Why is Chinese food not developing smoothly in the West? The foreigner inadvertently told the truth. The foreigner's thinking is puzzling!
Food, no matter which region, has its own unique food as a representative. Food culture is broad and profound, and it can be refined and rough. Exquisite to every food, coarse to radish and cabbage, food is really a powerful thing. Can make you think about it day and night, just to eat it as soon as possible. It is a kind of suffering before eating sincerely, and it is a kind of enjoyment when eating. Today, most of the foods I want to introduce to you have been eaten, because this is the food we often eat. There is a certain truth in the saying that one side of the soil and water nurtures one side of the people. Looking at our delicious food, it is estimated that some people don't want to say anything more, and everyone can already understand the different cultural atmosphere of everyone's region. Look at all the delicious food I brought to you today! Why is Chinese food not developing smoothly in the west? The foreigner inadvertently told the truth. The foreigner's thinking is puzzling!
Chinese food is so delicious because people who eat it feel that their tastes are concerned and valued, even though those Chinese foods do not meet the unified standards in the eyes of westerners.
One summer evening, our Italian neighbor asked me if I had ordered in the Chinese restaurant downstairs recently. The reason is that every time he and I always order the same egg to stir-fry Niuhe. This dish is the cheapest of all dishes and the most suitable for ordering takeout. Then, he told me. He never wants to go to that Chinese restaurant again. Because, the ingredients in the egg-fried cow river always change. He said, I spend the same price every time, hoping to buy the same thing. But why do they always change the materials inside?
The neighbor is a second-generation immigrant, who owns an Italian restaurant chain. He once helped his family's restaurants, saying that the cooking materials in their restaurants were all weighed by measuring cups and other utensils, which was accurate and quantitative. This was called not deceiving customers. He wondered why restaurants run by China people cook so casually.
I explained to him that it's not that people in China don't pay attention to honesty in business, but that people in China just estimate and put materials in cooking. How can it be so accurate? There is a jargon in the culinary world in China, which is called "a good cook has a handful of salt". That is, no matter whether it is a big pot, a small pot, a big bowl or a small bowl, the chef weighs the salt with a spoon for cooking, and a spoon is definitely salty and light. This is called the basic skill of chef China. Unlike westerners, who weigh everything with tools, is that person's experience worthless? Neighbors are helpless. Finally, I still didn't persuade him to order at a Chinese restaurant again.
China's recipes are indeed inaccurate, but it is not intentional for Chinese restaurants to cheat customers, let alone for China people to cheat and cheat in business. This is the cultural difference between China and the West. I decided to meet similar things in the future, to defend China people and explain this cultural difference to westerners, so as not to leave a bad impression on China people.
Looking through Chinese food recipes, it is written as follows: appropriate amount of salt, a little sugar, light soy sauce according to personal taste. The recipe of westerners is as follows: 1/2 cup of water, 1/3 cup of oil, 1/2 teaspoon of salt and 3 teaspoons of sugar.
As for the cooking steps, China's cookbook says: Stew the beans over high fire until soft and rotten, then simmer for about 1 minutes until the juice is collected, and then take out the pot. Western recipes write: preheat the oven at 375 degrees for 5 minutes, turn it to 35 degrees for baking, bake it on a 9-inch by 12-inch cake baking tray for 25-3 minutes, and bake it in 24 standard cake cups for 15-2 minutes.
And we in China don't care so much about drinking tea. If you want to drink strong tea, add more tea, and add less tea for a cup of weak tea. A pot of tea must be refilled two or three times to enjoy all the essence of tea. It's not as wasteful as drinking coffee in the west. Moreover, after the tea is watered several times, the precise quantitative brewing for the first time will lose its meaning, because what you care about is not the consistent commercial quality of the first time, but all the tea flavors will be drunk in the end. Accurate quantification is a key step for the food industry to move towards industrialized production. However, such standards cannot win everything.