Taste of China- Chinese food culture
China is a vast country and its climate and food produce, style of cooking are influence are consequently varied.
Each region has very distinctive style of cooking. Resulting in the world’s most diverse cuisine. Yet the fundamental character of Chinese cooking remains the same throughout. From Peking in the north, to Canton in the south and Shanghai in the east, to Sichuan in the west, different ingredients are prepared, cooked and served in accordance to the same centuries old principals.
Chinese cooking is distinguished in its emphasis on the harmonious blending of color, aroma, flavoring and texture.
The balance and contrast are keywords. Base on the ancient philosophy of ‘Yin’ and ‘Yang’.
Consciously, the Chinese cook will apply this yin-yang principal of varying ingredients, shapes, seasoning and cooking methods accordingly. In order to achieve this balance, the 2 important factors to observe when cooking is 1) the degree of heat and 2) duration of cooking.
The shape and size of particular ingredients should be must be appropriate for the chosen method of cooking. For example, ingredients for quick stir-frying should be cut into small, thin slices or shreds of uniform size. This is so that they will retain their natural color, aroma and flavor.
To get into the heart of Chinese cooking and culture, is to understand the philosophy of yin and yang.
That is the balance of food and their characteristics with relations to if they are considered ‘hot’ or ‘cold’, ‘male’ or ‘female’…sounds complicated right? More information on yin and yang here.
