Distinguishing the eight regional cuisines

[udscbt]

Hello,

Here I go again, sticking my neck out, since I think that discussions concerning menu building, complementary to individual recipes, can be quite useful to understanding these remarkable cuisines.

After reading some of the literature and much experimenting with different dishes, I have come up with proposals for regional menus which might be considered “typical”. I wonder if you have any comments or changes to propose (or insults to share!)? Here they are:

NORTHERN menu with principle regional attributes

Peking lamb with leeks (北京韭菜羊肉) lamb, leeks, garlic

Chicken with cashew nuts (醬爆鸡) garlic, hoisin sauce

Sole in Wine sauce (酒溜鱼片) a more typical fish dish from north would be welcome

Pickled Cabbage Peking style (北京酸菜) white cabbage

Beef noodle soup (牛肉面条汤) wheat, noodles, ginger, scallions, garlic

EASTERN menu with principle regional attributes

Dong po Pork (东坡肉) rich (oily), red cooking

Wuwei Smoked Duck (无为熏鸭) black/green tea of Longjing

West Lake Fish (=Carp) (西湖醋鲤鱼) wine/Shaoxing, black vinegar/Zhenjiang, fish

Dry braised bamboo shoots & chinese mushrooms (烧二冬) bamboo shoots, red cooking

Lion's Head casserole (沙锅狮子头) wine/Shaoxing, Shanghai green cabbage, crab/pork mixture

SOUTHERN menu with principle regional attributes

Sweet and Sour pork (咕咾肉) sweet, stir-frying

Paper-wrapped Chicken (纸包鸡) dim sum

Steamed Whole Fish / black beans (荳豉蒸魚) fish, black beans, steaming

Asparagus with Beef slivers (芦笋牛肉丝) stir-frying

Assorted Meat Soup in Winter Melon (什锦冬瓜盅) steaming

WESTERN/CENTRAL menu with principle regional attributes

Tangerine Peel Beef (陈皮牛肉) multiple processes, chilis, tangerine, Sichuan pepper

Gong Bao (Kung Pao) Chicken (宫保鸡丁) chilis, peanuts

Stir-fried Frogs Legs with Garlic Sauce (麻辣田鸡) chilis

Dry-fried string beans (干煸四季豆) Sichuan vegetable

Hot sour soup (酸辣汤) spicy

TOUR OF CHINA menu with principle regional attributes

N: Canard de Pékin (北京鸭) roasting

N: Mandarin Pancakes/Scallion Brushes (薄饼 / 葱刷子) raw scallions, wheat, hoisin sauce

E: Wuxi style pork ribs (无锡排骨) red-cooking

S: Seafood "birds" (taro) nest (雀巢海鮮) taro, seafood, stir-frying

W: Pock-Marked Ma's Bean Curd (麻婆豆腐) Sichuan pepper/chili paste

all: Spinach and Bean Curd Soup (菠菜豆腐羹) a soup from no place in particular. Is that right?

Have fun!

[Fengyi]

NORTHERN menu with principle regional attributes

Peking lamb with leeks (北京韭菜羊肉) lamb, leeks, garlic

Chicken with cashew nuts (醬爆鸡) garlic, hoisin sauce

Sole in Wine sauce (酒溜鱼片) a more typical fish dish from north would be welcome

Pickled Cabbage Peking style (北京酸菜) white cabbage

Beef noodle soup (牛肉面条汤) wheat, noodles, ginger, scallions, garlic

How northern is northern? Are you sticking to just Dongbei or are you including Shandong? If the latter, you shouldn't forget the classic Songshuyu 松鼠鱼 (squirrel fish).

Also, if you're going to do baicai, do baicai chao fensi 白菜炒粉丝, it don't get more Dongbei than that!

You're using the wrong word for leeks in the first dish - it's 葱爆羊肉, 韭菜 are not used for this dish. But speaing of jiucai, where are the jiaozi? The Mantou? and isn't zhajiangmian 炸酱面 the classic BJ dish?

Nix the chicken and cashew nuts dish too - a. not very classic at all and b. you shouldn't have two 爆 cooked dishes in a row. and 京酱肉丝 woudl be more on target.

Remember that with noodles - what type of noodles depends on the area...

And if you want a real northern dish - you've got to have millet zhou (just had some yesterday - which twigged me). I hate it, but it's a staple you can't ignore. (having said that, the Shanxi version cooked with pumpkin is rather OK).

WRT the other menus, I'm afraid that we're closing for New Year here and I haven't much time - but be careful with differentiating Central and Western - they are so so so so so different, that I would hesistate to put them together.

Cheers!

[udscbt]

Hello Fengyi,

Thanks a lot for your extensive comments and suggestions which I will certainly include in the "Northern" menu as soon as I have time to "digest" them. Of course, I will have to make the dishes to understand their regional characteristics.

I hope that comments on the other regions will be forthcoming as I continue to try to differentiate the different regional cuisines.

Many thanks again.

[udscbt]

Hello again,

I forgot to state that I consider the North (or Northeast) to be comprised of Beijing, Dongbei, Shandong. The East (or Southeast) consists of Shanghai, Jiangsu, Anhui, Zhejiang and the South of Canton, Guangdong, Fujian. The West/Central regions are Sichuan and Hunan.

I understand that these groupings are somewhat arbitrary and no doubt exclude some serious gastronomic regions. I am quite interested if someone has some other grouping in mind.

Cheers

[Shalmanese]

Are the braised pork neckbones they serve with the straw and plastic gloves a northern only thing or all over China? Regardless, they were about some of the most delicious food we had last time we were there.

[liuzhou]

The marrow bones with straws and plastic gloves are popular down here in Guangxi in southern China, too.

[udscbt]

Hello again Fenyi,

You are probably frantically making your last minute preparations for the lunar New Year but I thought I would respond on a few points you raise:

1. I am somewhat confused concerning the squirrel fish (for which I have a recipe) since I have read that it is a Jiangsu dish. See songshujueyu. Do you have any comments?

2. I don't have a recipe for baicai chao fensi but I do have one for Dongbei Sour Cabbage Dumplings from Flavor & Fortune magazine, see F&F. Would that be OK? If not, where should I look?

3. I think that you are right about the jiaozi and/or Mantou which I should somehow include in the "typical" menu which I have arbitrarily set to 5 dishes. I think that recipes are easy to find.

Perhaps you can answer when things have calmed down.

Have a Happy New Year, Cheers

ps. please see my 2 previous brief responses