Ordovician

A kitchen on a world scale

The Chinese kitchen (Zhōngguó cài) is one of most famous in the world, and undoubtedly that which comprises the most variations. It was left again traditionally in four families: Kitchen of Dongbei, Kitchen shanghaienne, Kitchen sichuanaise and Cantonese Kitchen. The Chinese kitchen is at the same time related on the company, philosophy and medicine. It distinguishes the cai , vegetables cooked and by extensions all that accompanies cereals, the fan . The food yin , female, wet and soft thus refreshing is the vegetables and the fruits. The food yang , masculines, fried, spiced or meat has a heating effect. A meal must thus not only harmonize the tastes, but also find a balance between the cold and the heat. To compliment a dish, it is said that it " helps to make pass the riz". Another thing caratérisant the Chinese traditional kitchen is the absence of dairy products because of an intolerance to the lactose which exists in many Asian countries.

The Chinese divide dishes. Ceux.ci are often shared. The Chinese eat using rods, or of Chinese spoons out of wooden, more rarely out of porcelain. The table is characterized by its social aspect. It round and is sometimes surmounted by a revolving plate where the dishes are stored. No knife is present at table. All the food is cut out in kitchen, except for the seafood which is times been useful not-peeled.

The chronological succession of the dishes which one knows in France, is replaced by a search for balance starting from five basic savors (sweeten-salt-acid-land-mark-spiced). However, the exclusively sweetened mets appear only at the end of the feasts or the meals of festival. In China, a dish must also be pleasant with the eye. The dishes are sometimes selected with the fine therapeutic ones, such as for example the nests of swallows or ailerons of Requin, which is naturally insipid ingredients. The concept resulting from the Chinese medicine of complementarity from the hot and cold bodies is taken into account, particularly in the South of China.

The The is the most drunk drink. It is consumed for its virtues digestive and relieving congestion. The Beer and the alcohol of Riz are rather festive drinks, reserved for the great events. Nevertheless, at the time of an ordinary meal at home, no drink is in general proposed and one is refreshed with a soup or a pulp.

The frequent periods of food shortage inspired to the Chinese receipts making it possible to adapt all the edible parts of the animals: entrails, Cartilage S, heads, greenhouses of poultries etc

The tofu is a Chinese invention. It represents the base of ten different food which very often appears on the tables because of their moderate cost.

The principal starchy food of accompaniment is:

  • In China of the south: the Riz cooks with the vapor without seasoning; it must be slightly sticking.
  • In China of North: pastes, crepes or breads with the vapor containing flour of corn.

Outline of the specialities

  • Peking duck of Beijing: In the original receipt, the duck is killed 24 to 48 hours in advance. As a practitioner an incision on the level of tail and into blowing, the skin is separated of the flesh and the duck is then coated with a mixture containing honey in particular and is finally suspended in a quite ventilated part. To note that the original dish consisted only of the skin of duck crossed of plates but following the " demandes" Western, this dish is now served as follows: the skin and the flesh are cut out in sections which one soaks in sauce before rolling them in small pancakes with a section of green onion or leek white cut as Julienne. The whole is accompanied by a bubble prepared starting from the carcass and of a vegetable preserved in vinegar, its a little sure after-taste is regarded as a good accompaniment for a a little fatty dish with the strong taste. According to the ability of the chief cook, the same duck will be prepared and presented under 2 to 4 mets different according to the desires from the customer.
  • Heads of duck spiced of the Henan
  • Xiaolong bao (stopped) shanghaiennes
  • Regan mian or pies with the sesame of Wuhan
  • Dog of Kaiping (the black dogs are most nutritive)
  • Vers with silk of the Dongbei
  • Shuizhuyu or pot of fish spiced of the Sichuan
  • Mouton with the stomach lined with the chicken
  • Hamster nourished with oranges of Laogan (Guangdong), whose flesh is scented with the orange
  • Chat of Kao-Li to the worms of the Dongbei, the flesh of the cat is tender and tasty, this dish is very appreciated Mao Zedong and of his family.
  • Jiaozi Chinese Ravioli of Tianjin
  • Huoguo, Chinese pot or Chinese fondue: food of all kinds is cooked and consumed progressively in a very spiced bubble sometimes; it is a dish very appreciated in winter
  • the Cantonese yam-cha or brunch: the dim-sum (a large variety of mouthfuls to the vapor) are presented on carriages circulating through the restaurant. It are consumed with a medicinal beverage or the.
  • Hong shaorou, meat " rouge" Hunan, piece of pigmeat with fat and pork rind cooked in sauce of soya, dish preferred of Mao Zedong
  • the fondue sichuanaise: It consists in choosing would be-even the food which one wishes to eat and to soak it in spiced oil which is in a dish, boiling, in the middle of the table. Small more this kind of restaurant in China is the large variety of the dishes. There is really an immense choice and at will what makes it possible all to be satisfied.

Kitchen in the Chinese life

For the poorest Chinese, a meal is summarized with a bowl of Pâte S or Riz, decorated some Légume S or pieces of meat. But at the time of the festivals or when it receives, each one as far as makes an effort its means of making display of abundance. Very often, food is a question of honor, and undoubtedly the first sign of social membership. The original passion of the Chinese for their kitchen was undoubtedly reinforced by the periods of deprivation which punctuated the reign of Mao Zedong, and the improvement of the standard of living made full sound potential to the styles of kitchen of the various areas of the country.

As in all the cultures, with the Festival S and occasions special are associated particular mets. Here are some examples:

  • the cake of New year (Nian gao) containing glutimineux rice flour, scented with the kidney bean or the Longane; it is cooked with the vapor then cut in sections which are fried.
  • the imperial pie and the Rouleau of spring (chun juan) are small pancakes containing flour of Blé or rice containing of vegetables and the meat cut in plates. It acts in the beginning of a picnic which one takes along to the cemetery at the time of the Chinese All Saints' day.
  • the Zongzi S, sheets of bamboo stuffed (glutimineux rice, pig, groundnuts, egg yolk of duck salted), accompany the Fête by the boats dragons.
  • the moon cakes (Yuebing) are consumed at the time of the Fête of the semi-autumn, which generally takes place in September at the time of full moon.
  • the pastes of long life (长 changshou mian), very fines and very long, are consumed by those which celebrate their birthday to secure longevity; it is thus important not to break them during cooking.

Beside the gargottes, the restaurants offer common rooms and separate rooms which one can retain if one wants to remain between oneself. One often chooses fish directly in the aquarium, or even another animal in a cage located at the entry of the restaurant.

The host must be full with attention to the guest, of which it fills the bowl, the cup and glass, so that they permanently remain full. To leave its bowl empties would be the sign which one did not eat with his hunger: extraordinary quantities of food are thus left in the plates, whose funds are systematically recycled in crushers, finishing in food for the pigs or compost. It is however usual to ask to carry the remaining dishes in plastic boxes. It is also very often possible to order the dishes of at home without expenses of delivery.

During a traditional lunch, toasts are carried to the ones and the others. They constitute sometimes signs of challenges the purpose of which are to contribute to create the cordial atmosphere to which the Chinese hold so much, but who lead also sometimes to annoying excesses. To strike the table with the end of the bent indices and major (imitation of a courbette) makes it possible to refuse the invitation to be drunk. In certain areas of the Empire of the Medium there exist plays accompanying consumption by alcohol. They make it possible to indicate which will drink following glass.

Chinese kitchen in the world

In France, only a small proportion of Asian restaurants propose authentic Chinese kitchen of quality. Often the dishes are standardized and insipid products, possibly associated with other types of kitchens: Vietnamese, Kampuchean, inhabitant of Thailand in particular. The collective management of the provisioning in order to limit the operation costs, fast-food industry, the dishes chosen according to the local tastes, are mainly responsible for this denaturation. The appreciated Chinese restaurants of the experts are in general recognizable with their multitude the evening and are not among the least expensive.

In the areas of the world where the Chinese of overseas are of Cantonese origin, the quality of the kitchen is generally better. Indeed, from its geographical location giving him access to a large variety of products and influences, the province of Guangzhou has a particularly rich and refined kitchen. A saying claims that “nothing of what flies, stroke, slope or runs” does not escape the Cantonese pans.

See too

Receipts

Bonds

  • illustrated Receipts of Chinese kitchen
  • Kitchen and Chinese receipts
    • Video
  • on Peking duck prepared into full Beijing

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