HIGHLIGHTS

1. Oldest civilization in the world
2. Before the birth of Christ they were already experimenting with fancy cooking, recording their recipe on silk and bamboo.
3. Famines greatly influenced Chinese cooking. This forced Chinese to seek new source of food.
4. Chinese cooks are very skillful.

TECHNIQUES OF CHINESE COOKING

1. Sauté, steam, deep fry and roast
2. Baking is rare; stir-frying is the most popular method.
3. Basic ingredients are soy sauce, peanut oil, Sherry, ginger root, pepper, chili sauce, vinegar, corn flour, bamboo shoot, beans sprout and dried shrimp.

Five regions of chinese cuisine

• South eastern- Canton
• Western- Szechwan cuisine
• North eastern- Peking/shantung
• Central- Hunan/honan
• East-Fukien

Cantonese – influenced by western travelers, when they migrated they established Chinese restaurants outside china.

Szechwan style- the province is hot, the food is slightly spiced, peppery and somewhat oily, deep frying is popular.chichen chilli, fry Szechwan duck is a favorite dish of this region.

Shantung style- shanghai was influenced by the attire trade between Peking and shantung,Peking is now called as Beijing.

Hunan style/xiang cuisine- the yellow river run through the Hunan province which is famous for its yellow river crop. It is known for its spiced concoction, sweet and sour dishes and rich seasoning.

Fukian cuisine- it is famous for seafood and for clear soup.

Temperature in Chinese cuisine

High or fierce heat- used for quick cooking which makes food more crisp and tender

Medium or moderate heat- used for quick braising, stewing and boiling.

Low or gentle heat- used for slow cooking, allowing the flavour to penetrate through all the ingredients such as roasting and simmering.

Weak heat- used for long cooking turning hard to soft ,simmering , braising and stewing,

   
Commonly used method

Chuan- rapid boiling-used to make soup, no thickening agents required.

Shuan- instant boiling or rinsing thinly sliced vegetables dipped into hot boiling water for minimum time.

Ao- stewing and braising- flavor with spring onion and ginger root.

Hui- Braising-it is a method of cooking a dish that consists of several different ingredients.

Ban- Mixing salad

Giang- hot salad-blanched then dressing is added.

Yan – pickling- main ingredients are salt sugar and wine.

Jian - shallow frying.