Chinese Cuisine - The Food of China Essay

Common food that Chinese heritage usually consume are peanuts, soybeans and grains. The Chinese culture believes in steaming most of their foods and only fried what is needed. They believe drinking something cold can damage and out balance their body system. When it is suppertime, everyone joins in at the middle of a table and food is served among the most important guest there, then someone signals everyone to eat. It is important for the Chinese heritage to uphold their health. The Chinese people try to keep their body well-balanced with a healthy diet. A healthy diet will aid and prevent imbalances and indigestion (Purnell, 2013).

Secondly, the ingredients in Chinese and American food are different. Chinese cuisine involves rice, flour, beans, and vegetables. American cuisine is relatively simple and mainly includes meat, bread and vegetables. For the Chinese one, most dishes include rice, because it is the main crop of many Asian countries and is used in almost every capacity. Not only steamed rice, but rice paper and noodles can be included in a meal. Second, tofu is often used in vegetarian meals, because it is high in protein. It is used heavily in regions with a tradition of Buddhism. Third, sauces are important to flavor rice and stir-fry. Soy sauce, oyster sauce, black bean sauce, and fish sauces are easy to keep on hand (Yang 3). Rice is a major staple food for

Looking at the years of progression of food in china it started with Chinese imperial food originated around the Zhou Dynasty 11th century B.C. – 476 B.C. Although China’s dietetic culture developed and grew prior to the Zhou Dynasty, it truly flourished during the Zhou, Qin, and Han dynasties 1122 B.C. – 220. (www.china.org.cn/english/imperial/25995.) But when we look at the food today it has a mix of diversity of mix culture with the main ideas of the imperial dinning back in Zhou dynasty. We can look at food like curry which came from India and the Chinese culture took the spice and added to its food but also remembering the balance of sweet and sour and hot and spicy as well as tart. We can also look at the U.S.A and seeing the

The Vietnamese immigrant’s cuisine mainly consists of rice, noodles, tofu, fish, pork, chicken, vegetables, and vegetable oil. Rice is always involved in any of the daily meals. Green tea, jasmine tea, and pure water are the daily drinks. In daily meals, a pair of chopsticks is always an indispensable tool with most of Orient. It takes the role of a fork in the cuisine Western. Among the Vietnamese immigrant’s cuisines in the United States, noodle soup has become the highlight of Vietnamese culture. In noodle soup, white rice noodles come together with sliced rare beef or chicken, meatballs, and brisket. The broth for noodle soup is practically made by boiling beef bones, white onion and herbs, such as cinnamon, ginger, fennel seed, clove, star anise, etc., Customers are served noodle soup with jalapeno, basil, bean sprouts, and lemon. In South Sacramento, among plenty of Vietnamese restaurants, there are dozens of noodle soup restaurants concentrated in the Little Saigon Supermarket and neighborhoods. Some restaurants are Huong Lan, Thanh Huong, King, Pho Bac Hoa Viet, Pho Garden, Pho Anh Dao, Bon Mua, Ho Tay, etc. Vietnamese cuisine has become a popular choice of food, for both those who have immigrated to the United States and those born in the United States. It has enriched the American

For my artifact project, I’ll be focusing on Shanghainese xiao long bao, often known as “soup dumplings” in English-speaking countries. Although there are actually several kinds of soup dumplings in Eastern China, xiao long bao is the variation that managed to have a global reach. My first personal experience with xiao long bao was in my sophomore year of high school, when my friend and her mother took me to a Shanghainese restaurant in Chinatown. I was (and still am) somewhat of a novice to any Chinese food and definitely had no knowledge of what food came out of Shanghai. However, I always had a deep love of dumplings. Honestly, any food that involves meat wrapped in dough has always appealed to me. When the soup dumplings arrived at our

As many Americans love to, Chinese people love to eat too. Rather than greeting people with “How

There are many differences about foods between China and the United States. Many Chinese students were not adapted to America’s foods. Also for other countries’ international students. There are two simple solutions for this problem. First of all, students can eat outside. There are many different restaurants can choose, but it will be expensive for students. Secondly, students can cook by themselves. Students can use internet to study cooking, such as YouTube, “Xia Chu Fang” that is a Chinese APP and so on. Also, students can study with parents in the vacation. Cooking by themselves will cheaper than eating

Chinese food isn’t different items separated by spaces among a plate, it is a blend of different meats and vegetables sitting among a grain such as rice. There is a sauce that brings the dish’s unique and separate elements into one blend of tasty flavors that combine into a unique and signature dish.

Besides explore Chinese restaurant, I also trying to cook by myself. However, compare with other Chinese students, it could be a problem for me. Not like other Chinese student, particularly who from the south region of China, they can easily get the food material from some Asia grocery stores. For me, it always hard to find something from my hometown. like I am trying to buy millet, after seeking in several Asia grocery stores, but no one sell it. I think the reason might be most of oversea Chinese are from south of China, particularly Guangdong province and Fujian province. Influenced by the food and custom they brought from their hometown, many Chinese restaurant I have found in America, their flavor are more southern, it also occurred in Chinese supermarkets. As a student who from north of China, it is not easy to find my hometown flavor in America. It is the hardest adjustment for me.

When watching the movie, “Eat Drink Man Woman”, I was able to learn a lot about the Chinese culture and the food that they eat. Even though all the food that was prepared in the film was high end cuisine, I was still able to get a glimpse of what it had to offer. When a lot of Americans think of Chinese food, they tend to think strictly about American Chinese food, and that is not the case. Many meals were prepared in the film that ranged from elegant soups, chicken, duck, and fish, to fancy dumplings, and desserts. The film was able to show me a lot of what the food they eat looks like, even if it was five star meals, and had a great storyline to back it up.

In Ancient China, the people ate healthy. The Chinese ate a lot of vegetables but the variety was small. The vegetable range consisted of Cucumbers and Soybeans, and apparently, it’s been dated that they’ve been eating that since 1000 BC. The Soybean was an important grain for the Chinese. At one point in Chinese Food History, Wine was more popular than tea, the first wine that was introduced to them was Yellow Rice Wine, also known as Huangjiu. Huangjiu is a rice wine made from water and cereal grains like rice, millet, sorghum and wheat. This type of alcohol contained less than 20% of actual alcohol, and it was aged for as long as 20 years. (Wikipedia, n.d.) Chinese people also ate all kinds of meats from different animals, however, not all could afford it so they replaced it with tofu as a cheaper source of protein. Tofu is bean curd, it is rich in nutrients like calcium, iron, high protein and has little fat. It replaced meat for the poor Chinese since they didn’t eat meat regularly, only on special occasions. They made a law that would give every Chinese person a free cup of tofu every week, I did not find any evidence of this law but tofu was still important to the Chinese and their healthy diet Tea was also common in china, and it grew wild all over China and they had plenty of it, everyone drank tea,

The more Asian cultures mix with America them more we take from the culture, such as Chinatowns, Chinese food, Vietnamese food, religion, fight styles, etc. We have not just taken from their cultures, but we have also added to theirs by assimilating them into our daily lives and providing different currencies and school programs along with an entirely different government system. Each culture brings something to the table. Asian-Americans have introduced three different cooking styles to the U.S., southwest, northeast, and southeast. According to Asian Nation, each cooking comes from different parts of Asia. Southwest cooking comes from India, Pakistan, Sri Lanka, etc. This kind of cooking usually consists of flat bread, kebabs, and the use of strong spices. Unlike Southwest cooking, Northeast traditional cooking styles come from China, Korea, and Japan. The tradition in the cooking is to use fats and oils to emphasize sauces in their cooking. Foods from these places are connected to their religion Hinduism and can be used as medicine for good health, and longevity. Southeast cooking comes from Thailand, Viet Nam, Singapore, etc. Featured dishes in this culture are lightly prepared and aromatic, such as stir-fry, steaming, and foods with lots of herbs (Purpose of This Site).

We all know that China has a vast territory and fifty-six ethnic groups. Therefore, different places and groups have different eating habits and they all have their own special local dishes. The ways to name those dishes show the wisdom and culture of people from all ethnic groups and make Chinese dish names have distinctive national and regional features. There are different ways to name a dish and when you begin to name it, you need to consider raw materials, seasonings, cooking methods, regional features, etc. In order to know well about the dish name translation in A Bite of China, an inquiry is made into the main characteristics of those dishes appeared in this food documentary. So let’s see some

Fried rice is a dish in China that can be fried with sauces ( brown rice) or plain (white). Jiaozi is a classic Chinese dish that is commonly called dumplings and can be steamed, fried, or baked. Shallow fried Jiaozi is a different type of dumplings that is fried in a pan with oil. Some commonly used spices is sage and Turmeric root, and a common vegetable is Bok Choy.

Talk about food culture, there really is big difference between China and Canada(American Canadian). In China, people start with " full up with breakfast, eat well on lunch and less in dinner", and food taste were separate into four kind: sour, sweet, bitter and