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Living and Traveling
Food Culture

FOOD

CULTURE Meili Snow

Mountains
China’s Food Culture

China has a large land area and local climates vary from one locale to another. This has in turn led to a
great variety of local produce and customs and eating habits across the country’s various regions.
Chinese food culture has a long history, with a wide array of regional cuisines. The better-known ones
include China’s “Eight Major Cuisines,” which are Shandong cuisine, Sichuan cuisine, Cantonese cuisine,
Suzhou cuisine, Fujian cuisine, Zhejiang cuisine, Hunan cuisine, and Anhui cuisine. Other distinctive
regional cuisines include Northeastern cuisine, Beijing cuisine, and Shanghai cuisine. All these regional
cuisines reect the traditional cooking techniques locals use to create dishes that are visually appetizing
and delicious.

Shandong Cuisine (“Lu” Cuisine)
Shandong cuisine is about highlighting the original avors of the raw ingredients. As
such, ingredient quality is emphasized. Salt and soup stock are used to highlight and
reinforce the umami avors of the ingredients.
Must-tries: Sweet-and-Sour Carp

Sichuan Cuisine
Sichuanese cooks use a myriad of seasonings in their cooking, and are adept at
churning out a great variety of dishes that tend to taste a little stronger on the palate
with notes of umami. Mala (spicy and numbing seasoning) often makes an appearance
in Sichuan dishes.
Must-tries: Kung Pao Chicken, Mapo Tofu

Cantonese Cuisine (“Yue” Cuisine)
Much attention is paid to ingredient selection. Cantonese cuisine is generally rich in avor and
delicate without being too greasy. Cantonese cooks are adept at the art of stir-frying, which
requires the absolute mastery of temperature. The Cantonese style of cooking has also incorporat-
ed a number of Western cooking techniques. The emphasis here is on renement and quality.
Must-tries: Cantonese-Style Roast Duck, Braised Pigeon

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