Tuesday, January 1, 2013

Know About The Great Chinese Food Culture

Is Chinese food really healthy, Well that all depends on what you order. Many people have the misconception that Ugg Slippers Chinese food is healthy eating. This belief is only true if the restaurant is serving truly authentic Chinese food. There are quite a few menu choices found in Chinese carry out restaurants that have become "westernized", making them high in fat and sodium. Many of the dishes are fried and surrounded by heavy sauces which render the food unhealthy, and are really no better than eating fried fast food.

Chinese food culture can be roughly divided into the Northern and Southern styles of cooking. In general, Northern Chinese cooking dishes are oily without being cloying, and the flavors of vinegar and garlic tend to be more pronounced. Pasta plays an important role in Northern Chinese cooking, noodles, ravioli-like dumplings, steamed stuffed buns, fried meat dumplings, and steamed bread are favored flour-based treats. the cooking of Peking, Tientsin, and Shantung are perhaps the best known area styles of Northern Chinese cuisine.


A dish with a fragrant aroma will whet the appetite. Ingredients that contribute to a mouthwatering aroma are scallions, fresh ginger root, garlic, chili peppers, wine, star anise, stick cinnamon, pepper, sesame oil, dried Chinese black mushrooms, and so forth. Of foremost importance in cooking any dish is preserving the fresh, natural flavor of the ingredients, and removing any undesirable fishy or gamey odors. In Western cooking, lemon is often used to remove fishy flavors, in Chinese cooking, scallions and ginger serve a similar function. Soy sauce, sugar, vinegar, and other seasonings add richness to a dish without covering up the natural flavor of the ingredients. A well-prepared dish will be rich to those who like strong flavors, not over spiced to those who like a blander taste, sweet to those who like a sweet flavor, and hot to those who like a piquant flavor. A dish that is all of these things to all of these people is a truly successful dish.


Chinese food can be one of the healthiest ethnic foods to consume. I like to order Chinese food as well as prepare it at home using my wok. One of the best attributes of Chinese dishes is the varieties and quantity of vegetables that you can blend together in a stir fry. I like to incorporate such vegetables as bok choy, spinach, carrot, shitake mushrooms, etc. I blend these dishes together using some great sauces such as hoisin, soy, peanut, etc. I serve the finished product over brown rice and end up with a satisfying meal. Let me emphasize that I add these sauces sparingly.

In the cosmopolitan world, Chinese culture food is available in practically most cities around the world. However, experts tend to agree that Taipei is the on place in the world where you can find the "genuine" version of just about any kind of Chinese food imaginable. In fact, in any large city or little village in Taiwan, you do not have to walk very far to find a small restaurant, a few more steps will take you to a large and elaborate one. Even in home cooking, whether for everyday family meals or entertaining guests, food is prepared with sophistication and variety. Northern style dishes may included peking duck, smoked chicken, chafing dishes with sliced lamb, fish slices in sauce, beef with green pepper, and dried scallops with Chinese white radish balls. Representative of the Southern style of cooking are duck smoked with camphor and tea, chicken baked in salt, honey glazed ham, flash-fried shrimp, eggplant in soy sauce, Szechwan style bean curd. the variety is endless.

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