Food in China

       An ancient, innovative cuisine that is beloved the world over.

      China has fascinated the West ever since Marco Polo's account of his travels in that unimaginably exotic land was published in the 13th century. Long before this, however, junks laden with the rich treasures of China had been heading for other countries on annual trading voyages.

      Silk, gunpowder, printing and the compass are among the great Chinese inventions that have altered the course of history But of all China's contributions to modern civilization, the most popular is Chinese food, enjoyed in restaurants and homes in every corner of the globe, from Iceland to Texas to Auckland. Few people in the world, with the possible exception of the French, are as passionately devoted to food as the Chinese Meals are socially important events and special menus are presented for weddings and birthdays; important festivals also have their traditional dishes and snacks.

      What is the reason for the enduring worldwide popularity of Chinese food? It begins with a cornucopia of unique ingredients, vegetables and nourishing tofu plus subtle or emphatic sauces and seasonings that are partnered with just about every creature that swims the seas, flies the air or roams the land. This astonishing variety of ingredients is transformed by the Chinese into memorable works of culinary art Every dish must meet three major criteria—appearance, fragrance and flavor; other considerations are texture, the health-giving properties of the food and its auspicious connotations.

      The array of seasonings and sauces used by Chinese cooks is not vast; nor are a large range of culinary techniques employed. However, the endless interplay of one basic ingredient with another—meat with tofu, vegetables with slivers of pork, lychees with shrimp—and the transformation of these basics when combined with different seasonings, allows for almost endless variety.

      Throughout its history. China has known a perpetual cycle of flood and famine. Food has always been a matter of desperate concern for its huge population (about 25 percent of the world's total population, living on just 7 percent of the world's land). The paradox of Chinese food is that this cuisine, born of hardship and frequent poverty, is not one of dull subsistence, but is arguably the most creative in the world.

      You can travel throughout China and the Chinese communities of Asia and never have the same dish served in exactly the same way twice. China's vast territory, diverse population and wide range of regional cuisines provide such infinite variety that eating in this ancient and inventive country is always an enjoyable adventure.

      A Rich Culinary Tradition

       Early Chinese culinary techniques included boiling, steaming, roasting, stewing, pickling and drying. Stir-frying, the best known method today, probably developed later. In sum. it can be said that the basic Chinese diet and means of preparation were in place about 6,000 years ago, although many imported ingredients—some transported over the Silk Road—entered the Chinese larder and new cooking methods were adopted.

      A balanced mixture of grain and cooked dishes has been the ideal of a meal in China since time immemorial The balance lies between bland, boiled or steamed grain on the one hand, and more flavorful and rich cooked dishes on the other. Further balances were sought between the yin (cooling) and yang (heating) qualities of the foods served. The notion of food as both preventative and curative medicine is deeply imbedded in the Chinese psyche. The specific proportion of grain and cooked dishes on a menu depends as much on the economic status of the diners as on the status of the occasion. Traditionally, grain would provide the bulk of the calories, with cooked dishes serving as supplementary ornamentation and nutrition. The grander the occasion, the more the cooked dishes and the less the grain. Even today, this tradition is maintained at banquets, where a small symbolic bowl of plain steamed rice is served after an extensive selection of other dishes.

      Rice is perceived as something essential and almost magical This is particularly true in South China, while wheat showers its blessings over the North, although this division is not hard and fast. One reason the Grand Canal was built in the 6th century was to transport rice from the fertile Yangtze delta region to the imperial granaries in the relatively dry North. And since the Ming Dynasty (1368-1644). an annual crop of short-grain rice has been grown in the suburbs of Beijing, originally for the palace and today for the military leadership.

      Numerous varieties of rice are produced in China today, supplemented by more expensive Thai rice, which is available at urban markets throughout the country. Southerners seem to prefer long-grained rice, which is less sticky than other varieties and has strong "wood" overtones when steaming hot. Rice is served steamed, fried (after boiling) or made into noodles by grinding raw rice into rice flour It is also cooked with a lot of water to produce congee or zhou (rice gruel), a popular breakfast food and late-night snack eaten with a number of savory side dishes.

      In early times, wheat was boiled like rice, but by the Han Dynasty (220 B.C.-A.D. 200), the grain was ground into flour and made into noodles, pancakes and various forms of dumplings, some of the recipes having possibly been imported from Central Asia. It is unlikely that Marco Polo brought spaghetti. Iinguine and pizza to Italy from China. Although their prototypes existed in China centuries before he was born, there is written evidence of the existence of pasta in Italy before Marco Polo left home for the East.

      A noted connoisseur of French food complained some forty years ago that all Chinese food tasted "half-cooked." Today, food that is half-raw or half-cooked (the terminology is subjective and interchangeable) seems to be more acceptable, even fashionable, inspired by considerations of health But who needs the pursuit of longevity as an excuse to enjoy Chinese food?

      Diverse Regional Cuisines

       It was not so long ago that many Westerners thought of "Chinese food" as a single, homogenous cuisine. However, a country as