liuzhou

Chinese food must be among the most famous in the world. Yet, at the same time, the most misunderstood. I feel sure (hope) that most people here know that American-Chinese cuisine, British-Chinese cuisine, Indian-Chinese cuisine etc are, in huge ways, very different from Chinese-Chinese cuisine and each other. That's not what I want to discuss. Yet, every day I still come across utter nonsense on YouTube videos and Facebook about the "real" Chinese cuisine, even from ethnically Chinese people (who have often never been in China). Sorry YouTube "influencers", but sprinkling soy sauce or 5-spice powder on your cornflakes does not make them Chinese! So what is the "authentic" Chinese food? Well, like any question about China, there are several answers. It is not surprising that a country larger than western Europe should have more than one typical culinary style. Then, we must distinguish between what you may be served in a large hotel dining room, a small local restaurant, a street market stall or in a Chinese family's home. That said, in this topic, I want to attempt to debunk some of the more prevalent myths. Not trying to start World War III. But don't get me started on Crab Frigging Rangoon! When I moved to China from the UK 25 years ago, I had my preconceptions. They were all wrong. Sweet and sour pork with egg fried rice was reported to be the second favourite dish in Britain, and had, of course, to be preceded by a plate of prawn/shrimp crackers. All washed down with a lager or three. Yet, in that quarter of a century, I've seldom seen a prawn cracker; they are Indonesian, not Chinese. And egg fried rice is usually eaten as a quick dish on its own, not usually as an accompaniment to main courses. Every menu featured a starter of prawn/shrimp toast which I have never seen in mainland China - just once in Hong Kong. But first, one myth needs to be dispelled. The starving Chinese! When I was a child I was encouraged to eat the particularly nasty bits on the plate by being told that the starving Chinese would lap them up. My suggestion that we could post it to them never went down too well. At that time (the late fifties) there was indeed a terrible famine in China (almost entirely manmade (Maomade)). When I first arrived in China, it was after having lived in Soviet Russia and I expected to see the same long lines of people queuing up to buy nothing very much in particular. Instead, on my first visit to a market (in Hunan Province), I was confronted with a wider range of vegetables, seafood, meat and assorted unidentified frying objects than I have ever seen anywhere else. And it was so cheap I couldn't convert to UK pounds or any other useful currency. I'm going to start with some of the simpler issues - later it may get ugly! 1. Chinese people eat everything with chopsticks. No, they don't! Most things, yes, but spoons are also commonly used in informal situations. I recently had lunch in a university canteen. It has various stations selling different items. I found myself by the fried rice stall and ordered some Yangzhou fried rice. Nearly all the students and faculty sitting near me were having the same. I was using my chopsticks to shovel the food in, when I noticed that I was the only one doing so. Everyone else was using spoons. On investigating, I was told that the lunch break is so short at only two-and-a-half hours that everyone wants to eat quickly and rush off for their compulsory siesta. I've also seen claims that people eat soup with chopsticks. Nonsense. While people use chopsticks to pick out choice morsels from the broth, they will drink the soup by lifting their bowl to their mouths like cups. They ain't dumb! Anyway, with that very mild beginning, I'll head off and think which on my long list will be next. Thanks to @KennethT for advice re American-Chinese food.

Wel, of course I know Beijing, but I live in Guangxi. Not sure that I agree with you about Beijing having the greatest food, though! But, welcome to eG. I look forward to what you have to contribute.

Yes. I also failed to note that the ribs are chopped into bite sized pieces to facilitate chopstick use. No long full ribs are served here!

@Anna N Obviously I don't know if you have see this, but it made me think of you.

No. I use Pixian dou ban jiang just as it comes, chunky. The ribs were simmered in plain water for 30-40 minutes, then left to cool. Later, they were marinaded with the dou ban jiang and garlic overnight. Then stir fried with the everything else - Shaoxing , soy sauce etc. The dou ban jiang breaks down at that stage and isn't chunky in the final dish.

Pork ribs with 豆瓣酱 (dòu bàn jiàng), garlic, ginger, Shaoxing wine, soy sauce and scallions. Served with rice and stir fried (more like wilted) spinach and garlic. I do love that neanderthal delight in gnawing meat from bones. Actually, no gnawing was required - the meat was falling off.

长沙臭豆腐 (cháng shā chòu dòu fǔ) Changsha Stinky Tofu.

Most dog restaurants here are exclusively full of (drunken) men and prostitutes, judging by the tart cards littering the places next morning. I've never seen such behaviour at the lion restaurants!

I'd leave the dog (yes, I've eaten it) and the lion to the end. Carnivores never taste good. Except fish and other seafood, for some reason.

Give me durian pizza! Give me spit roasted panda steaks! Stir-fried monkey brains. Boiled lion. Sautéed crocodile. Stewed spider. Ratatouille with raw rat. Entrails, viscera, droppings. Just spare me the c@rn!

I have no idea if China even has those, but I expect not. Outside of zoos.

Where in China are you from?

Ship from where to where?

Recently, post-Covid as we are here, I've noticed a number of these sign posted around town. I don't think I really need to translate. No mention of bats? And why do we get that antelope-like beast three times? And what looks dog-like? All the dog meat restaurants around here are still functioning normally. At least, they left my favourite snake meat off the list.

I'm not 100% sure this belongs here, but I did pick it up at the checkout at one of my local supermarkets. It's actually for the "western" restaurant next door which has nothing to do with the supermarket, but obviously friendly enough. It did amuse me however. I had no idea what Montreal Steak was but Google set me straight. Then I noticed that they proudly proclaim that it is 100% guaranteed Australian steak. I checked my atlas and think it must be (con)fusion food. The other side of the leaflet: features at 25元, Thai Style Curried Seafood; at 28元 Cypress Mushroom Steak; and for a mere 27元 a Tuna Pizza. Actually, I have eaten there and it's not that bad if you choose carefully.

Here is a short, but interesting article on the historic importance of 'amateur' cookbooks of the past.

Red curried shrimp.

You could try using cherries.

Possibly/probably history's biggest selling cookbook with over 40 million copies distributed. From the promoters of the newly invented self raising/rising flour. Now in its 41st edition, this one is from the 1950s and my mother still has and uses it.

Beautiful