From fiery hot Sichuan to sugary sweet Shanghainese
Posted: Thursday, August 21, 2008 5:28 AM
Filed Under:
Beijing, China
By NBC News’ Producers A.J. Goodwin and John Cheang
Here’s the riddle: If you order out for Chinese food in the U.S., what do people in China go out for?
The answer: Sichuanese, Yunnanese, Shanghainese, Xinjaing, Hakka, Cantonese, Hot Pot, and the list goes on.
Every region of China has its own style of cuisine featuring local ingredients and tastes. And it doesn’t all involve a wok or rice.
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| Maria Alcon / NBC News |
| A chef prepares Beijing's famous Peking Duck. |
In big cities like Beijing of course, all regions of the country are represented, and so is their food.
Here’s a breakdown on just a few of the varied foods of China’s 22 provinces that we had the opportunity to sample on assignment in Beijing. (And our apologies if this makes you hungry).
Beijing
In general, the Northern Chinese staples are noodles and breads – called Mantou, which are steamed or baked in small thin loaves. Wheat grows more readily in the north of China, therefore the abundance of wheat based items.
The predominant flavorings in Beijing food are garlic and vinegar. Dumplings are almost always boiled, not pan fried (those are in Shanghai). And no matter where you are, the dumplings get dipped in vinegar, not soy sauce. Vegetables are often marinated in vinegar and garlic, and lotus buds – mildly flavored and slightly crunchy – are ubiquitous in vegetable stir fries.
Of course, Beijing is also home to perhaps China’s most famous delicacy, Peking Duck.
Peking is the original name given to Beijing by the West, and this dish dates back to the Yuan dynasty.
Typically when Peking Duck is prepared, the skins of the ducks are separated from the meat; the duck’s then given a quick dip in boiling water and hung to dry to allow the skin to crisp. It’s then roasted in a fire, carved at the table and eaten traditionally in three stages – first, the skin is wrapped in thin flour pancakes along with spring onions and hoisin sauce, then the meat is stir fried with vegetables, and finally the carcass is boiled into a milky broth to finish the meal. Delicious everytime.
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| John Cheang / NBC News Producer |
| Xinjiang hand cut mutton noodles in a rich sauce made of chives,local sweet peppers and garlic. Absolutely mouthwatering. |
Shanghai
This coastal city is known for its lighter, sweet taste compared to the capital. While in Beijing you are likely to get a cucumber salad with garlic, in Shanghai, you’ll get your cucumbers with a bit of sugar. One famous Shanghai treat is "nan xiang xiao long" or soup dumplings – tiny steamed pork buns with a slurp of soupy cooking juices inside.
Another popular Shanghai method of cooking is marinating raw foods in sweet wine and vinegar – "drunken" shrimp and crab are particular favorites.
Sichuan
Yes, it’s spicy. But Sichuan food isn’t just all about setting your mouth on fire. Good Sichuan food allows the flavor of the ingredients to shine through a veneer of spice.
Eating a good Sichuan meal will open your eyes (and taste buds) to a much wider range of spice and flavors than you ever thought possible.
Dishes are laden with Sichuan peppercorns, which tingle and slightly numb your mouth. Cold steamed chicken is dressed with a mellow hot sauce that slowly warms the mouth.
And vegetables are cooked with a couple whole peppers to give them just a slight kick.
Sichuan is also the home of two dishes commonly seen on your local Chinese restaurant’s menu – Kung Pao Chicken and Ma Po Tofu.
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| Maria Alcon / NBC News |
| NBC News' Titi Yu samples some Hot Pot. |
Yunnan
Yunnan province is in the far southwest of China – bordering Myanmar, Thailand and Vietnam – and the food reflects the shared geography. Here you’ll find your meats steamed or grilled and the flavorings draw heavily from the wide variety of herbs that grown in the more tropical climate.
One of the region’s most famous dishes is called "crossing the bridge noodles," which like many Chinese dishes, comes with a story. As the tale goes – a scholar was studying across the river from the village where he lived. His wife wanted to bring him a warm meal each day, but struggled because it would get cold by the time she crossed the bridge to his school. So she developed a way of topping soup with a thin layer of flavored oil which sealed in the heat of the broth below. The warm dish of noodle is still widely eaten to this day.
Mushrooms also grow abundantly in this warm, moist, mountainous region and when in season, simple sautéed or steamed mushroom dishes are a regional treat. Another specialty here – short grain glutinous rice (think super sticky sushi rice) steamed inside bamboo. The result is a savory sweet treat.
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| AJ Goodwin / NBC News |
| The exterior of a Xingjang restaurant in Beijing has Islamic writing reflecting the Muslim background of Uighur population that dominates the region. |
Xinjiang
This province lays in far north western China, home to China’s minority Uighur population. Uighurs are Muslim and more closely related to people in Turkmenistan or Uzbekistan than the majority Han Chinese – hence their food reflects their cultural preferences.
While much of China relies heavily on pork, which is forbidden in Islamic cultures, lamb is the protein of choice in Xinjiang. Most meats are grilled, often on Kebab-style skewers. Hot peppers also grow well in the hot dry north, so the food tends to have some spice. But the peppers are served fresh and sliced, while in Sichuan they tend to be dried and crushed into sauces.
Being in the north of the country, bread and noodles are the staples of choice. But once again, they have a unique regional twist. Sesame breads are cooked over hot coals and basted in lamb drippings and noodles are often cooked with hot peppers and mutton.
Although, the region is not just all about spicy lamb, Xinjiang is also famous for its grapes and abundant watermelons.
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| AJ Goodwin / NBC News |
| A chef prepares Kebab-style skewers that are a staple in Xinjang restaurants. |
Cantonese
Best known to American palates because most of the settled Chinese diaspora in the West comes from this southern Chinese region, Cantonese food could be mistakenly construed as bland, as very few spices are used in Cantonese cooking. The main flavors are usually derived from soy sauce, sugar and wine, with top notes of green onion and cilantro. Garlic is used occasionally, but never to an overpowering effect.
The Cantonese live up to the saying "if it’s got four legs and it isn’t a table or a chair, the Cantonese will eat it," but a seafood diet is mostly the norm. Fresh fish, oftentimes pulled out of the sea or fish tanks – will be steamed lightly with green onion and cilantro, with hot oil drizzled over the finished product to create a glaze and sizzle. Shellfish such as shrimp and crab are dunked in boiling water and eaten with dipping sauces – blends of soy, sesame and sometimes vinegar.
Canton is also the region where barbecued items dominate – marinated pork, duck and goose are slowly roasted in dry hot ovens until the meat is meltingly tender and the skin brown and crisp, with drippings which marry well with white rice. (The Chinese are not fond of brown rice – it’s too rough and the husks of the rice contribute an unfamiliar flavor).
Another favorite Cantonese nibble is dim sum – where a variety of dumplings, buns, and raviolis steamed in rice wrappers are wheeled around restaurants – diners merely point to what they want, and families gather at these meals for hours on the weekends.
Hakka
The Hakka are the original "boat people" of southern China, with influences both from the Cantonese and the Fujianese, so it’s no surprise that seafood dishes excel. Fish marinated in a sauce of soy and sugar and baked in tinfoil – en papillote –is a signature dish.
The Hakka enjoy roasting items in crocks of salt – shrimp and chicken are done this way to exquisite results. Their method of braising pork belly in soy and sugar along with brined kale yields the most mouth watering tender pork that is devoid of any grease, yet bursting with flavor.
Fried stuffed tofu (with minced seafood or vegetables) is often served with a yellow bean stew and eaten with white rice. The Fujianese influence is apparent in the Hakka "three cup duck" – as opposed to the Fujianese "three cup chicken" – where the fowl is cooked in equal portions of soy sauce, sugar and wine to create mouth watering results.
Hot Pot
Hot Pot, Shabu Shabu, Chinese Fondue, call it what you like… from what we could see, it’s all the rage in Beijing. It consists of raw veggies, meats and tofu brought to your table to be cooked in a flavored broth. There are different versions from various regions – from fire-hot in Sichuan to meaty and savory in Inner Mongolia. But it seems everywhere we looked in the hot August heat, there were restaurants full of big groups of diners gathered around steaming caldrons.
Chinese banquet
An everyday meal in China includes some variety of noodles or rice and a meat with vegetable. But anytime a group gathers around a table – whether it’s a very special event or a Tuesday family night out – there’s an expected symmetry in the dishes ordered. A nice group meal will include cold dishes along with hot, a fish, a land animal and a fowl, several vegetables and a soup.
For a truly formal meal, rice is often not ordered at all, or only brought at the end. Rice is seen as an extra filler that, if an extravagant meal has been complete, is not necessary.
So if you didn’t make it to Beijing for the Olympic Games, you now have a new excuse – come to get a taste of China’s diverse culinary treats all in one place.
