Chopsticks, noodles and Chinese ceramics are the three
things that immediately strike in your mind when you hear Chinese food.
Chinese cuisine has one of the world’s marvelous culinary
cultures. Its originality and diversity are indisputable. Cantonese, Shandong, Sichuan, and
Huaiyang are the four most influential Chinese cooking styles.
Dishes from these parts of China stand out in taste,
texture, aroma, and aesthetics. Different factors such as ingredients, cooking
techniques, people’s lifestyle, geography, and climatic condition made the
style of each province (or region) incredibly distinctive.
If you believe popular Chinese foods are about chop suey and
fortune cooking, then you are mistaken. They were modified or invented
American-Chinese dishes, specially designed to delight US customers. To know
what real Chinese cuisine is, take a glance at China’s kitchens of the past. With
the help of different dynasties of China, we will be able to make you
understand it better.
Han Dynasty
During the early part of this period, noodles usually made
from the wheat dough or millet was their staple food. This is the earliest
noodle ever found – entailing that Asians was the first to invent this famous
dish.
Tang Dynasty
By this period the Chinese have explored all possible
sources of food for diet diversity and good health. This led to their discovery
and fondness for exotic food. It is during this period that drinking of tea
became popular among all social classes. They also began to do business with
Persia, Korea, and other neighboring countries.
Song Dynasty
It is only during this period that their economic and social
progress was marked, which resulted to cosmopolitanism. This led to the
development of restaurants serving special Chinese delicacies.
Previously, only
the emperors and their close ones could eat sophisticated meals. During this
dynasty, even the common masses could enjoy great meals.
During Song Dynasty, the Chinese got to decide food from a
menu. This had not occurred elsewhere in the world. Eateries or restaurants at
Song dynasty offered dishes that symbolize the unique cooking styles from
different regions of China. Talented chefs mastered a wide array of techniques
to extract most of the flavors, aroma, and texture from fresh ingredients. All
these efforts led to the invention of choicest Chinese cuisine that we know and
enjoy today.
According to tradition, Chinese cuisine can be judged based
on the aroma, presentation, palatability, and texture.
Apart from these factors, a perfect Chinese meal must have
the balance famous Four Natures (the hot, the warm, the cool, and the cold) and
Five Tastes (pungent, sweet, bitter, sour, and salty).
Fortunately, you do not have to go to China to experience
their mouth-watering Chinese cuisines,
as it is easily available in any part of the world.
