History and Introduction to Chinese Cuisine

Chinese people value their way of dining very much.
There is an old saying still being quoted today ---
"Food is the first neccessity of the people."
Delicious and nutritious food has been regarded
as the basics of ordinary life.

The Chinese culinary culture has a distant source and has been
developed for many centuries. The legend has it that the
Chinese cooking culture originated with Yi Yin, a virtuous and
capable minister of the Shang Dynasty (ca. 15th to 11th century
B.C.). It can be seen that China initiated the culinary art as early
as the Shang and Zhou (ca. 11th century to 221 B.C.) times.
With the economic growth through various periods, people have
been always exploring new cooking techniques ----from brevity
to variety, from rudimentary to advanced stage, from day-to-day
snacks to feasts, even to palatial dishes and delicacies. During
the period from the Spring and Autumn Period(ca. 770-476
B.C.) and the Warring States Period(ca. 475-221 B.C.), to the
Sui-Tang period, the Chinese dishes began to be separated by
Southern and Northern tastes. In general, the southern dishes
emphasize freshness and tenderness. Due to the cold weather,
northern dishes are relatively oily, and the use of vinegar and
garlic tends to be quite popular. As far as staple food is
concerned, people in North China favor noodles, dumplings and
other staple food made from flour while the majority in the South
almost consume rice daily.

During the period of the Tang (618-907 A.D.) and the Song (960-
1279 A.D.) dynasties, people started to shift their attention to the
nutritional and medical values of different plants such as herbs
and vegetables. Many varieties of "medicinal food" have been
cooked for the prevention and cure of diseases, or for
health and recovery.

As time went by, distinct local flavors were added to the
Chinese dishes, such as the Northern food ("Lu" or the
Shandong dishes), the Southern food ("Yue" or the Cantonese
dishes), the Chuan food (Sichuan dishes), Huai Yang
(Yangzhou) and the vegetarian foods and recipes of each kind
of dishes have been handed down. There are four oldest types
of Chinese food: the Sichuan, Cantonese, Northern(Beijing and
Shandong) and Huaiyang. Later on, eight types gradually
evolved after the Tang and Song Dynasties (the Beijing,
Sichuan, Cantonese, Jiangsu, Zhejiang, Anhui, Hunan and
Fujian groups). Each of these groups has its own history and
unique techniques.

Northern (Beijing, Shandong) Type

The Northern (Beijing, Shandong) type is known for its preparation of
dried products such as shrimp, scallops and sea cucumber. However,
it's best known for Peking Duck, originated in Mongolia.

SiChuan Type

The SiChuan type features hearty cooking flavored with an exotic palette
of spices: red and black pepper, sesame paste, flower pepper and
fermented bean paste. Despite its reputation, not all SiChuan dishes are
spicy-hot.

Canton(GuangDong) Type

The Canton(GuangDong) type is famous for its remarkable range of refined
ingredients cooked with a light touch, featuring roast meats, oyster
sauce, black beans and shrimp paste. Cantonese dishes are well
known for their freshness, tenderness and smoothness.

JiangSu Type

The JiangSu type food can be classified into that of Suzhou style
and Zhenjiang-Yangzhou style. The feature of Suzhou style dishes is
their natural flavor in original stock and a mixture of salty and sweet
taste. The characteristics of Zhenjiang-Yangzhou style food are best
described by the saying that the soup is so clear that you can see the
bottom of the bowl and the sauce is so thick that it turns creamy white.
***NOTE - The Shanghai cuisine is a combination of the JiangSu
Type and ZheJiang Type cuisines with local Shanghai styles.***

ZheJiang Type

ZheJiang food is represented by Hangzhou, Ningbo and Shaoxing styles.
Dishes of Hangzhou style are meticulously prepared, hence tasty and
crisp. A blend of freshness and saltiness characterize dishes of Ningbo
style. Steamed and roasted seafood is Ningbo's specialty. Shaoxing
food, with poultry as its main specialty, is palatable, crisp and glutinous.

HuNan Type

HuNan food takes curing, simmering, steaming and stewing as the main
cooking methods. Dishes of this style are usually tinged with sour and
spicy flavor and are thoroughly cooked.

AnHui Type

AnHui style food features dishes stewed in brown sauce with stress on
heavy oil and sauce. Delicacies are abundant in AnHui dishes.

FuJian Type

FuJian dishes, mostly marinated in wine, are
sourly sweet. They stress beautiful colors and
fresh tastes. Seafood dishes are Fujian
specialties.

Source - ChinaOnYourMind.com