Regional Chinese Food

Regional Chinese Food

Alike most countries, China has many different regions, which can have different climates from each other and different natural resources. According to chinahighlights.com, China can typically be split up into five regions; Northern Chinese food with salty, simple food having wheat as the staple food, Western Chinese food serving halal food with lamb as the main meat, Central Chinese food which is mainly spicy food, Eastern Chinese food which is sweet and light, and last but not least Southern minority food which is mainly sour.

Western Chinese Food

Northern Chinese Food

Food in the Western region is mainly served to people who live in the Xinjiang part, which is mainly home to muslim people. This region’s food is very reflective of the regions characteristics and culture. Due to cultural reasons, there isn’t much pork as well as any other carnivorous animals on the menu.

The Western Regions has a lot of mountains and deserts which means very few vegetables grow there and wheat is the main staple food. This region is very popular for their dried fruits, and they also have a lot of pasture (which is an area with grass suitable for grazing animals) which makes mutton as well as beef, camel meat, horse meat, and various other dairy foods protein foods which they eat the most. This region mainly uses cooking methods such as stir-frying, roasting, and steaming.

Most people in this area need a diet that is high in calories and fat, to resist the cold weather.

Pictured on the right is, Naan bread which is one of the most popular foods in Xinjiang.

Central Chinese Food

Central chinese foods, mainly serve areas such as Sichuan, Chongqing, and Hunan. They are known for their numbing and spicy flavors. They are able to achieve these spicy flavors by the liberal use of garlic, chili peppers, and the Sichuan peppercorn. The central region has a very large range of ingredients due to the agricultural output of the region.

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The regions that mainly serve Northern style Chinese food, is Beijing, Shandong and Inner Mongolia. Northern Chinese chefs attempt to achieve a strong flavor in their food. They achieve by using a lot of salt as well as other strong seasonings. Northern Chinese Chefs typically use seasonings like; soy sauce, vinegar, garlic, scallions, ginger, leeks, star anise, sweet bean sauces, chili peppers, and sesame oil to add to the richness of the dish without covering up it’s natural flavor.

Northern China experiences very harsh, dry and cold winters as well as hot summers. Due to these very dry seasons there isn’t a very high abundance of agricultural products. However, wheat has a very high abundance in this part of China and it is the staple crop there. Wheat-flour products such as; noodles, dumplings, steamed buns, stuffed buns, and pancakes can be found.

Fruits and Vegetables in this part isn’t very abundant due to the dry winters. Vegetables are more abundant than Fruits and people tend to want to preserve the vegetables by drying them or pickling them (which is when they place the vegetables in a jar covered in vinegar, which preserves the lifespan of them). Common vegetables that can be found in the North is Chinese cabbages, carrots, radishes, tomatoes, potatoes, cucumbers, eggplants, green beans, and chives.

Northern chinese dishes are typically served in very big portions. In most meals they attempt to keep the animal intact. Pictured on the left is an example of their big portions of food with a whole roasted lamb. The cooking methods they use is mainly stewing, but they also roast, dry-fry, and stir-fry.

Eastern Chinese Food

Eastern chinese food mainly serves areas in the Yangtze Delta area — Shanghai, Hangzhou, Suzhou, Nanjing, the Yellow Mountains… — and as far south as Xiamen. They serve food that have sweet and subtle flavors.

The Eastern region is located next to Yangzte River Delta as well as a great number of other lakes and rivers. Due to this, the Eastern river has a very large abundance of fish and shellfish. Additionally, the surrounding lakes and rivers gives this region a subtropical climate which allows a wide variety of vegetables to grow.

This region uses both rice and wheat as staple foods. They use cooking method such as stir-frying, steaming, braising, and simmering. The main ingredients that they use are rice vinegar, rice wine, sugar, and soy sauce.

Southern Chinese Food

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Southern Chinese food mainly serves areas like Yunnan, Guizhou, and Hunan provinces, and Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region, which are predominantly minorities. These area’s food is mainly sour and spicy.

The people in the south, are typically very poor or subsistence level farmers so these southerners believe in preserving their food as much as they can. Mosts meats they eat are either reared at home or bought locally. They cook the meat simply with mostly naturally ingredients. To avoid wastage, they eat most parts of the animal which includes but is not limited to; heads, feet, and innards.

For other ingredients, the southern chinese people usually pickle food in brine and vinegar, sun-dry, or smoke food. They pickle vegetables, tofu, and chilies in brine and vinegar. They smoke meat, poultry, fish, and tofu. They sun-dry fruits, fish, vegetables, and chilies. The pickling in the food make it taste sour, they add chilies to the food to dampen out the sour taste of the food.

The southern people typically use hotpot and fast-frying methods to cook their food.

Pictured to the left are chilies sun-drying.