regional and inter-regional menus

[udscbt]

Hi !

On this forum, there is an overwhelming amount of information on individual regional dishes but I have not found any discussion concerning the combination of these dishes to form menus. Maybe I haven’t looked hard enough and would be quite happy if someone would provide a link.

If not, perhaps it would be interesting to try to see what regional or inter-regional menus could look like in terms of balance (color, texture, taste, etc.). What "rules" do people use? Recently, I have tried to put together menus which reflect a gastronomic tour of the regional cuisines, limiting myself to the four directions, even though I know that it is more complicated than that. Here are my recent menus; please correct my Chinese which is not very strong. Any comments, corrections or suggestions would be most helpful.

Thanks

Menu 1 for 9 people

Appetizer (West?): ( 羅 家 核 桃 ) Fire-Dried Walnuts

West: ( 糖 醋 小 黃 瓜 ) Sweet and Tangy Cucumber Pickles

South: ( 炸 子 鸡 ) Braised crispy (fried) chicken with prawn crackers

West: ( 陈 皮 牛 肉 ) Orange Peel Beef

East: ( 茄 子 塞 肉 ) Stuffed Eggplant

North (also West): ( 酸 辣 汤 ) Hot sour soup

Menu 2 for 8 people

Appetizer (West?): ( 羅 家 核 桃 ) Fire-Dried Walnuts

West: ( 宫 保 鸡 丁 ) Gong Bao Chicken

East: ( 炒 鸡 肝 姜 ) Fried Chicken Livers in ginger sauce

North: ( 木 须 肉 ) Mu Shu Pork with pancakes

South: ( 清 蒸 全 魚 ) Steamed Whole Fish/Seared Scallions

North: ( 北 京 辣 白 菜 ) Pickled Cabbage Peking style

Menu 3 for 5 people

West: ( 东 安 子 鸡 ) Dong'an chicken

North: ( 黄 焖 牛 肉 ) Braised Beef with Brown Sauce

South: ( 苔 菜 明 虾 ) Deep-fried Prawns & Green Seaweed

East: ( 干 炖 笋 和 蘑 菇 ) Dry braised bamboo shoots & chinese mushrooms

East: ( 酥 脆 海 草 ) Crispy Seaweed

Menu 4 for 4 people

South: ( 核 桃 鸡 片 ) Walnut Chicken Slices

East: ( 绍 兴 醉 鸡 ) Drunken Chicken, Shaoxing style

North: ( 在 酒 的 鱼 ) Sole in Wine Sauce

West: ( 干 煸 鲜 笋 ) Dry cooked bamboo shoots

Menu 5 for 4 people

North: ( 薄 如 纸 羊 肉 葱 ) Paper-thin lamb with scallions

East: ( 叫 化 鸡 ) Beggar's chicken

West: ( 麻 辣 田 鸡 ) Stir-fried Frogs Legs with garlic sauce

South: ( 芦 笋 牛 肉 丝 ) Asparagus with beef slivers

Edited June 30, 2009 by udscbt (log)

[sheetz]

udscbt, at first I thought the idea of combining dishes from different regions on the same menu to be a bit strange, much like combining Tex-Mex burritos, New England clam chowder, and Louisiana po boys on the same menu. But on second thought there are certain regional dishes, like mapo dofu or beijing duck, which are popular all over China, albeit with regional interpretations, so I suppose it's not too off the wall.

The first thing I noticed when reading your list is the number of dishes on the menus. Personally, I would increase the number of dishes in menus 1 and 2 as normally a menu for a group that size would include a few more items. Eight courses would be a good number, as Chinese consider eight to be a very auspicious number. On the other hand, four is considered a very inauspicious number (it sounds like the word for 'death'), so I would change the number of items in menus 4 and 5. You could add a soup or something.

I'm not familiar with all the items you've listed, but are things like fire dried walnuts, sweet and tangy cucumber pickles, and crispy seaweed substantial enough to be considered a separate course in themselves? Instead I would probably include them as part of an appetizer platter served at the beginning of the meal.

Menu 4 seems odd in that 2 of the 4 dishes are chicken.

Then there's the level of formality. More elaborate dishes are usually reserved for formal occasions, while simple dishes tend to be reserved for everyday fare. I get the impression that some of your menus mix both formal and everyday dishes, which is fine, but I try to avoid doing that myself when I'm entertaining. Of course, if your guests aren't Chinese it's unlikely they would even know the difference.

Finally there's the matter of food symbolism, which you can read about here.

Obviously there are no hard and fast rules, and everything that I've written is only from my own perspective, but hopefully I've helped you understand a little bit more about how Chinese people view food and how there's a lot more to it than just tasting good (although that's awfully important, too!).

Edited July 1, 2009 by sheetz (log)

[liuzhou]

The number of dishes per number of people seems a little odd.

A general rule of thumb is to have at least as many dishes as people plus one. Your first menu has only five dishes for nine people, while No.3 has the same for 5 people.

Edited October 8, 2022 by liuzhou (log)

[udscbt]

To Sheetz and Liuzhou

Thank you for your quick and interesting replies which help me understand the Chinese point-of-view. If you permit me, let me give the context from my perspective.

I grew up in New York in a French family, eating Cantonese food occasionally. Later, my Chinese physicist colleagues introduced me to Northern food. Near the end of the 1960’s, Sichuan food became the rage. I then moved to Paris where I found restaurants that featured “Chinese, Thai and Vietnamese” food in one menu. I was sorely disappointed, and quite hungry. During a one-year stay in Berkeley more than 25 years ago, I started to learn to make my own Sichuan food so that when I went back to France I could satisfy my hunger somewhat, a kind of auto-protection. During the recent Year of China in France, I became interested in understanding the cuisines from other regions. So I invite friends to be the tasters for my gastronomical tours of China, thus my menus. Perhaps this can give you an idea about why I combine regional dishes (maybe more than you want to know!).

Evidently from your comments, I have not sufficiently considered the number of dishes; I will try to avoid the number 4. And it probably was not a good idea to have two chicken dishes in Menu 4 but I wanted to have people taste the difference between the two regional treatments of the same main ingredient. I use the cucumber pickle dish during the meal to clear the palate between two other dishes since it is cold, vinegary and crunchy; I know that it is often used as an appetizer. The link to symbolic Chinese foods is quite interesting.

Thanks again for your comments. If you have any other, be assured that I will read them with great interest.

[hzrt8w]

Menu 1 for 9 people

Appetizer (West?):  ( 羅 家 核 桃 )  Fire-Dried Walnuts

←

In 2 of your menus you feature 羅 家 核 桃. Is 羅 家 (Law's family) your family name?

[udscbt]

Menu 1 for 9 people

Appetizer (West?):  ( 羅 家 核 桃 )  Fire-Dried Walnuts

←

In 2 of your menus you feature 羅 家 核 桃. Is 羅 家 (Law's family) your family name?

←

No that is not my family name. I took the Chinese name from Barbara Tropp's book without checking. Perhaps a better name would be (chǎo gān hé táo, 炒 干 核 桃 ). Do you agree?

Do you have any comments on how to make a menu from your various recipes which you have posted on this forum and which I have appreciated? What would guide you?

Thanks anyhow.

Edited July 1, 2009 by udscbt (log)

[udscbt]

Another possibility is (tián xián wèi hé táo, 甜 咸 味 核 桃 ) perhaps more faithful to what the dish tastes like.

Edited July 2, 2009 by udscbt (log)