Monday, March 25, 2013

Tour of Taste (11) : China


China is rich in tourist attractions including food. Chinese cuisine is one important constituent part of Chinese culture with a long history, unique features, numerous styles and exquisite cooking. Chinese dishes are well-known for color, aroma, taste, meaning and appearance. The following are the eight most popular dishes among foreigners and Chinese. 




Sweet and Sour Pork (or Chicken)

Sweet and sour pork is a dish in bright orange-red color, and has a delicious sweet and sour taste. At the very beginning there was only sweet and sour pork, there have been some developments on this dish to meet the demands. Now, the pork can be substituted by other ingredients as customer prefer to, such as chicken, beef or pork ribs. 


Gong Bao Chicken

This is a famous Sichuan-style specialty and popular among both Chinese and foreigners.  Diced chicken, dried chili, and fried peanuts are the major ingredients. People in Western countries have created a Western-style gong bao chicken, for which the diced chicken is covered with cornstarch, and vegetables, sweet and sour sauce and mashed garlic are added.


Ma Po Tofu

Ma po tofu is one of the most famous dishes in Chuan Cuisine.  “Ma” describes a spicy and hot taste which comes from pepper powder. The pepper powder is one kind of condiment usually used by Chuan Cuisine. The milky tofu is enriched with brownish red ground beef and chopped green onion. It is really a tasty delicacy. 


Wontons

It has been a custom for people to eat wontons on the winter solstice since the Tang Dynasty (618–907). There are various shapes of wonton available in China but the most versatile shape of a wonton is simple a right triangle, similar to Italian tortellini. Wontons can be boiled and served in soup or sometimes deep-fried. The filling of wontons may be minced pork, diced shrimp or both.


Dumplings

Dumplings are a traditional food with a long history of more than 1,800 years that widely popular in China. Dumplings generally consist of minced meat and finely-chopped vegetables wrapped into a thin and elastic piece of dough skin. Popular fillings including mince pork, diced shrimp, fish, ground chicken, beef, and vegetables. They can be cooked by boiling, steaming, frying or baking. Dumplings also are the symbol of Chinese food, and a traditional dish eaten during Chinese New Year’s Eve.


Spring Rolls

Spring rolls are a Cantonese dim sum dish of cylindrical shape, either sweet or savory. The filling of spring rolls could be vegetables or meat. The spring roll is frying after fillings are wrapped in spring roll wrappers until the spring rolls are given their golden yellow color. Then it is ready to be served.


Chow Mein

The "Chow mein" is the Cantonese pronunciation of the stir-fried noodles. Generally, this stir-fried dish is made from noodles, meat (usually chicken, beef, shrimp, or pork), onions and celery. For preparing chow mein, the noodles need to be cooked in boiling water for a while. After they becoming cool, then move to the step of stir-frying.


Peking Duck

Peking duck is a well-known duck dish from Beijing which enjoying world fame, and also considered as one of China’s national dishes. Peking duck is savored for its thin and crispy skin. The Peking duck is often cut in slice and eaten with pancakes, sweet bean sauce, or soy with mashed garlic. 



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