Chinese Food

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American Known (from Cuisine and Culture: a history of food and people by Linda Civitello)

• The sweet sour pork, shop suey, chow mein, greasy egg rolls, fried rice are “dumbed down” and sweetened up for American taste buds sparing uses chili sauce, hot mustard, vinegars, sesame oil, and soy and oyster sauces.

• Oysters, sea cucumbers, squid, jellyfish, and croaker are their specialty (no cornstarch, canned pineapple, MSG)

• Dim Sum: small bites.• Chop Suey: miscellaneous scraps is of American origin

(San Francisco). Someone went to restaurant during closing time, chief throw together leftovers.

Olympic official lunch banquet

Seafood soup

Birdnest soup

Shark fin soup

Frequency of major ingredients used in Chinese dishes based on the book ”The Chinese Kitchen: Recipes, Techniques,

Ingredients, History, and Memories” from America’s leading authority in Chinese cooking by Eileen Yin-Fei Lo

Meat: pork:35; Chicken: 24; duck:13; beef: 1; Sausage: 1; Lamb: 3; Bird Nest:1Seafood: shrimp:15; Crab:7; Scallop:5; Lobster 4; Sea Bass: 4; Abalone: 2; Squid: 2; Shark fin: 2;

Clam:2; Fret:1; carp:1; Sea Cucumber: 1; Jelly: 1Cereals and Pulses (edible seeds)Rice: 23; noodles (wheat, rice, num bean) 15; Wheat (in bread form): 12; Soy bean (mostly in

different forms of bean curd): 16; red bean:2; Black bean:1; peanuts: 3Vegetables: mustard green (most in picked form):9; bok chuy: 9; Mushroom: 7; Snow Peas: 6;

Lily Buds: 5; Bamboo shoots: 4; Chinese broccoli: 3; Cauliflower: 3; Lotus roots: 3; Winter melon: 2; bean sprouts: 2; Eggplant: 2; Asparagus: 2; Bell pepper: 2; Chives: 2; Lemon: 2; Leeks, cabbage, carrots, cucumber, Jicama, seaweed, Lima beans, sesame, walnuts, pecans, carrots, celery, water chestnuts, lotus leaves, lotus seeds, scallions, silk squash, ginkgo nuts: 1

Herbs: Ginger:5; Sichuan peppercorn: 4; Coriander, white pepper, garlic, shallot, onion, scallion, water crest, tealeaves

Sauces: soy sauce, chili sauce, rice wine, rice vinegar, hot pepper oil etc.Fruits: pears:3; Peaches: 3; Dates, raisins, apples, banana, plum, lemonMethods: stir-frying, deep frying; oil-blanching (sealing process for meat or seafood), water-

blanching (for vegetables), stock-blanching, dry-roasting (nuts, no oil or salt), steaming

Origins of MeatPork (700BC)• Two theories: 1) domesticated from the wild Sus Scrafa of the Near East

then reach China some millennia later; (2) domesticated independently in Southeast Asia or east Asia from local wild pigs as early as or even earlier than in the Near East.

• Why it became so popular? (accounts for 70-80% human intake of animal calories in China)

• It produces twice the meat per acre of pasturage as that produced by cattle and sheep

• It is an effective household scavenger that survived table scraps, chaff, and weeds. Human parasites being destroyed as they pass through the pig intestine.

• Lord is main oil for cooking in mountains regions lack of land to grow vegetable oils

Origin of Meat (continue)

Chicken• Descended from wild fowl of Southeast Asia and India

(example: red jungle fowl)• First domesticated for divination and cock fighting as birds

(very popular in Asia), later for their flesh and eggs.• In ancient China, the cock as symbolic of the sun a “yang”

element, light, warm, and strengthening (especially white cock). It served in taking oath, chopping off a cock head as an path “by the blood of life” was allowed in English courts in Singapore and Hong Kong

Origin of Meat (continue)Duck• Domesticated in China and Southeast Asia

from the green-headed mallard which is found widely in the northern hemisphere

• Reduce insects and weeds in rice paddies (rice farmers rent ducks from duck raiser to go through his fields for insects control)

• Two major types: Beijing duck: white, and heavy, suitable for roasting; Nanking duck: various colors and patterns for salting.

Origin of Meat (continue)Beef (flesh of both common cattle and water buffalo)• Water buffalo domesticated in Central China dating

from the fifth and fourth Millennia BC.• Common cattle, sheep and goats were all domesticated

before 6000BC in Near East or in Southeastern European

• In Chinese wheat region, common cattle (Ox, Yellow Ox) were working animals. In rice region, water buffalo and oxen were of equal importance as working animals. In double-rice region, water buffalo is paramount because of its greater strength and ability to plow the heavy soils of paddies.

Origin of Meat (continue)Mutton (flesh of both sheep and goats, most consumed in Wheat

region)• Sheep is primary animal of China’s pastoral provinces of the

north and west• Environment factors (aridity, poor pasture, to which goats and

sheep are better suited than most domestic animals)• Cultural factor: Chinese Moslems are concentrated in the west

and northwest; The avoid pork (pig as an unclean animal and pork as unacceptable food)

• Historical factor: during Yuan dynasty, when Mongols ruled China, Lamb and Mutton became popular in Beijing; Buddhism involved in the decline of beef eating in China, due to the usefulness of cattle as plow and draft animals. Most people against the slaughtering of cattle and not included in formal dinner (insult to guests)

Rice is the Stable food in China (and Asia)1. High in calories produced per acre; superior

to all starchy roots and tubers used in east Asia in the amount of plant protein it provides excel in its ability to support dense human population.

2. Processes simply, stored well, digested readily, can be eaten for its own flavor or serve as a medium for taking on the tastes of spices and other foods; unusual possibilities for culinary creation.

Popular food prepared with rice

Zhong Zi (wrapped in bamboo leaves)

Fried rice

Rice cakes

Popularity of Soybeans in China (Asia)1. Yield more usable protein per acre than other

common cultivated plants; cheap source of protein

2. Soy protein is of good biological value: B vitamins, calcium, phosphorus, and iron; Rich in oil makes it an excellent crop for China with a shortage of pasture and arable land.

3. Its nitrogen-fixing abilities which have led it to be included in various crop rotations to the great long-term benefit of soil fertility in China.

4. Buddhist commitment to be vegarianism, which led monks to create tasty soy bean analogues to flesh foods

Popular food prepared with soy beans

History of Dairying in ChinaTwo early outside influences that have long acted to encourage dairying1. Southeast Asia: the spread of Buddhism from India encouraged the virtual use of

dairy products (view as clean, healthful food and some of them medicinal)2. Tibetans and Mongols: during A.D. 250 and 1000, when alien cattle-breeding

societies ruled north China and during the Mongol period (AS1272-2368) use of dairy products was popular. Koumiss (fermented milks) was served as a banquet food and specialized restaurants made them for sale

3. After A.D. 1500, milk and milk products dropped due to a significant population increases and demand for food crop productions. But milk was still used in imperial household for breakfast, and in the court as official functions, and milk liquor for emperor

4. In central China, butter and milk were also consumed5. Hong kong’s Indian community influenced milk and milk product consumptions6. Christian influenced Guangzhou. They drank curdled milk (with sugar and

vinegar) in summer evenings at home or in restaurants called “cow-milk saloons”7. Influenced by Tibetans, Yunnan milked cattle and made two kinds of cheese8. Taolist desires for longevity, Chinese believed human milk rejuvenates and

prolongs man’s lives (one man lived 240 years old). Women sell their milk for use of motherless infants or aged person in various Chinese cities.

Why milk and dairy products are not popular in China?1. Non-milking tradition: milking is unnatural and even immoral (Buddhists believe it is robbing its calf; others think it is

disgusting bodily secretion, unclean like urine, Europeans have butter smell or odor)2. Environmental and ecological hindrance: dairying was unsuited to Chinese intensive agriculture and dense population

(no land to grow crops let alone provide pasture for dairy animals). Opposition: because Indian subcontinent has similar population density, but dairying is well-established. They found ecological niches and integrate dairying into their agriculture system.

3. Too expensive to produce in competition with alternative foods such as soybean and pork products. Opposition: Chinese consume expensive stuff like Ginseng and bird’s nests. Also, dairy products are costly in India, yet, they continue to use them.

4. To distinguish themselves from nomads living on their frontiers. There nomads were regarded as inferior in culture and partly to avoid becoming dependent on them for a supply of dairy products. Oppositions: cultural superiority has not stopped the Chinese from taking over the sometimes even seeking our food plants and animals from various people they regarded as barbarians.

5. Lactose malabsorber in large Chinese population. (Lactase deficit or reduce ability to hydrolyze lactose, milk sugar into glucose and galactose that can be absorbed). Opposition: people can develop a tolerance to lactose over time without ill effect; lactose malabsorbers are able to consume considerable amount of mil and other dairy products without developing symptoms.

6. Recency of exposure to dairy and milk use may have been a factor (isolation from Near East where dairying originated)

7. Ethinic relationships may have encouraged or discouraged dairying and milk use. In India, the Indo-European Aryans invaded subcontinent (about 1500BC) have vigorous in spreading dairying in India: modern Hindus, through influence on or acculturation of India’ tribal people, have fostered the spread of dairying and milk use.

Source of Calories in rural China and the United states (Table 1. Adolph, 1946)

Two main agricultural regions of China (Figure 20, Buck 1956)

China’s agricultural areas (Fig 22, Buck 1956)

Crops providing five percent or more of total calories in

each area of China, in order of importance (Fig 21, Maynard

and Swen 1956)

Main regional cuisines of China

To be born in Shuzhou (beautiful place), to eat in Guanzhou (food), to dress in Hangzhou (silk), and to die in Louchou (wood for coffin)

Regional Cuisines of China: Northern Cuisine

Continental climate (D), cold winter and hot summers, low precipitation. Climate analogues to Kansas and Nebraska. Drought tolerance crops (wheat, millets, sorghum and maize).

It is most developed along trade routes to Near east and Europe that brought food plants, spices, and flavorings. One example is Islamic population that brought in by Moslems and Mongols migration to cities.

Northern conquerors of Manchu created new dishes and during Ching dynasty it reached its greatest heights. It was called Royal kitchens (in Ming times) has influenced all over the China.

Porridge of various cereals; Maize bread; wheat for fried breads, steamed breads and noodles, dumpling skins, pancakes (with Peking duck).

Celery cabbage, pork, lamb and mutton, beef, fowl, fish in dried or salted form mostly.

Soy bean paste, garlic, and sesame oil in addition to soy sauce, rice wine, ginger roots. Vinegar, star anise, chives, leeks, scallions, and onion, sesame seeds, wine stock, sweet-and-sour sauce.

They are less oily and spicy than those of Szechwan.Characteristics: Lamb and mutton (arid region for sheep) is prominent in

Northern cuisines and is influenced by Mongols and Moslems.

Regional Cuisine: Eastern CuisineMilder winter, heavier precipitation permit cultivation of a

broader range of crops than in North. Lower Yangtze has alluvial lowlands, river canals, swamps, and lakes contributed to the development of aquatic agriculture, fishing, and fish farming.

Wealth and sophistication, abundance and variety of foodstuffs, and exposure to culinary ideas of other regions and countries.

Rice is served in all meals, wheat for noodles and dumplings (and stuffing poultry)

Lotus seeds, ginkgo nuts, melon seeds, chestnuts, mushrooms, barley and bamboo shoot. Duck, fish, pork, chicken (slow-cooking)

Characteristics: delicate. Seasoning is mild, with salt and sugar or both used to accentuate flavors, which creates dishes richer and saltier than those of their regions, but less oily than western Chinese cooking, Slow-cooking with soy sauce, rice wine, sugar, ginger root, scallions and others.

East Cuisine (continue)

Fujian has rough mountainous terrain and a coastline of submergence with rocky headlands, bays, and offshore islands, limited agriculture, emphasize on sea for fishing and sea trade. It tends broths, soup-like dishes, stews, typically contain noodles (wheat or rice), noodles are more varied in forms and more basic diet than any other part of China.

Over bridge rice noodles

Regional Cuisine-Western Cuisine• Szechwan is the center of western cuisine. (Yunnan, Hunan,

Hupei, Guizhou)• Mountain or plateau, lower relief in eastern, hilly, rimmed by

high mountains. ‘red basin’s shortage of leveled land, fertility is good

• Subtropical, humid, moderate in precipitation (similar to Texas or Oklahoma), hot summers mild winters (mountain protection on the north), 2-3 crops per year.

• Rice is the most important crops, also mid-latitude crops (wheat, oats, soybeans) as well as subtropical once (oranges, sugar cane).

Characteristics: due to mountain isolation, it developed a distinctive cuisine of ‘fiery spices”

Mushrooms, bamboo shoots, and nuts; port, chicken, duck, fresh water fish, dried sea fish

Szechwan pepper, ginger, cassia cinnamon, true pepper, star anise, fresh coriander, golden needles (dried lily buds), garlic and onions, sesame oil and paste, soybean products, citrus fruits, rice wine and vinegar, chili peppers arrived later

In addition to pungent spices and varied seasoning and sauces, it has smoked dished and liberal use of oil (especially sesame oil), mixing of flavors and cooking processes in making a single dish.

Western Cuisine-continueWhy strong spices in this region?1. To mask the spell of spoiling food due to hot and

humid climate2. Induce sweating to help keep people cool and

comfortable. Preserved food: dried, salted, spiced, pickled in vinegar or smoked are strong and distinctive in taste, commonly used in flavoring food.

3. Scarcity of salt may had let its people to turn to strong spices as a flavoring alternative (distant from sea port)

4. Adjacent to southeast Asia and India, where piquant cuisine is the norm, had an impact on the cooking of China’s southwest, especially in Yunnan where curries are common

5. Food and spices can be effective in preventing and curling illness

West Cuisine-continueHunan has some distinctive

dishes: headcheese; hams, pork, fowl, nuts of various kind used in dishes

Yunnan, richest forest reserves, games, fungi, herbs, also dairying and make yogurt, goat cheese, fried milk curd (stimulated by the Muslim minority population)

Milk curds drying

Milk fan

Lunan milk cake

Terrace field in Yunnan

Regional Cuisine-Southern Cuisine

Crab meat with veg.

• Subtropical and tropical with a year-round growing season; ample rain, hot and humid summers, mild winters, no frost

• Lack of leveled land, developed an intensive system pf aquatic agriculture and fishing

• Large variety of food stuff, use flavoring to enhance the tastes of the principal ingredients of a dish

Characteristics:1. Choice of material: live animals; 2. importance of fish both

fresh and salt water forms and others; 3. use herbs in sweetening and flavoring soups (some have medicinal value); ginger in fish, vinegar in crab, lighter soy sauce); 4. oyster sauce, shrimp paste and other seafood sauces or pastes; 5. fruits; 6. snack food: noodles, wonton soup, dim sum served in tea-house

Methods: stir-flying, quick cooking, under-done to save original flavor.

Hiring a Cantonese chef is viewed in China as comparable in prestige to hiring a French chef in Europe and the United States

Symbolic food (lucky)-New YearBased on appearance:Whole chicken-family togetherness; noodles-

long life; clams and spring rolls-wealth (bouillon and gold bars)

or the Chinese words of sound:lettuce:-raising fortune; tangerines and oranges-

luck and wealth; pomelo-abundance; whole fish-wish for abundance and good beginning and ending (last dish); sticky rice cake-rich sweet life, raising abundance; round shape signify family reunion;

Symbolic food- wedding

Egg: fertility; noodle: longevity (birthday food); whole fish-prosperity; duck-fidelity; whole chicken (or chick feet)-symbolism of dragon and phoenix (good marriage and family unity); seed (melon, lotus)-many children; fruits-tangerines, oranges, and pomelo (luck and wealth); vegetables-chinese garlic chives (eternity) and cone-shaped winter bamboo shoots (wealth)