Chinese cuisine can rightly be considered one of the most diverse in the world. It differs depending on the province of the country. In the northern Manchurian provinces, the ingredients for dishes will be very different from those in the southern tropical ones. Before traveling to China, it is useful for a foreigner to know the peculiarities of local gastronomy. You should definitely try the 10 most delicious Chinese dishes.
Wontons
This is the name of Chinese dumplings, they are found in different regional versions of the cuisine, from Beijing to Sichuan. The first such dumplings appeared in the 7th-8th centuries AD. near the city of Turpan on the Great Silk Road. Because of their proximity to warm seas, wontons in Cantonese cuisine are stuffed with shrimp and minced pork. They are served on the table with thin noodles. They also go well with red vinegar.
In Szechuan cuisine, wontons are made pentagonal and have an interesting name, “arms crossed,” because the dough fold lines give that impression. In Shanghainese cuisine, wontons are made from minced pork and served in chicken broth. In total, there are about 50 varieties of them in local catering networks.
one of the most unusual is stuffed with pork, shrimp and fish. In the kitchen of the port city of Ningbo, wontons are cooked as a steamed dish and in soup. Pork and shrimp are used as fillings, and ginger, cucumbers, sesame oil, coriander and cilantro serve as seasonings. These dumplings are also fried, for convenience they are served on a skewer, usually three pieces each. They sell both on the street from stalls and in cafes.
Jiaozi
Also a type of dumpling, only smaller in size, they are often eaten on Chinese New Year. They are meat, vegetable or mixed minced meat, which is wrapped in a rolled piece of dough. This dish was invented about 2000 years ago and its first name was “tender ears”.
as it was used to treat frostbitten ears in poor people. The first jiaozi was made from a lamb carcass, black pepper and medicines in a pot. In ancient times, they had the shape of a horn, crescent, silver ingots. Now this dish is eaten in all months of the year, as well as for breakfast, lunch and dinner, as a side dish, appetizer or main course. Jiaozi are divided into the following types:
Boiled;
Steam;
Fried;
Soup;
Egg.
The main fillings for them are pork, lamb, beef, chicken, fish, shrimp, Chinese cabbage, sauerkraut, green onions, leeks, celery, spinach, mushrooms, garlic and carrots.
Sometimes in restaurants you can order four types in one plate. They are smaller and wrapped in a thin, translucent dough, and filled with chicken, tofu, and mixed vegetables. Another Cantonese variant of this dish is Jiu Go, which is made from glutinous rice dough and deep fried.
The Tibetan version of this dish is known as “memo”, the name comes from the Chinese language and literally translates as “steamed bread”. Yak, sheep and buffalo meat is added as a meat filling. It is combined with onion, garlic, cumin, coriander and cilantro. A sauce of boiled tomatoes and Sichuan peppers is added to the memo.
One of the symbols of Chinese cuisine. This dish is small portions of food served in small plates and steamer baskets. Initially, the dish belonged to Cantonese cuisine. The term originated in the 4th century AD.
Most often, dim sum is served with tea and forms a complete tea brunch with it.
Cantonese restaurants start serving dim sum at 5 am. In restaurants, they are often served for lunch, and dim sum is also served as a takeaway for students and office workers. Brunch includes steamed buns such as those stuffed with pork, wheat or rice dumplings, noodle and beef rice rolls, platters of stewed vegetables, and egg patties. The following dishes are combined with dim sums:
Steamed dumplings with shrimps;
Dumplings with peanuts, garlic, Chinese onions, dried shrimp, Chinese mushrooms;
Dumplings with garlic;
Seafood dumplings with broth inside;
Fried dumplings stuffed with cabbage;
Veronika with taro;
Dumplings with crab and mushrooms;
Fried dumplings with pork, they have a sweet and sticky shell and salty and stuffing;
Soup with 1-2 large dumplings.
In addition, dim sum includes rolls:
Spring roll. It is a deep-fried roll and consists of chopped vegetables or tree mushrooms and meat.
Tofu roll.
Fresh bamboo roll with bamboo shoots and oyster sauce.
Chicken roll with mushrooms, tofu, ham and fish fillet.
Thalian. Rice noodles with Chinese fried breadstick with soy sauce and sesame paste.
In addition, dim sum can contain fried tofu with salt and pepper, stewed vegetables, glutinous rice, lotus leaf rice, rice porridge, egg pie, egg pie, Malay biscuit, coconut and mango puddings, ox tongue dough. Dim sum may include soup in a small bowl. It can be brewed from walnuts, peanut butter, black sesame, red beans.
Longboat
This dish appeared quite late, in the middle of the 19th century during the Qing Dynasty. During the years of the Cultural Revolution, it was simply renamed “spicy chicken”, as they fought against the remnants of the imperial period. The dish was rehabilitated in the 1980s, during the reform years of Deng Xiaoping. For example, its Szechuan version uses chicken with wine, peppers, peanuts, and onions as its main ingredient.
