has been the ideal of a meal in China since time immemorial The balance lies between bland, boiled or steamed grain on the one hand, and more flavorful and rich cooked dishes on the other. Further balances were sought between the yin (cooling) and yang (heating) qualities of the foods served. The notion of food as both preventative and curative medicine is deeply imbedded in the Chinese psyche. The specific proportion of grain and cooked dishes on a menu depends as much on the economic status of the diners as on the status of the occasion. Traditionally, grain would provide the bulk of the calories, with cooked dishes serving as supplementary ornamentation and nutrition. The grander the occasion, the more the cooked dishes and the less the grain. Even today, this tradition is maintained at banquets, where a small symbolic bowl of plain steamed rice is served after an extensive selection of other dishes.
Rice is perceived as something essential and almost magical This is particularly true in South China, while wheat showers its blessings over the North, although this division is not hard and fast. One reason the Grand Canal was built in the 6th century was to transport rice from the fertile Yangtze delta region to the imperial granaries in the relatively dry North. And since the Ming Dynasty (1368-1644). an annual crop of short-grain rice has been grown in the suburbs of Beijing, originally for the palace and today for the military leadership.
Numerous varieties of rice are produced in China today, supplemented by more expensive Thai rice, which is available at urban markets throughout the country. Southerners seem to prefer long-grained rice, which is less sticky than other varieties and has strong "wood" overtones when steaming hot. Rice is served steamed, fried (after boiling) or made into noodles by grinding raw rice into rice flour It is also cooked with a lot of water to produce congee or zhou (rice gruel), a popular breakfast food and late-night snack eaten with a number of savory side dishes.
In early times, wheat was boiled like rice, but by the Han Dynasty (220 B.C.-A.D. 200), the grain was ground into flour and made into noodles, pancakes and various forms of dumplings, some of the recipes having possibly been imported from Central Asia. It is unlikely that Marco Polo brought spaghetti. Iinguine and pizza to Italy from China. Although their prototypes existed in China centuries before he was born, there is written evidence of the existence of pasta in Italy before Marco Polo left home for the East.
A noted connoisseur of French food complained some forty years ago that all Chinese food tasted "half-cooked." Today, food that is half-raw or half-cooked (the terminology is subjective and interchangeable) seems to be more acceptable, even fashionable, inspired by considerations of health But who needs the pursuit of longevity as an excuse to enjoy Chinese food?
Diverse Regional Cuisines
It was not so long ago that many Westerners thought of "Chinese food" as a single, homogenous cuisine. However, a country as large and as geographically and climatically varied as China naturally has a wide range of regional cuisines. There is an immense amount of debate, confusion and error about just how many regional cuisines there are. but most knowledgeable gourmets agree that at least four major Chinese regional styles exist: Cantonese, centered on southern Guangdong Province and Hong Kong; Sichuan, based on the cooking of this western province's two largest cities, Chengdu and Chongqing; Huaiyang, the cooking of eastern China—Jiangsu. Zhejiang and Shanghai—an area of lakes, rivers and seashore; and Beijing or "Northern" food, with its major inspiration from the coastal province of Shandong. Some would add a fifth cuisine from the southeastern coastal province of Fujian.
What distinguishes these regional styles is not only their recipes but also the particular types of soy sauce, garlic, fish, oil, pork or other basic ingredients used in preparing the signature dishes, as well as the proportions of the various ingredients. Timing and temperature are also critical factors. All regions use various forms of ginger, garlic, spring onions, soy sauce, vinegar, sugar, sesame oil and bean paste, but generally combine them in highly distinctive ways.
Inexpensive and delicious street food. such as these dumplings being tried in a Shanghai lane, is enjoyed at least once a day by most Chinese living in towns and cities.
Delicate Flavors of Cantonese Cooking
Guangdong Province has benefitted from its family ties with freewheeling Hong Kong. The province's fertile soils permit intensive agricultural production and its lengthy shoreline supports a vigorous fishing industry. In a longstanding rivalry with Shanghai. Guangzhou (the provincial capital, once better known to Westerners as Canton) cedes first place in fashion, but is the unchallenged leader when it comes to food.
The earliest Chinese cuisine to be introduced in the West. Cantonese cuisine is often disparagingly identified with egg rolls, chop suey, chow mein, sweet and sour pork and fortune cookies. With the exception of chop suey and fortune cookies, which were invented in the United States, the dishes mentioned above are orthodox Cantonese creations, and sweet and sour pork is just as popular among Chinese as foreigners. But Cantonese cooking has much more to offer than this, and indeed is considered to be the most refined of Chinese cooking styles. Cantonese food is characterized by its extraordinary range and freshness of ingredients, a light touch with sauces and the readiness of its cooks to incorporate "exotic" imported flavorings, such as lemon, curry, Worcestershire sauce and mayonnaise.
Cantonese chefs excel in preparing roast and barbecued meats (duck, goose, chicken and pork), which are never prepared at home (only restaurant kitchens have ovens) and are bought from special roast meat shops.
Cantonese chefs are also famous for dim sum. a cooking style in its own right. Dim sum refers to snacks taken with tea for either breakfast or lunch Dim sum, which can be sweet, salty, steamed, fried, baked, boiled or stewed, each served in their own individual bamboo steamer or on a plate.
In Cantonese, eating dim sum is referred to as yum cha, "drinking tea." In traditional yum cha establishments, restaurant staff walk about the room pushing a cart or carrying a tray strung around their neck and offer their goods. The mildly competitive shouting only adds to the atmosphere of hustle and bustle. In Hong Kong and Guangzhou, dim sum restaurants are important institutions where the locals go to discuss business, read newspapers, raise their children and socialize. At noon and on weekends, getting seats can be difficult as many of them are occupied by "regulars."
Mongolian Lamb Hotpot is popular in winter time and as a reunion dinner, with everyone sitting around in a cozy, warm circle, cooking their own portions of food in the bubbling pot.
One of China's most famous dishes. Peking Duck, is traditionally enjoyed three ways the crisp skin tucked into a pancake smeared with sauce, the meat stir-fried with vegetables, and the carcass made into soup.
Fiery Sichuan Cooking
Sichuan, the home of spicy food, is a landlocked province with remarkably fertile soil and a population of more than 100 million. But despite the province's incendiary reputation, many of the most famous dishes are not spicy at all. For example, the famous duck dish, Camphor and Tea-smoked Duck, is made by smoking a steamed duck over a mixture of tea and camphor leaves.
But it is the mouth-burners (all of them relying on chili peppers for their heat) that have made Sichuan's name known all over the world, dishes like Ma Po Tofu (see page 69), stewed tofu and minced meat in a hot sauce; Hui Guo Rou (see page 82). twice-cooked (boiled and stir-fried) pork with cabbage in a piquant bean sauce; Yu Xiang Qiezi (see page 60), eggplant in "fish flavor" sauce; and fish in hot bean sauce.
Chilies
