Chinese cuisine refers to a set of self-contained cooking skills and flavors formed in a certain region due to the differences in climate, geography, history, products and eating customs, which are recognized by all parts of the country.
The four major cuisines of Luchuan, Guangdong, Huaiyang were formed earlier. Later, Zhejiang cuisine, Fujian cuisine, Hunan cuisine, Anhui cuisine and other local cuisines gradually became famous, forming eight major cuisines in China.
(1) Shandong cuisine
Shandong cuisine, Shandong cuisine, consists of jinan cuisine, Jiaodong cuisine and Confucian cuisine. Jinan cuisine pays special attention to making soup. There are strict rules on the use and cooking of clear soup and milk soup. These dishes are famous for their freshness, crispness and tenderness. Jiaodong cuisine originated from Fushan, Yantai and Qingdao and is good at cooking seafood. Its taste is mainly fresh and tender, with emphasis on lightness and color. Confucian cuisine is a concrete manifestation of "never getting tired of eating essence, never getting tired of eating essence", and its wide range of materials and rich banquets are comparable to those of imperial meals moved to the palace in the past. Shandong cuisine is very heavily seasoned, pure and mellow, and there are few complex synthetic flavors. It reflects the original flavor of raw materials as much as possible. Another feature is that there are many kinds of pasta. Wheat, corn, sweet potato, soybean, sorghum and millet can all be made into pasta with different flavors and become famous feasts. Shandong famous dishes include fried scorpion, Dezhou boneless braised chicken, abalone with original shell, Jiuzhuan large intestine, sweet and sour Yellow River carp and so on.
(2) Sichuan cuisine
Sichuan cuisine includes Chengdu, Chongqing, Leshan, Zigong and other local dishes. The main characteristics are diverse tastes and subtle changes. Zanthoxylum bungeanum, capsicum, capsicum and bean paste are the main condiments. In different proportions, spicy, hot and sour, pepper, sesame paste, garlic paste, mustard, red oil, sweet and sour, fish flavor, strange taste and other flavors are all thick and mellow, with the special flavor of "one dish after another" and "all kinds of dishes are delicious". Among them, the most famous dishes are: dry-roasted rock carp, dry-roasted mandarin fish, fish-flavored shredded pork, exotic chicken, kung pao chicken, steamed pork with rice flour, Mapo tofu, beef hotpot with beef omasum, dry-fried shredded beef, husband and wife's lung slices, light-shadow beef, hand-pulled noodles, glutinous dumplings and dragon wonton.
(3) Cantonese cuisine
Cantonese cuisine, that is, Cantonese cuisine, developed from the specialties of Guangzhou, Chaozhou and Dongjiang, is a kind of cuisine that started late, but it has a great influence. Most Chinese restaurants in Hong Kong, Macao and other countries in the world are mainly Cantonese cuisine. Guangdong cuisine has its own unique flavor, absorbs the advantages of various cuisines and forms a variety of cooking forms. Guangzhou cuisine is clear but not light, fresh but not vulgar, with exquisite materials and diverse varieties. It is also compatible with many western dishes, and pays attention to the momentum and grade of the dishes. Chaozhou belonged to Fujian in ancient times, so Chaozhou cuisine combines the flavor of Fujian and Guangdong, and is good at cooking seafood and sweets, with mellow taste, among which soup dishes are the most distinctive. Dongjiang cuisine, also known as Hakka cuisine, came from the Han nationality in the Central Plains and lived in the mountainous area of Dongjiang. Its dishes have a strong local flavor and are good at frying, frying, roasting and stewing. On the whole, Cantonese cuisine is characterized by wide selection of ingredients, novelty and freshness, light taste, rich taste, clear but not light, tender but not raw, oily but not greasy, with five flavors (fragrant, loose, soft, fat and strong) and six flavors (sour, sweet, bitter, spicy, salty and fresh). Strong seasonality, light in summer and autumn, strong in winter and spring, and many dishes have unique flavors.
Famous dishes include stewed snake chicken, Long Hudou, roast suckling pig, Dongjiang brine chicken, boiled prawns, roasted goose, beef in oyster sauce, Cantonese moon cakes, shahe powder and boat porridge.
(4) Huaiyang cuisine
Huaiyang cuisine is a famous cuisine in the middle and lower reaches of the Yangtze River in China. It covers a wide area, including Jiangsu, Zhejiang, Anhui and Shanghai, as well as parts of Jiangxi and Henan. It has the reputation of "the first in the southeast" and "the first in the world", and its reputation is spread far and wide at home and abroad.
Later, Zhejiang cuisine and Anhui cuisine have their own characteristics and become one of the eight major cuisines. Huaiyang cuisine merged in Jiangsu. At the same time, Jiangsu cuisine belongs to Huaiyang cuisine, which used to be called Su cuisine. In this way, Huaiyang cuisine has become a local flavor dish with Yangzhou and Huai 'an as the center, the Grand Canal as the main body, Zhenjiang in the south, Hongze Lake and Huaihe River in the north and coastal areas in the east. Huaiyang cuisine has strict selection of materials, pays attention to freshness, highlights the main ingredients, is skilled in knife work, is good at stewing, stewing and roasting, attaches importance to mixing soup, pays attention to original flavor, is good at modeling, and is lifelike in melon and fruit carving. The taste is moderate and salty, suitable for both north and south, and can be used to cook "whole eel seats". Huaiyang is fine, beautiful in shape, diverse in taste, beautifully made, delicious and delicious, with different seasons.
Representative dishes include stewed lion's head, stewed silver carp's head, roasted whole pig's head, steamed crucian carp, crystal vegetable hoof, three-piece set of duck, eel, roasted tiger's tail, fried butterfly slices, wax gourd cup, three-diced steamed buns, roasted jade, crab yellow soup packets and thousand-layer oil cakes.
In addition to the Huaiyang cuisine mentioned above, Jiangsu cuisine also includes Nanjing cuisine, Suzhou cuisine, Xuzhou cuisine and other local cuisines. Nanjing cuisine is good at stewing, stewing, forking and roasting. Pay special attention to seven flavors: sour, sweet, bitter, spicy, salty, fragrant and smelly; Fresh, rotten, crisp, tender, crisp, thick and fat. Nanjing cuisine is famous for its elaborate preparation of duck gizzards, and is known as "Jinling duck gizzards are the best in the world". Su cuisine is good at stewing, stewing, stewing, stewing, paying attention to maintaining the original flavor, delicate color, fresh and tender in season, moderate in sweetness and saltiness, crisp and delicious, fresh and delicious. In recent years, it has also cooked "Wuxi Ganlong River South Banquet", "Wuxi Xishi Banquet", "Suzhou Cuisine Banquet" and Taihu Boat Cuisine. The flavor of Xuzhou cuisine belongs to Shandong cuisine in history. With the changes of the times, its cuisine has always been between the two major cuisines of Sulu, with moderate fresh and salty, clear but not light, strong but not turbid. No matter what food is taken from, it pays attention to the role of "diet therapy and food supplement". In addition, Xuzhou cuisine mostly uses big crabs and dog meat, especially whole dog seats.
Jiangsu's famous dishes are: salted duck gizzard, stewed sushi, stewed raw knocks, raw fried soft-shelled turtle, clove ribs, stewed chicken, scallops in Jinling, crucian carp in hibiscus, chrysanthemum herring, jade plate with chrysanthemum leaves, salted duck in Jinling, barbecued duck and barbecued mandarin fish (the above are Nanjing's famous dishes); Sweet and Sour Mandarin Fish, Snail Shrimp, Jade Shrimp Bucket, Snow Crab Bucket, Crab Powder Fish Lip, Butterfly Sea Cucumber, Shark's Fin in Clear Soup, Pan-fried Whitebait, Crispy Eel with Dyed Stream, Mirror Box Tofu, Wuxi Meat and Bone, Changshu Beggar Chicken and Changzhou Braised Pork (all above are Su); Farewell my concubine, Pei Gong dog meat, Pengcheng fish balls, lotus finches, fish skin in milk soup, crab bellies, anchovies, stir-fried black flowers, braised Cargill fish and braised Shaguang fish (the above are Xuzhou dishes); Tianmu Lake casserole fish head, Huai 'an soft pocket, golden webbed fairy skirt. Jiangsu snacks are very distinctive. Qinhuai snacks, Suzhou cakes and soup packets are all famous.
(5) Fujian cuisine
Fujian cuisine is a kind of cuisine mainly formed by local flavor dishes in Fuzhou, southern Fujian and western Fujian. Fuzhou cuisine is fresh, refreshing, sweet and sour, and pays special attention to the preparation of soup. Another feature is that it is good at using brown sugar as an ingredient, which has the functions of preventing deterioration, deodorizing, enhancing fragrance, improving taste and color matching. Minnan cuisine, represented by Xiamen, also has fresh and light characteristics, and pays attention to the use of spices such as Chili sauce and mustard sauce. West Fujian is located at the junction of Guangdong, Fujian and Jiangxi provinces, with Hakka dishes as the main body and many rare products unique to mountainous areas as raw materials, which has a strong mountain flavor. Fujian cuisine is characterized by frying, frying, stewing, frying, stewing and steaming. He is especially good at cooking seafood, with exquisite knives and interesting people, mostly soup. It has a unique flavor of fresh, fragrant, rotten, light and slightly sweet and sour. Fujian snacks have another advantage. They are made of all kinds of seafood in coastal shoals and flavored with special flavor. They are delicious.
The most famous flavor dishes are: the Buddha jumps over the wall, chicken soup, Ai Shan roast duck, seven-star fish balls, braised chicken, fried eel, half moon sauce, swallow skin wonton, Fuzhou noodles, fried oysters and so on.
(6) Zhejiang cuisine
Zhejiang cuisine has a long history, and its flavor includes the characteristics of Hangzhou, Ningbo and Shaoxing. Hangzhou dishes pays attention to the freshness, liveliness and tenderness of raw materials, mainly fish, shrimp and seasonal vegetables, and pays attention to knife work, with fresh and tender taste and outstanding original flavor. Ningbo cuisine is salty and good at cooking seafood. Pay attention to freshness, softness and smoothness, emphasize original taste and taste. Shaoxing cuisine is good at cooking seafood and poultry. The dishes emphasize the fragrant, crisp and glutinous taste in the mouth, and the soup is rich in flavor and rich in pastoral flavor.
Zhejiang cuisine has the characteristics of bright color, delicious taste, tender, crisp, soft and refreshing, small and exquisite dishes, beautiful shape and so on. Good at stewing, frying, stewing and steaming, authentic. There are many kinds of jiaozi, cakes, soups and cakes in Zhejiang dim sum, which are delicious.
The famous dishes are: Longjing shrimp, West Lake water shield soup, fried eel back with shrimp, West Lake vinegar fish, fried bell, crab catching, fresh eel, pickled yellow croaker, rock sugar turtle, oyster scrambled eggs, honey lotus root, Jiaxing zongzi, Ningbo dumplings, Huzhou thousand-noodle steamed stuffed bun and so on.
(7) Hunan cuisine
Hunan cuisine includes the characteristics of dishes in Xiangjiang River Basin, Dongting Lake Area and Xiangxi Mountain Area. Xiangjiang River Basin centered on the Yangtze River, Hengyang and Xiangtan is the main representative of Hunan cuisine. It is characterized by strong oil color, heavy benefit, fresh fragrance, hot and sour, soft and tender, and is especially suitable for stews and pickles. The dishes in Dongting Lake area are good at cooking fresh river, poultry and livestock. It is characterized by large quantity, thick oil, salty, spicy and soft, and is famous for stewing and boiling. Xiangxi cuisine is good at cooking delicacies, smoked bacon, all kinds of bacon and chicken. Its taste is mainly salty, sweet and sour, with strong Shan Ye flavor. One of the biggest characteristics of Hunan cuisine is spicy and the other is wax.
The famous dishes are: Donganzi Chicken, Steamed Bacon, Anzu Shark's Fin, Crystal Sugar Xianglian, Red Pepper Bacon, Hundred-page Maoniu, Huogong Stinky Tofu, Jishou Sour Meat, Heart-changing Eggs, etc.
(8) Anhui cuisine
The flavor of Anhui cuisine includes the characteristics of dishes in southern Anhui, along the Yangtze River and along the Huaihe River. Southern Anhui cuisine includes Huangshan Mountain, Shexian County (ancient Huizhou) and Tunxi. Pay attention to firepower, be good at cooking game, heavy in oil, simple and affordable, and keep the original flavor. Many dishes are stewed with charcoal fire. The soup is clear and mellow, and the original pot is full of fragrance. Although there are not many aquatic products in southern Anhui, the cooked and salty "osmanthus fish" is well known. The dishes along the Yangtze River are represented by Wuhu and Anqing, and then spread to Hefei. Good at cooking fresh river animals, pay attention to knife work, pay attention to color and shape, and make good use of sugar to flavor, especially smoked dishes. The dishes along the Huaihe River are represented by Bengbu, Suxian and Fuyang. The dishes are salty and spicy, the soup is thick and heavy, and it is also seasoned with coriander. The famous flavor dishes are: Wuwei smoked duck, Maofeng smoked shad, Fuliji roast chicken, square spicy fish, stewed chicken with stone ears, cloud meat, mung bean pancakes and butterfly noodles.