🤽🏼 🛋️ 🎤 Chinese cuisine: basic products, dishes, recipes and cooking features 🗻 📍 🍌

Chinese cuisine has more than 3,000 years. For many centuries, it has improved and developed. About a thousand and a half years ago, a cookbook already existed in China. Currently, Chinese cuisine has become widespread. Tourists from all over the world flock to the Celestial Empire in order to try unique dishes. And each province is proud of its unique recipes.

Why try Chinese dishes?

If a tourist finds himself in China, then numerous restaurants and eateries should become a must-see destination. There are special gastronomic tours to the Middle Kingdom. For gourmets, this will be a great way for a short period of time and relatively little money to try the real "taste of China."

Much of the Chinese cuisine can shock the inexperienced tourist, but having tasted it, you can easily be surprised at the variety of tastes that opens before the receptors. And although the Celestial cuisine is very diverse, there are still a few dishes that are worth eating upon arrival in China.

What is worth a try?

The first dish you should definitely try is Peking Duck. This is one of the most popular dishes in China. A kind of symbol of cuisine, famous throughout the world. A very thin and tasty skin gives it a special popular taste.

Another dish that you should definitely try in China is the Bifentan shrimp.

The next menu item should be "Chinese sweet and sour meat." It has a reddish-orange color and a unique taste, sour and sweet at the same time. In the original recipe for cooking meat in sweet and sour sauce, only pork was prepared, but over time, chicken, beef, fish, pork ribs were cooked in the same sauce.

Chicken "Gunbao" - a wonderful dish in the style of Sichuan cuisine, which is especially popular among foreigners.

Another dish worthy of tourist's attention is Tofu Ma Po. This is a recipe with a history of over 100 years.

Another dish that you should definitely visit in China is Wonton. The most common shape for Wontons is a triangle. Initially, they had a religious relationship with the kitchen. Wontons were consumed only on the day of the winter solstice.

Well, of course, not a single Russian person can pass dumplings. Almost everyone in Russia knows that dumplings came to our country from China. This is a dish of Chinese cuisine at home in Russia is prepared almost everything. In China, dumplings have been made for about two thousand years. They are popular in areas of China, such as, for example, Harbin, which is located on the border with Russia. Unlike the classic Russian recipe, chopped meat and pieces of chopped vegetables are put in dumplings. The filling is then wrapped in a small piece of dough. Also, for dumplings it is popular to use fish or beef. The Chinese dumplings are steamed, baked, they are also often fried in butter. This is an obligatory dish for the New Year's table.

A wonderful dish of Cantonese cuisine is rolls. These are small cylindrical rolls. Most of all they are similar to "Dim sim". Especially popular in Shanghai, Hong Kong and Guangzhou.

No less popular than dumplings in China are Chinese noodles. The dish usually consists of noodles and topping: chicken, beef, onions and celery. Sometimes a raw egg is added to pasta. Initially, the noodles are boiled, after which they are fried along with the remaining ingredients over a sufficiently high fire.

Traditional ingredients

List of main Chinese food products:

noodles;
soya, beans from it, soya paste ;
vegetables: bitter cucumber, celery, broccoli, watercress, mustard leaves, Beijing cabbage, legumes;
rice (in China it is several varieties);
meat: bowl chasao, duck, pigeon, pork, beef, chicken;
seafood: in addition to fish (including raw), use such unusual ingredients as shark fins, abalone, cucumbers and scallops;
more sauces.

Sauces

An important role for the Chinese themselves is sauce. Here it is used in huge quantities. All food is usually dipped in any sauces, and a lot of sauce is added during cooking.

Sauces of Chinese cuisine, such as soy, oyster, fish, rice vinegar and hosta sauce, are especially popular.

Oyster. This is a kind of sauce made from oysters. It has a viscous dark texture. The sauce consists of corn starch, oyster essence, salt. This sauce does not smell like fish and has a pleasant aroma. Sometimes in China, instead of oysters, mushrooms are added to it. This is due to the great popularity of vegetarian dishes. Oyster sauce can be called spicy and slightly salty.

Rice Vinegar There are several product options. These are mainly Chinese, Japanese, and Korean vinegars. Chinese, unlike its fellow tribesmen, is more sour. Its color can be either transparent, or reddish or brown. Rice vinegar is usually sweet and soft enough.

The most popular is white rice vinegar. It is a colorless or light yellow liquid.

The second is black rice vinegar. Its difference is a light aroma of haze. It has a dark color and is especially popular in the southern regions of China. It is easy to guess that for the preparation of such vinegar, black or sweet rice is used, usually with an adhesive texture.

Third, but no less tasty, red vinegar. It has a special aroma that mold gives it. Its color between white and black has a slight reddish hue. For its manufacture, yeast red rice is used.

One of the most savory and incomprehensible sauces for a European is fish. It is obtained as a result of a fermentation process. Fermentation is a fermentation process. The fish, along with the salt, goes out in barrels for a long time, as a result of which the sauce stands out. A special taste is given by the high content of sodium glutamate. The abundance of this substance is a feature of Chinese cuisine. There are many varieties of fish sauce. This is a product of raw fish, dried, from one or several types of fish, with the addition of seafood, fish blood sauce, from the entrails, sauce without seasonings, as well as with herbs, sauce of small or deep fermentation.

Hoisin. Rather, it is not a sauce, but a dressing for dishes or marinade. It is often added during cooking. The sauce includes sugar, vinegar, sesame oil, red rice, as well as a mixture of the famous 5 spices.

How to cook rice in China?

Of course, the main ingredient in Chinese dishes is rice. It is a side dish to any dish. By popularity, it can be compared with bread in Russia.

There are several options for cooking rice in Chinese.

Steamed rice

The first and easiest option is steamed Chinese rice.

To prepare such a dish you will need:

80 g dry long-grain rice;
water;
salt to taste.

Cooking process:

rinse thoroughly with cold water;
you need to let the water drain through a sieve;
pour rice into a small pan and pour cold water;
add salt;
cook until half cooked (7-8 minutes);
water should be drained;
put rice on a damp rag in a double boiler (for 10 minutes).

In this case, it turns out friable and very tender.

Boiled rice

The second option is to cook rice. It is prepared much easier than steamed.

To prepare the dish you will need:

the amount of rice needed for food (depending on the number of servings);
water;
salt.

Instruction:

Rice rinse under running cold water. Or you can add water and leave for 20 minutes in cold water, then drain the water.
Add rice to the pan, pour water, bring to a boil, then reduce the heat and cover it, cook for 15 minutes.
Turn off the fire and let stand for 5 minutes.

You can season such rice with a small amount of oil. This ensures that it does not stick together. It is best to use sesame oil.

Fried rice

The most popular Chinese rice cooking option is fried rice. It can be found in small eateries and large restaurants. He is incredibly popular. To cook such rice is quite simple.

For cooking you will need:

450 g long grain rice;
2 times more water;
3-4 tablespoons of oil;
some salt;
7 teaspoons of monosodium glutamate.

Cooking:

Rinse thoroughly, pour water, put the cereal in a wok and bring to a boil, then cook for 7 minutes, until all the water has been absorbed.
Pull the rice out of the wok, lay it on a previously laid out towel.
Add oil to a deep frying pan or wok, put dried rice in a pan.
The dish is required to mix continuously for about 1 minute. Then it is necessary to salt and add monosodium glutamate, fry for about 1 minute.

Such rice is perfect with a meat dish. The Chinese often use this dish with pickled cabbage, vegetables or just add soy sauce to it.

Chinese sweet and sour meat

Traditionally, pork was used for this dish. Therefore, this meat is used for the recipe, but you can use any other to taste. This is a simple dish that does not take much time.

For the dish you will need:

pork - 500 grams;
rice vinegar - 35 milliliters;
large carrots - 1 piece;
Bulgarian or other pepper - 2 pieces;
chili pepper - half a piece;
soy sauce - 85 milliliters;
water - 110 milliliters;
sugar - 65 grams;
sesame oil - half a tablespoon;
starch - 100 grams.

The practical part:

Cut the meat into strips and marinate in soy sauce for 40 minutes, then place in a bowl, cover with starch and add a little water.
Bulgarian pepper, cut carrots into cubes.
Chill finely chop.
Mix water, vinegar and add sugar, salt, about 40 grams of starch.
Vegetables and fry over high heat until crusty, add the sauce.
Fry pork in a large amount of oil. It is best to wait for the oil to boil and lower the pork there, then you get a delicious batter. Fried for 5 minutes.
Mix vegetables and meat, put on a plate, if desired, sprinkle with sesame seeds.

Celestial Desserts

The Chinese are very fond of sweets: pies, rolls, jelly, ice cream, cakes, pastries and more. All this has already entered the Chinese cuisine and managed to adapt to the tastes of the inhabitants of this country.

The most popular are:

fortune cookies
honey peaches;
rice fritters;
pea pie.

Fortune cookie

This cookie is often called Chinese, but the truth is that the Japanese who emigrated to America came up with this recipe. Why is it called a Chinese dessert? Everything is simple. Cookies as a compliment from the cook were often served in American Chinatowns. After, along with people, the recipe crossed the ocean and settled in China, where it was widely distributed.

For cookies you will need:

egg whites - 6 pieces;
flour - 180 grams;
icing sugar - 180 grams;
salt to taste;
vanilla essence - 1 teaspoon;
pieces of paper with wishes.

Cooking process:

Whip the squirrels into foam.
Mix salt, essence, flour, powder.
Gradually add the mixture to the proteins, mix gently so that the foam does not settle.
Gently place the dough on a baking sheet with a spoon (cover the baking paper), trying to form thin circles.
Five minutes later, remove the pan and spatula to separate the circles from the pan. You need to fold the cookies very quickly until it cools down, otherwise it will crumble.
It’s easy to fold cookies: fold a circle in half, then bend it in the middle to make a crescent moon. Before folding cookies, you need to put a piece of paper with a prediction in it.

Noodles

Noodles in China are no less popular than rice. It is eaten for breakfast, lunch and dinner. Ready-made noodles from a bag are usually used, but restaurants continue to cook in the traditional way.

There are over a hundred noodle recipes in China. Consider the most popular - Chazhanmen. Some people mistake noodles as a Korean dish, but they are Chinese noodles. This dish may seem simple, but previously only Chinese emperors could eat it.

This dish of Chinese cuisine at home is not at all difficult to prepare.

We will need ingredients such as:

instant noodles or udon;
bean paste - 2 tablespoons;
sugar - 200 grams;
oyster sauce, sesame oil - half a tablespoon;
chicken stock - 70 milliliters;
onions - 300 grams;
small zucchini;
onions to taste;
pork - 200 grams;
shrimp - 10 pieces;
garlic to taste;
vegetable oil;
pickled radish - 40 grams;
cucumber - 1 piece.

Recipe:

boil the noodles;
prepare vegetables: wash and cut;
chop pork and fry, add shrimp to it and fry for another minute, put vegetables and fry for another four minutes;
after being ready to add sugar, oyster sauce, garlic to vegetables and meat, mix everything;
add bean paste, pour in the broth and sesame oil;
put the noodles on a plate and put the vegetables, mix and garnish with cucumber on top.

Soups

Soups are especially popular in the northern part of China. As a rule, soup is prepared in a restaurant on their own. Arriving at the restaurant, the visitor orders the ingredients, after which he prepares the soup from them on a special table equipped with a burner.

Lagman

Lagman can be called the king of soups of Chinese cuisine.