Chinese Food: 34 Popular Dishes + 3 Secret Recipe Tips
Diana Barkley
(Senior Editor)
Chinese cuisine features some of the world’s most intriguing flavors and textures. It can be challenging to recreate meals from such an influential cuisine, but what if we told you you could do it with the knowledge and tips we’re sharing today? Find here the most famous Chinese dishes and secret recipe tips.
Dating a few millennia, Chinese cuisine is one of the oldest cuisines to grace the globe. It’s also one of the most diverse and creative, branching into several cooking schools –based on region, environment, ethnicity, class, and more– each with its unique taste, style, ingredients, and processing.
In today’s guide, we’ll introduce you to the wonders of Chinese food. From salty, sweet, sour, and spicy, to seafood, pork, chicken, and vegetarian meals, Chinese cuisine is incredibly rich and adaptive.
It has something delicious to offer to every food preference out there, so keep reading as we explore 34 of the most popular Chinese dishes and unveil three secret recipe tips to help you master Chinese cooking.
Traditional Chinese Cuisine: More Than Spring Rolls and Kung Pao
Traditional Chinese Cuisine: More Than Spring Rolls and Kung Pao
Chinese cuisine is one of the most—if not the single most—diverse cuisines in the world. It encompasses several cooking styles, with eight culinary classes being the main ones. These include Sichuan, Fujian, Cantonese, Shandong, Jiangsu, Hunan, Zhejiang, and Anhui.
Each of these styles contains dozens upon dozens of traditional dishes, served everywhere from restaurants to street stalls.
Ethnicity, social status, climate, region, and available resources are some factors that resulted in the unparalleled variation of techniques, flavors, and textures of food in Chinese culture.
Most Popular Street Food in China
Most Popular Street Food in China
Street food is an integral characteristic of Chinese culture. Walking around any part of China will readily introduce you to many street vendors offering everything from savory meats to sweet snacks.
The following are just a drop in the ocean when it comes to street food options you can stumble upon when exploring the Red Dragon street food culture.
Scallion Pancakes (Cōng Yóu Bǐng)
Scallion Pancakes (Cōng Yóu Bǐng)
Unlike pancakes in Western cuisine, Chinese scallion pancakes are flaky and crispy with the interior being barely soft. They’re savory and aromatic because they feature a generous amount of spring onions.
That said, they’re as easy to make and go deliciously with sweet and sour pork, egg drop soup, fish congee, and cucumber salad.
Dim Sum Chicken Feet
Dim Sum Chicken Feet
This dish may not sound very appetizing, but it’s super flavorful once you get a taste. Originating in Cantonese cuisine, this delicacy uses fermented black beans, garlic, ginger, chili paste, and chili peppers.
Making it the traditional way involves boiling, soaking, steaming/braising, and deep frying the chicken feet, but the result is worth the effort.
Chinese Kebabs (Chuan’r)
Chinese Kebabs (Chuan’r)
Chuan’r is the Chinese version of kebabs or lamb skewers with the bonus of being simple to prepare. Juicy, spicy, and smokey, it’s easily one of the top street foods in terms of popularity.
You can use lean or fatty cuts for this dish, and be sure to pair it with a refreshing salad to balance the flavors.
Candied Hawthorn (Tánghúlu)
Candied Hawthorn (Tánghúlu)
Anyone with a sweet tooth will appreciate this candy-like treat known as Tánghúlu. This hot pink street food consists of hawthorn berries with a coating of caramelized sugar (sometimes topped with sesame seeds) and arranged on a bamboo stick.
They have a glassy look but they’re soft and chewy once you bite into them.
Chinese Food in the World
Chinese Food in the World
Chinese cuisine has made it bigger than any other cuisine when it comes to global fame. It’s cooking styles have an imprint in almost every other culture nowadays, from the USA to Europe to the Middle East.
Chow Mein
Chow Mein
One of our favorite dishes that achieved worldwide popularity is none other than chow mein. It exists in different adaptations in American, Indian, and Mexican cuisines among others, but it generally features stir-fry noodles with meat bits, vegetables, or both.
Not to mention, it’s quick and easy to make even for beginners.
Fried Rice
Fried Rice
Another dish you can whip up in minutes with minimal hassle is fried rice. It’s quite a versatile recipe that can turn any leftovers into a tasty meal once you combine them with steamed rice and pan-fry them for a couple of minutes. Soy sauce is often to give that distinct umami flavor.
General Tso’s Chicken
General Tso’s Chicken
A Chinese-based meal that soon became a global favorite, General Tso’s chicken is the epitome of sweet and sour dishes.
You can deep-fry or stir-fry the chicken, as long as you toss in the sticky sauce it’ll turn out mouthwatering. Serve with a side of steamed rice and top with sesame seeds for extra crunch.
Dumplings
Dumplings
Jiaozi, or Chinese dumplings, are another fantastic example of world-famous Chinese recipes. Because dumplings use fillings, this dish is extremely versatile since you can use any type of stuffing you prefer. You can even steam, boil, or fry the dumplings themselves.
How Healthy Is Chinese Food?
How Healthy Is Chinese Food?
A lot of elements in Chinese cuisine revolve around improving health using food, spices, and herbs as the Chinese culture contains a fundamental belief in the power of nature in healing.
This is where traditional Chinese medicine shines, utilizing teas and soups with various ingredients to manifest health-supporting effects.
As such, we can conclude that while not every Chinese recipe is healthy, most of them feature ingredients that support better health.
Famous and Popular Chinese Dishes You Have to Try
Famous and Popular Chinese Dishes You Have to Try
This section compiles a range of must-try Chinese dishes under multiple food categories to help you get started exploring and experimenting with Chinese cuisine.
Soups & Salads
Soups & Salads
Chinese cuisine is riddled with all sorts of soups to satisfy hunger and comfort the soul, so it was super easy to add some to our list.
The same can be said about salads, although people in China don’t share the same concept of “salads” as it’s known in Western cuisine and treat those recipes just as snacks, meals, sides, or appetizers.
Crossing the Bridge/Over the Bridge Noodle Soup (Guo Qiao Mi Xian)
Crossing the Bridge/Over the Bridge Noodle Soup (Guo Qiao Mi Xian)
A Yunnan cuisine specialty, this flavorful soup contains rice noodles, chicken broth, meat slices, and chopped veggies.
It gets its name and presentation technique from a legendary love story where a wife crosses a bridge daily to bring her husband a hot meal on a secluded island.
To avoid having the noodles soak up all the broth, she would keep the components of the soup separate so the husband would assemble them after she’d reach him — much like how it’s done nowadays.
Egg Drop Soup (Dan Hua Tang)
Egg Drop Soup (Dan Hua Tang)
Served in Chinese restaurants and homes all over the country, egg drop soup is as fun to cook as it is delicious to eat.
Once you decide on a broth (usually chicken, but any other rich broth will do), you’ll drop whisked eggs into it while hot.
You’ll end up with cooked flower-like bits of eggs swimming in broth, which you can then top off with sesame oil and scallions.
Winter Melon Soup (Dong Gua Tang)
Winter Melon Soup (Dong Gua Tang)
Winter melon fruit is a lot like cucumbers, meaning that it has a bland taste and a texture that easily takes in flavor.
As such, the Chinese pair it with various ingredients to make it richer, such as broth, chicken, pork, meat, ham, dried anchovies or shrimp, mushrooms, goji berries, etc.
This soup hails from Guangdong, similar to the infamous Wonton soup.
Hot and Sour Soup (Suān là tāng)
Hot and Sour Soup (Suān là tāng)
A classic in Chinese cuisine, hot and sour soup offers an explosion of flavors with every spoonful courtesy of the exquisite blend of day lily buds, soy sauce, vinegar, red/white peppers, wood ear fungus, shitake mushroom, bamboo shoots, and tofu.
Originating from Beijing or Sichuan, this soup is known to act as an appetite stimulant, a hangover cure, and a metabolism booster after a hearty meal.
Cucumber Salad (Pai Huang Gua)
Pai Huang Gua
A particularly light yet savory salad is this Chinese cucumber salad made out of diced cucumbers, vinegar, chili oil, sesame oil, garlic, soy sauce, salt, and sugar.
You’re supposed to add the sauce mixture to the cucumbers right before serving to ensure that the vegetable doesn’t lose its water content. Tasty and refreshing, this dish is great for meal prepping and outdoor parties or picnics.
Sesame Sauce Potato Noodles (Da La Pi)
Sesame Sauce Potato Noodles (Da La Pi)
A product of Northern Chinese (Dongbei) cuisine, Da La Pi is a meal full of flavors, colors, and textures. It features sweet potato noodles that become see-through with a soft and chewy consistency once cooked.
An assortment of vegetables and egg ribbons typically accompany the noodles with stir-fried meat/pork sometimes included. The sesame sauce brings together all the flavors, making for a tasty winter salad.
Chicken Cold Noodles Salad (Jī Sī Liáng Miàn)
Chicken Cold Noodles Salad (Jī Sī Liáng Miàn)
Even if you’re not very familiar with Chinese cuisine, chances are you’ve had a variation of the authentic chicken noodle salad.
Perfect for spring and summer, this cold salad is savory, aromatic, refreshing, and fulfilling as it uses sesame oil, sesame paste, chili oil, soy sauce, ginger, crunchy cucumber, shredded chicken, and green onion.
It’s quite easy to prepare and suitable for on-the-go meals.
Cold Bean Sprouts Salad (Liáng Bàn Dòu Yá)
Cold Bean Sprouts Salad (Liáng Bàn Dòu Yá)
Light, crunchy, and refreshing, this salad is a fantastic summer recipe that you can whip up in minutes. It’s savory, nutty, sour, and spicy, featuring bean sprouts, soy sauce, vinegar, sugar, pepper, garlic, green onions, and Sichuan peppercorn.
You’ll load all the ingredients in one bowl, add hot peanut oil and sesame oil, and then mix everything well.
Tiger Salad (Laohu Cai)
Refreshing, delicious, and easy to make, tiger salad comes from northern Chinese cuisine and gets its name from the appearance of the different shades of shredded green vegetables making up the salad.
Typically, it contains green pepper, green onion, scallions, cilantro, and cucumber, tossed with sesame oil, soy sauce, and rice vinegar. Top with sesame seeds and serve alone or alongside meat dishes to balance out the heartiness.
Starters, Sandwiches & Sides
Starters, Sandwiches & Sides
Chinese folks love their sides and starters; all their meals are almost always served alongside at least two or three side dishes and appetizers. They also enjoy a wide range of sandwiches and wraps, especially as street food.
Spring Rolls (Chun Juan)
Spring Rolls (Chun Juan)
Even though it’s been globalized for decades, this starter dish continues to take the world by storm thanks to the satisfying culinary experience it offers.
The thin, crispy dough on the outside blends with the soft, flavorful center to create bites of deliciousness. Commonly served alongside an assortment of sauces, typical fillings include shredded cabbage, pork, mushrooms, and shrimp.
These rolls were traditionally cooked coinciding with the start of spring, which explains the name.
Egg Rolls (Dan gun)
Egg Rolls (Dan gun)
This tasty dish is usually served as a starter, side, and even just a snack throughout the day. The outer layer is a deep-fried, heavily egg-based dough whereas the center is typically a mixture of shredded cabbage, pork, onion, and spices.
This recipe is great for meal prepping ahead of time and the rolls can even be frozen for months on end.
Century Egg
Century Egg
This dish may seem off-putting or even unsafe to eat at first sight, but we promise you, it’s completely fine to consume. The only caution you need to use here is toward the strong taste of these eggs, which is pungent and rich like aged cheese.
The process of making century eggs involves preserving chicken, quail, or duck eggs for a few months in a saline solution, turning the egg whites dark and gelatinous and the yolk dark and creamy.
Jiaozi
Dumpling recipes are sweepingly popular across China, and this Jiaozi dish is no exception. Doubling as a starter and a main course, this recipe consists of a vegetable or meat filling wrapped inside a thin layer of dough that’s either steamed, boiled, or fried.
The dip always features soy sauce to provide a much-appreciated kick.
Soup Buns (Tangbao)
We’ve talked about dumplings filled with a meat or veggie mixture, but this dish is more like dumplings filled with soup.
Tangbao or soup buns refer to a group of recipes with that feature in common but differ in the type of dough (plain or leavened) and filling (minced crab or pork) used.
Steam cooks the dough and turns the filling into hot, tasty soup, which is why these buns are served right after steaming.
Sweet and Sour Ribs (Tang Cu Pai Gu)
Sweet and Sour Ribs (Tang Cu Pai Gu)
The flavor combo of sweet and sour is a signature of Chinese cuisine; this dish is one of the best to showcase such an amazing taste.
It starts with deep-frying marinated spare ribs and then dipping them in a sweet and sour concoction of soy sauce, garlic, ginger, rice vinegar, and sugar. This delicious dish is widely served in Chinese restaurants alongside beer, especially for festivities.
Poh Piah (Popiah)
Poh Piah (Popiah)
Dubbed the Chinese burrito, this sandwich looks like an oversized spring roll and even shares the general concept of a thin, crepe-like dough wrapped around a mixture of ingredients.
The filling is usually customized according to preference, commonly featuring chopped veggies, seafood, meat, eggs, or sausages. Originating in Fujian Cuisine, Poh Piah is traditionally cut into smaller rings before serving.
Chinese Hamburger (Roujiamo/Rougamo)
Chinese Hamburger (Roujiamo/Rougamo)
A Shaanxi cuisine native, Chinese hamburger is extremely popular as a street food given how quickly it’s prepared and how delicious it tastes.
It typically features a bread bun called bai ji mo with shredded pork belly, lamb, or beef as stuffing.
The braising of the meat uses an elaborate mixture of ingredients including over 20 spices (cinnamon, galangal, star anise, coriander, etc.), soy sauce, Shaoxing wine, onions, hot peppers, and ginger.
Mains
Mains
Chinese cuisine is overflowing with main dish options thanks to the vast variety of ingredients and techniques throughout the culture. Next up, we’re looking at some of the most delicious and popular dishes you can enjoy in this category.
Peking Duck (Běijīng Kǎoyā)
Originating in Beijing, Peking duck has been a Chinese delicacy for centuries now, with many people considering it the most delicious way to eat duck meat.
Preparation involves roasting the duck whole in a wood-fueled oven, which melts away the fat and results in tender meat with crispy skin on top. The duck is marinated beforehand to soak up the flavor and is often served with pancakes and a refreshing salad.
Stinky Tofu (Chòudòufu)
Stinky Tofu (Chòudòufu)
It’s said that Stinky Tofu came about when a poor monk stumbled upon old tofu and ate it only to find that it tasted delicious. After he became an army official, he won various battles and ordered his soldiers to eat Stinky Tofu during celebrations.
This dish consists of fermented tofu (which explains the strong odor) that’s pan-fried after sitting in a container of shrimp paste, salt, and water.
Braised Pork Trotters (Hóngshāo Zhū Tí)
Braised Pork Trotters (Hóngshāo Zhū Tí)
This delicious food is an integral part of Chinese culture as it shows the people’s tradition of using different parts of animals to create fulfilling and tasty meals.
Pork trotters are pig’s feet; they’re boiled until tender and then braised to give them an umami flavor using a mixture of Shaoxing wine, soy sauce, and spices.
Fish Porridge (Shēng Gǔn Yú Piàn Zhōu)
Fish Porridge (Shēng Gǔn Yú Piàn Zhōu)
Whenever you feel in need of comfort food or an easy yet fulfilling meal, this fish congee recipe can hit the spot. It’s soft, warm, and flavorful, perfect for a light main course or a side dish to a stir-fry.
After cooking the rice porridge (you can use an instant pot or stovetop), add the marinated fish and let it cook for a couple of minutes until the meat turns white.
Sichuan Boiled Fish (Shui Zhu Yu)
Hailing from Sichuan cuisine is this tasty fish-based meal known as Shui Zhu Yu, which translates into
boiled fish. Although it doesn’t sound like much is going on flavor-wise, this dish is quite spicy and aromatic.
Fresh whole fish works best for this recipe, which is cooked in rich broth and topped with a blend of Sichuan peppercorns, Chinese chili peppers, and canola oil.
Kung Pao Chicken (Gong Bao Ji Ding)
Kung Pao Chicken (Gong Bao Ji Ding)
Every single Chinese restaurant outside of China serves Kung Pao chicken, and the dish is just as popular in its country of origin.
You can easily make it by tossing all the ingredients in a wok and stir-frying them. This classic Sichuan recipe features chicken pieces smothered in spicy, salty, and sweet Kung Pao sauce; there’s also some peanuts thrown into the equation.
BBQ Pork (Char Siu)
BBQ Pork (Char Siu)
We couldn’t wrap up the mains section without mentioning the mouthwatering Char Siu, which is barbequed pork belly (a healthier version can use pork tenderloin).
A perfect representation of Cantonese cooking, the meat is marinated overnight, roasted, broiled, and then thinly sliced to be served alongside steamed rice and veggies.
Taking around 30 minutes to cook, the meat turns out soft and juicy with a sweet and savory coating.
Bread, Pastries & Desserts
Bread, Pastries & Desserts
The massive diversity of Chinese cuisine extends to include a wide variety of mouthwatering treats for everyone looking to satisfy their sweet tooth or bread cravings. From tender dough to crunchy layers, here are just a few of the delicacies you don’t want to miss.
Sesame Flatbread (Shao Bing)
Sesame Flatbread (Shao Bing)
A delicious Chinese type of baked flatbread, Shao Bing is popular throughout northern China as a breakfast food, a snack, and street food.
It’s covered with sesame seeds on the outside to add a crunch factor that goes perfectly with the flaky interior. It can be made savory to accompany pork, beef, etc., or you make sweet Shao Bing by filling it with black sesame paste, honey, red bean paste, or brown sugar.
Fried Dough (Youtiao/Yu Char Kway)
Fried Dough (Youtiao/Yu Char Kway)
This type of bread consists of long golden brown strips of deep-fried dough with a tearable texture and a slightly salty flavor. It’s reminiscent of donuts, breadsticks, and even churros, so don’t be surprised to hear people referring to it as the Chinese version of those dishes.
Youtiao isn’t as popular in Chinese restaurants outside of the country, but it’s almost always served for breakfast in China coupled with rice porridge or a milk beverage.
Coconut Mochi (Lo Mai Chi)
Coconut Mochi (Lo Mai Chi)
Hailing from southern China (particularly Fujian cuisine), Lo Mai Chi or coconut mochi is a steamed, ball-shaped dessert made of sticky (glutinous) rice flour with a red bean paste filling and shredded coconut coating.
Alternatively filled with candied nuts or mango, this dish is sweet, milky, and starchy with a stretchy texture that keeps your mouth busy. It’s also a beginner-friendly recipe that’s vegetarian and gluten-free.
Snowskin Mooncake (Bīng Pí Yuèbǐng)
Snowskin Mooncake (Bīng Pí Yuèbǐng)
Named after its pale color and smooth texture, Snowskin Mooncake is a unique take on baked goods that Chinese people typically enjoy during the Mid-Fall Festival.
It features a chewy, mochi-like dough with a creamy filling made out of rich custard, red bean paste, or other sweet stuffings. The presentation of this mooncake is as striking as the taste, showing off intricate patterns that are stamped onto its surface.
Almond Tofu Jello (Heng Yan Tau Hu)
Almond Tofu Jello (Heng Yan Tau Hu)
A staple dessert in Cantonese cuisine, almond tofu or almond jello is made out of almond milk or –more traditionally– apricot kernel milk. It’s called tofu due to the similarity in appearance and consistency, achieving the jello texture by adding agar or gelatin.
You can prepare this dessert from scratch or simply use instant powder packets; either way, pair it with canned fruits for an authentic experience.
Pumpkin Cake (Nan Gua Bing)
Pumpkin Cake (Nan Gua Bing)
Fans of winter squash and/or pumpkin will adore this irresistible Chinese dessert that you munch on after meals or throughout the day as a snack.
Made out of sweet (glutinous) rice flour and brown or cane sugar along with pumpkin or squash, these cakes are then deep-fried to become crunchy on the outside and gooey on the inside.
They often also include a red bean paste filling for extra sweetness in the center.
Sesame Balls (Jian Dui)
Sesame Balls (Jian Dui)
Another deep-fried dessert with sweeping popularity is Chinese sesame balls. They have an extra crispy golden exterior, a soft sweet filling (such as red bean paste, lotus seed paste, or black sesame paste), and a generous amount of sesame seeds to coat.
The contrast in texture and colors makes for a beautiful and exciting treat.
Thousand Layer Cake (Ceen Ceng Go)
Thousand Layer Cake (Ceen Ceng Go)
Last but not least, the thousand-layer cake is a part of southern Chinese culture when it comes to desserts.
In Cantonese cuisine, there are various versions of this cake using different types of flour to make the batter, such as tapioca flour, almond flour, or rice flour, alongside brown sugar and both boiling and cool water.
The ingredients are carefully mixed in a specific order and then steamed layer by layer.
Secret Recipe Tips for Chinese Food
Secret Recipe Tips for Chinese Food
To help you hone your Chinese cooking skills and end up with recipes tasting and looking as close as possible to the real thing, keep the following tips in mind.
- Create a Glow-Up with Cornstarch: Adding cornstarch to pretty much any sauce or glaze you work with is key in Chinese cuisine. Cornstarch provides an appetizing sheen that’s characteristic of this exotic cooking.
- Boil the Meat First: A Chinese cooking tip to make meat tender in their recipes is to boil it first. This technique also removes any excess blood or dirt from the cut.
- Invest in a Wok: A wok works better in evenly spreading heat. It also doesn’t use as much oil for deep frying and can be paired with a steamer.
Beverages in Chinese Cuisine
Beverages in Chinese Cuisine
The diversity within Chinese cuisine extends beyond food to include drinks as well, which usually pair nicely with their dishes. People in China enjoy a wide variety of beverages from relaxing to invigorating, hot to cold, and virgin to alcoholic, and the following are just a few examples.
Pearl Milk Tea
Pearl Milk Tea
This type of tea goes by many names including bubble tea, bubble milk tea, boba tea, and tapioca milk tea.
Its recipe uses Chinese black tea and condensed milk, whereas the pearls or little balls in the tea are made out of tapioca starch. They offer a fun, chewy texture with a sweet, caramelized flavor.
Chrysanthemum Tea
Chrysanthemum Tea
The Chinese love drinking chrysanthemum tea not only for its balanced sweet, floral, buttery, earthy, and slightly bitter taste but also for the tea’s various health benefits. Made by boiling chrysanthemum flowers, it has a calming effect that helps reduce anxiety and induces better sleep.
Suanmeitang
Suanmeitang
A unique traditional beverage from China, suanmeitang is a sweet, sour, and salty drink made out of smoked Chinese plums alongside other ingredients such as dried orange peel, hawthorn berries, licorice root, and rock sugar.
Usually served chilled or iced, suanmeitang can help increase appetite, combat fatigue, and alleviate fever symptoms.
Soy Milk
Soy Milk
Originating in Chinese cuisine, soy milk is made by grinding and soaking soybeans then boiling and filtering the mixture.
The sweet version features added syrup or cane sugar, while the salty version contains savory ingredients such as scallions, Chinese mustard, and vinegar. Soy milk is served both cold and hot, mostly as part of breakfast meals.
Baijiu
Baijiu
Also referred to as shaojiu (which translates into clear liquor), baijiu is a family of colorless alcoholic beverages with 35 to 60 percent concentrations.
Comparable to whiskey, baijiu has an intense flavor and texture that’s not very beginner-friendly. Generally, it’s sweet and musky with fruity undertones.
Kombucha
Kombucha
Also known as kombucha tea, this beverage is the by-product of fermenting sugared tea. It’s considered a non-alcoholic drink as it contains trace amounts of alcohol due to its production method.
Often flavored with juice, fruit, or spices, kombucha is also consumed for its health benefits such as digestion aid, weight loss, detoxification, and energy boosts.
Shaoxing Wine
Shaoxing Wine
This traditional Chinese wine, also known as yellow wine, is ultra-popular both for cooking and drinking purposes. It’s a product of glutinous rice, millet, or sorghum fermentation, produced mainly in Shaoxing in the eastern region of the country. Its flavor profile is strong, sweet, and spicy.
Oolong Tea
Oolong Tea
Translating into black dragon, oolong tea is brewed from semi-oxidized leaves, which leaves it tasting like a middle ground between green tea that’s nearly unoxidized and black tea that’s fully fermented.
Sourced from Camellia sinensis plants, it’s rich in antioxidants that promote bone and dental health. To fully appreciate the flavor, use small amounts of oolong tea for infusions.
Common Ingredients in Chinese Cuisine
Common Ingredients in Chinese Cuisine
To start exploring the flavors of Chinese cuisine, you first need to prepare your pantry for the journey. This means gathering the most commonly used ingredients in Chinese cooking, mainly sauces, oils, and wines. Here’s a list of must-have items to kick-start your venture into Chinese food.
Soy Sauce
Soy Sauce
The vast majority of Chinese dishes feature soy sauce and looking for an alternative simply won’t give the same results. A paste made out of roasted wheat grains and cooked soybeans is fermented in salt brine and then pressed to extract a liquid that becomes the infamous sauce.
Roasted Sesame Oil
Roasted Sesame Oil
Toasted or roasted sesame oil is made from –you guessed it– toasted or roasted sesame seeds. Compared to conventional vegetable and seed oils, it’s darker and thicker with a stronger flavor.
This makes it ideal for topping stir-fries and recipes that don’t use heat as it loses its pungency at high temperatures.
Rice Vinegar
Rice Vinegar
This is the most common type of vinegar featured in Chinese cooking. It delivers a softening effect for strong spices such as pepper, garlic, chili, and ginger thanks to its mild sweetness.
Rice vinegar is also known as rice wine vinegar because its manufacture involves turning it into alcohol first.
Rice
Rice
If you’re not much of a rice person, you’ll want to start practicing your love for the grain since it’s a fundamental ingredient in Chinese meals, especially those originating from southern regions.
You’ll find short and long rice varieties featuring in both main courses and sides, in fried, boiled, and steamed forms.
Red and Black Bean Paste
Red and Black Bean Paste
This includes both red bean paste and fermented black bean paste. Red bean paste is commonly used as a filling in dessert-type dishes thanks to its sweetness. Black bean paste is the main ingredient of black bean sauce, which is savory and goes great with meals containing meat.
Sichuan Peppercorn
Sichuan Peppercorn
One of the leading spices in Sichuan cuisine, Sichuan peppercorn is the dried fruit of prickly ash plants found in the Sichuan province. It’s not at all related to pepper like chili or black pepper, and it’s not hot either. It’s citrusy and spicy, producing a numbing or tingling sensation.
Hoisin Sauce
Hoisin Sauce
A staple of Cantonese-style cooking, hoisin is quite versatile as it can be used as a dipping sauce, stir-fry condiment, meat marinade, or glaze. Made out of fermented soybeans, this sauce is dark and thick like soy sauce, presenting a tangy and salty flavor profile with sweet undertones.
Herbs and Spices in Chinese Cuisine
Herbs and Spices in Chinese Cuisine
In addition to the ingredients in the section above, you also need to load your spice rack with a range of herbs and spices that feature in almost all Chinese recipes.
Their role is to provide dishes with savory, sour, sweet, umami, hot, nutty, and all other flavors that make Chinese cuisine so iconic.
Garlic
Garlic
Aromatic and flavorful, garlic is a staple throughout Chinese cuisine, from noodles to soups to stir-fries to fillings to sauces and marinades.
Its popularity is also due to being inexpensive, which made it available across both rich and less privileged districts. Besides enhancing taste, it has potent antioxidant, immune-boosting, antiviral, and antibiotic effects.
Ginger
Ginger
As popular as garlic, if not more, ginger is almost always used together with garlic to deliver sharp, spicy, and hot flavors.
You’ll see it featured in soups, sauces, glazes, stir-fries, and more, always skinned and chopped before adding. It offers immunostimulant and antioxidant effects while also supporting digestion.
Black Pepper
Black Pepper
We talked about Sichuan pepper earlier, but in this section, we had to reserve the spot for black pepper since it’s more commonly used as a spice throughout Chinese cuisine. It has a sharp aroma with a strong woody and hot taste. It’s also beneficial for immunity, digestion, and detoxification.
Clove
Clove
Used individually or as part of the Chinese five-spice mix, cloves are heavily featured in Chinese dishes. They’re highly aromatic, warm, sweet, and a bit spicy, typically used for braising meat, seasoning stir-fries, and flavoring soups.
Clover can also help with digestion and oral health thanks to its anti-inflammatory properties.
Star Anise
Star Anise
While not very common in Western cuisine, star anise has a constant presence in Chinese cooking. Its powdered form is a main part of the five-spice mix, but it’s also used whole when making tea, soup, or any pot food. Star anise tastes similar to licorice and is rich in antioxidants.
Cinnamon
Cinnamon
Although cinnamon is sometimes used in Western cooking, its contribution to Chinese cuisine is far more significant. Cinnamon is a staple of five-spice mixtures for seasoning meat and savory food.
It’s also commonly added to beverages, pastries, candy, breads, and desserts. Sweet and spicy, cinnamon boosts circulation and immunity.
Fennel Seeds
Fennel Seeds
Last but not least, fennel seeds are also a prominent member of the Chinese five-spice club. They taste similar to licorice and star anise with their sweet and earthy flavors.
Used for seasoning heart meals, stews, and stir-fries, especially in southern regions, fennel seeds are a great source of nutrients and antioxidants.
Chinese Food Culture
Chinese Food Culture
To wrap up our journey into Chinese cuisine, let’s have a brief look at the country’s food culture.
1. Eating Habits
Chinese families typically sit together around their tables for each meal coinciding with their presence at home. The head of the family is their reference; no one sits until they do and no one starts eating until they do.
2. Meal Structure
Chinese cuisine isn’t too bothered about including items from each food group and is more focused on achieving the Yin Yang balance.
This refers to eating cooling/mild food in warmer climates and eating spicy/hot foods in cooler climates. As for the number of meals, 94 percent of Chinese folks stick to three per day; breakfast, lunch, and dinner.
3. Etiquette
The Chinese don’t eat directly from group dishes as they serve food potluck-style; each person picks up the amount they want from the dish and transfers it onto their own plate. They also never leave their chopsticks sticking vertically in food.
(30 votes, average: 4.80 out of 5)You need to be a registered member to rate this.
Loading...
