Xiang Cuisine

Xiang cuisine, is one of the eight regional cuisines of China. Hunan cuisine is hot because the air is very humid which makes it difficult for the human body to eliminate moisture. The local people eat hot peppers to help remove dampness and coldness.

Hunan province lies in the south of the middle reaches of the Yangtze River. It has a moderate climate, abundant rainfall and fertile soil. The superior natural conditions and rich resources provide the ingredient base for the development of Hunan cuisine.

Dishes with pickled vegetables, especially with red pepper, are very appetizing and refreshing. Hunan locals have hot and spicy flavored food not only for three meals a day but also for snacks. Here are some examples of Xiang cuisine.

Famous Dishes

Spicy Chicken

Ingredients:

1lb boneless skinless chicken breasts (cut into 1 inch chunks)

½ cup cornstarch (for dusting)

2 tablespoons soy sauce

2 tablespoons rice wine (or any white wine)

2 teaspoons rice wine vinegar

2 teaspoons brown sugar

1 tablespoon garlic (minced)

2 teaspoons ginger (minced)

1/2 teaspoon red pepper flakes (or more, to taste)

¼ dry cup roasted peanuts

4 green onions (sliced)

Oil (for frying)

Cooking Instructions:

Step 1: Heat the oil in a deep fryer to 375 degrees. Lightly toss chicken pieces of cornstarch until evenly coated.

Step 2: In a small bowl combine soy sauce, rice wine, rice wine vinegar, and brown sugar. Set aside. Deep fry chicken in patches at 375 degrees until golden brown and fully cooked (about 5-7 minutes). Drain on paper towels.

Step 3: While chicken is frying. Heat a tablespoon of oil in a wok or sauce pan to medium-high heat. Add garlic and ginger and red pepper flakes. Stir fry for 15 seconds. Add the sauce mixture. Bring to a boil and boil for 5 minutes.

Step 4: In a serving bowl mix cooked chicken pieces with the sauce. Add green onions and peanuts. Mix well and serve.

Jiangsu Cuisine

Jiang Cuisine developed from the local recipes of Yangzhou, Suzhou and Nanjing. Its main cooking techniques are braising and stewing, thereby enhancing the original flavor and sauce. The elegant color, novel sculpts, with salt and sweet taste will soothe your stomach. The Jiangsu cuisine has several branches, including Shanghai cuisine, Nanjing cuisine is known for its duck recipes, Suxi cuisine with flowery hue, etc.

Famous Cuisine

Sweet and Sour Mandarin Fish

Ingredients:
1 pound fish fillets, such as cod, haddock, or sea bass

Marinade:
1 teaspoon salt
1 large egg white
1 tablespoon cornstarch

Sauce:
1 cup chicken broth
1 tablespoon light soy sauce
1 tablespoon Chinese rice wine or dry sherry
2 tablespoons tomato paste
3 tablespoons rice vinegar, or red or white wine
3 tablespoons granulated sugar
1 tablespoon cornstarch mixed with 2 tablespoons water

Other:
4 ounces mangetout (snow peas)
1 red bell pepper
1 tablespoon ginger, finely chopped 
2 tablespoons green onions, chopped diagonally
2 - 4 cups oil for deep-frying

Preparation:
Rinse the fish fillets and pat dry. Cut into 2-inch squares. Add the fish to the marinade ingredients, using your fingers to mix in the ingredients and adding the cornstarch last. Marinate the fish for 15 minutes.

While the fish is marinating, prepare the sauce and vegetables. In a small bowl, mix together the chicken broth, soy sauce, rice wine or sherry, tomato paste, vinegar and sugar. In a separate small bowl, dissolve the cornstarch in the water.

Blanch the snow peas in boiling water until they turn bright green. Plunge briefly in cold water. Drain thoroughly. Cut the bell pepper in half, remove the seeds and cut into cubes.

Heat the oil to between 360 and 370 degrees Fahrenheit. Add the marinated fish cubes. Deep-fry until they are golden brown. Remove and drain on paper towels.

Remove all but 2 tablespoons oil from the wok. Add the ginger and green onion and stir-fry until aromatic (about 30 seconds). Add the snow peas. Stir fry for a minute and add the red bell peppers.

Push the vegetables up to the sides of the wok and add the sauce in the middle. Bring to a boil. Add the cornstarch and water mixture, stirring to thicken. Serve the fish on a platter, covered with the sweet and sour sauce and vegetables. 

Min Cuisine

Min Cuisine，A latecomer in southeast China along the coast, Fujian cuisine holds an important position in China's culinary art. Fujian's economy and culture began flourishing after the Southern Song Dynasty (1127-1279). During the middle Qing Dynasty around 18th century, famous Fujian officials and literati promoted the cuisine so it gradually spread to other parts of China.

Famous Dishes

Buddha Jumps Over The Wall

This bowl of concentrated and rich taste of soup is the main result of this dish by double boiled the ingredients for several hours.

Day 1

500g Old chicken cut pieces, blanch in hot water for 5mins, refrigerated

600g Front pork knuckles, blanch in hot water for 5mins, refrigerated

400g Premium Spare Ribs, blanch in hot water for 3mins, refrigerated

80g Chinese superior Jinhua ham, cubed, blanch in hot water for 1min, refrigerated

5 pcs Premium mushroom soak in water for overnight

10pcs Premium dried scallop, soak in water for overnight

5pcs Sea cucumber, clean them, refrigerated

20g Fish Maw, deep fry them; soak in water for 1hr, refrigerated

Day 2

To use a double boiler or pot, start layering the ingredients from bottom of the pot:-

1^st layer- old chicken pieces, only use meat part

2^nd layer-front pork knuckles

3^rd layer-spare ribs

4^th layer-Jinhua ham

5^th layer-mushroom

6^th layer-scallops

Pour 1.2lt of hot water and water from soaked the dried scallops, double boil or steam over low heat for 2hrs, then followed by:

7^th layer- Sea cucumber

8^th layer-Fish Maw

Continue to double boil or steam over low heat for 1hr.

To serve-pour the soup into individual serving bowl, enjoy together with other cooked ingredients like sea cucumber, fish maw, and etc. 

Zhe Cuisine

 

Zhe cuisine

Zhejiang cuisine, called Zhe cuisine for short, is originated from South China's Zhejiang Province. It is famous for its mellow, yet not greasy, taste.It consists of three major styles, namely Hangzhou style, Ningbo style and Shaoxing style. Among them, Hangzhou style is the most notable. It has good taste as well as delicate appearance. It requires expertise in the cooking techniques of quick frying, stir-frying, braising and deep-frying and features clearness, freshness, tenderness, delicateness and purity. Besides seafood and freshwater fish, Hangzhou style exhibits a fondness for bamboo roots. About half the dishes on a Hangzhou menu contain bamboo roots, which add a tender element to the food. Ningbo chefs are especially skillful in making seafood. The best-known Ningbo cooking techniques are stewing, baking and steaming. The taste is moderate in freshness and saltiness. Ningbo chefs' specialties are making dishes fresh, tender and soft. Emphasis is placed on its original flavor. Shaoxing style is fragrant, crisp, soft and glutinous, with thick soup and pure flavor. Shaoxing style specializes in poultry and freshwater fish.


Famous Dishes 

Ingredients
1 kg (2.2 lb) piece pork belly
2 tablespoons vegetable oil
1 tablespoon tea leaves
4 stalks spring onions
7 cm (3") length fresh, young ginger, sliced lengthways into matchstick widths
Optional: 300 g (11 oz) broccoli, cut into small florets


Sauce Ingredients
1 cup water
8 cloves garlic, lightly crushed
5 slices old ginger (or 7 slices young ginger)
1 tablespoon black peppercorns
4 tablespoons soy sauce
2 tablespoons yellow wine (e.g. Shaoxing wine)
1/2 tablespoon sesame oil
2 tablespoons sugar
Thickening: 1 teaspoon corn flour, 1 tablespoon water, stirred well before use


Method

1. Blanch pork in a pot of boiling water. Throw out water.
2. Put pork back in pot and cover with water. Bring to a boil, and simmer for 30 minutes.
3. Heat a wok and add sauce ingredients. Mix well and bring to a boil. Add pork and cook each surface for a few minutes over a medium heat. Remove pork and drain well. Pour remaining sauce into a small saucepan and set aside.
4. Clean and drain wok. Heat vegetable oil to a medium heat. Fry pork on all sides until it is well browned, making sure skin side is a little crispy.
5. Steep tea leaves in hot water for a couple of minutes, remove and set aside. Place pork in pot of water again–topping up water if necessary. Add tea leaves and simmer for 30 minutes.
6. Place scallion stalks on bottom of a steamer. Transfer pork to steamer. Steam for 2 hours, turning pork after 1 hour (because of long steaming time, you may need to replenish steamer water).
7. Add broccoli to steamer for final 5 minutes of cooking time (boil it separately for 3 minutes if there is no room in steamer.
8. Remove pork to a serving dish and arrange broccoli around it. Reheat sauce in saucepan, adding and stirring in thickener. Pour over pork and serve.
9. Garnish with young ginger slivers, which are meant to be eaten

Hui Cuisine

 

 

Hui Cuisine

 

Hui Cuisine is also called Anhui Cuisine or Wan Cuisine. It is one of the eight famous cuisines of China, derived from North China's Anhui Province. Anhui Cuisine mainly consists of three styles representing three regions: Yangtze River region, Huai River region, and Southern Anhui region. Among them the South Anhui style is the most notable. 

Anhui is abundant in uncultivated fields, mountains and forests, which provide Anhui Cuisine rich local ingredients. Hui Cuisine uses only local produce, so the freshness of the dishes is unparalleled. Most ingredients in Anhui Cuisine, such as pangolin, stone frog, mushroom, bayberry, tea leaves, bamboo shoots and dates all come from mountain areas. The Yellow Mountains are abundant in raw materials suitable for cooking. Wild herbs are readily available here. Hui Cuisine places a great deal of emphasis on natural foods, which makes it a healthy cuisine. It follows traditional ways and uses foods that are also used for medicinal purposes. The use of wild herbs is one of Hui Cuisine's notable features.

 
Famous Dishes
 

 

Stewed Turtle with Ham

 

 

There are at least two major reasons for that. First of all, stewed soft shell turtle with ham is extremely delicious. As one of the principle materials, soft shell turtle enjoys super reputation in terms of flavor. It is said that soft shell turtle combines five flavors of meat in one, namely, chicken, deer, beef, pork and fish. And the other major ingredients are ham, the thigh and rump of pork, cut from the haunch of a pig or boar.

 

 

Red-Cooked Chicken

 

 

Step1

 

Combine the stock, combined soy sauce, sherry, cinnamon, orange rind, star anise, ginger and sugar in a large saucepan or stockpot over high heat. Bring to the boil and stir until the sugar dissolves. Reduce heat to low and simmer for 5 minutes 

 

Step2

 

Rinse the chicken cavity under cold running water. Pat dry with paper towel inside and out. Add the chicken, breast-side down, to the stock mixture. Return to the boil then reduce heat to very low. Cover and simmer for 20 minutes. Turn the chicken over, being careful not to tear the skin. Simmer, covered, for a further 20 minutes

 

 

Step3

 

Turn the chicken breast-side down. Cover and set aside for 30 minutes to develop the flavours.

 

 

Step4

 

Use kitchen scissors to cut the chicken into serving pieces. Arrange on a serving platter. Drizzle over some of the cooking liquid and sprinkle with the shallot and chilli to serve

Northern Food

Sliced Noodles

All you need is a largish cutting board, a rolling pin, a butter knife, and some flour and water. The trick is to use lots and lots of flour when dusting. This will make a big mess, but never mind that, flour wipes right up with a damp cloth, and you will be too busy enjoying your tasty, chewy, homemade noodles to be bothered. I used a very different proportion of flour to water than gaga. Not sure if this was a typo in the original recipe, or if she uses a very different kind of flour. Anyway, I did three parts flour to one part ice water and it turned out great

2¼ cups all-purpose flour
¾ cup ice water

1. Mix flour and water in a mixing bowl until all flour is incorporated. Knead for 3 - 5 minutes on a lightly-dusted cutting board. Set aside, covered, for at least ten minutes to rest.

2. Break dough in half. Roll out half of the dough to about ⅛ inch in thickness. Flour the side that's facing you. Roll loosely, shorter side facing you, sprinkling flour as you roll.

3. Using a butter knife, cut noodles to desired width. They cannot be too skinny, or they will be impossible to unroll. Unroll the noodles and lay them flat on a cookie sheet or other flat surface. Flour liberally.

4. Repeat with the other half of the dough.



5. Get out a very large pot and fill it about ¾ of the way with water. Bring to a boil.
 
6. While your water is getting hot, arrange the noodles into little bundles. As with all fresh noodles, these cook very, very quickly (in about a minute), so you want to throw them in all at once. Make sure your noodles are very well-floured, or they will stick together. Once the water is boiling, blanch and remove any vegetables you plan on serving. Then, when the water has returned to a rapid boil, toss your noodles in and give them a little stir with some tongs to make sure they don't stick to the bottom. As soon as your noodles start floating, remove them from the water with tongs. You could also drain them in a colander, if you choose.

Lu Cuisine

Lu Cuisine, also called Shandong Cuisine, is originated from the native cooking styles of East China's Shandong province.Seafood is the most notable ingredient of Lu Cuisine as Shandong is a costal province, including scallops, prawns, clams, sea cucumbers, and squid, which are all local ingredients of exemplary quality.There are over thirty cooking techniques applied in Lu Cuisine, among which Bao technique (quick-fry) and Pa technique are frequently and well used in Lu Cuisine.

Famous dishes

Four Joy Meatballs

1. Mix minced steak with cooking wine, salt,soy,colored ground pepper, ginger,shallot and some sugar together.

2. Mix one egg white, salt and starch in a bowl.

3. Keep the temperature of your deep fryer at 160 degree. Make meatball from step 1, and first cover it with egg white mix,then drop into deep fryer. After 4 minutes, take them out.

4. Put the meat ball into a pan together with shallot, ginger, 2 cup of water, soy and cooking wine. Bring to boil, then lower the heat and cook for 30 minutes.

5.Put the boiled cole in a big bowl, place these meatballs on top of it.

6. Boiled the sauce in step 4 again after remove both shallot and ginger. Thicken the sauce with starchy solution and pour over meatballs immediately.