Beyond spring rolls and rice three delights, Chinese cuisine offers authentic ancient delicacies
Before talking about Chinese food, we must make a point: there is the food that we are served in Western Chinese restaurants and the food that the Chinese eat in China. In most cases, one thing has nothing to do with the other. They are totally different worlds. Beyond spring rolls and rice three delights , Chinese cuisine offers authentic ancient delicacies whose flavors and textures never disappoint.
1. ZONGZI
Rice could not be missing in Chinese cuisine. Of course, forget about the three delights version, there are many other recipes that include rice in a more tasty and authentic way. An example is the zongzi, a popular sticky rice triangle stuffed with meat or sweet beans and rolled with bamboo leaves. It is steamed or boiled.
It is a traditional dish that the Chinese always prepare at the "Dragon Boat Festival" and its origin is related to the legend of the Chinese poet Qu Yuan. Wrapping it in bamboo leaves is not an easy task, the traditional technique to do it is inherited from one family to another, as well as its recipe.
Zongzi, the rice of the poet Qu Yuan
two. WONTON SOUP
The Chinese have their own version of Italian ravioli: wontons. It is a wheat flour dough filled with minced pork, shrimp, onion, ginger, sesame oil and soy. They form round dumplings with a wrinkled texture similar to clouds . In fact, the name of this recipe literally means 'swallow the clouds'.
In China, wontons are often served in a very thin noodle soup with shrimp and spring onion. A curiosity : During the Chinese New Year celebration, silver coins are often placed inside wontons to wish good luck.
Chinese favorite soup
3. GONG BAO OR KUNG PAO CHICKEN
A true classic of Chinese cuisine is the gong bao chicken. Of course, prepare to be in tears, because this dish from the region of sichuan It is one of the spiciest of Chinese cuisine. The reason: the large amount of pepper and chilies that it carries.
The traditional recipe consists of marinated chicken mixed with a sauce of chillies and Sichuan pepper prepared in the wok. The meat is then sautéed with vegetables and peanuts (or cashews). Its strongest version also contains several types of Chinese chilies.
Kung Pao chicken, the most spicy dish
Four. CHOP SUEY
One of the most traditional dishes of Chinese cuisine. Despite not being a thousand-year-old recipe – its origin is related to a Chinese who lived in the United States in the 19th century – this dish is not lacking in any good Chinese table. Its name literally means "mixed pieces" and it consists of cooking different types of meat with vegetables (celery and pepper type) in a wok.
An ingredient that cannot be missing in the chop suey is the bean sprout mung green (or Chinese) that has nothing to do with bean sprouts. This dish is one of the most internationalized Chinese recipes along with spring rolls and three delights rice. It is usually accompanied with cooked rice.
Chop Suey: the secret is in the Chinese bean
5. JIAOZI
Another dish that cannot be missing from a Chinese table during the Chinese New Year celebrations is the jiaozi, a kind of thin dough dumplings filled with minced meat or vegetables that are sealed with the fingers . They can be cooked in various ways: fried or boiled. And to accompany: soy sauce and vinegar or hot sauce.
For the Chinese, this horn-shaped plate symbolizes the good fortune of the new year. It is common to find them with sweet fillings and in Cantonese cuisine they are not lacking in dim sum.
Jiaozi, the dish of good fortune
6. WANTON MEE
Wonton mee are Cantonese egg noodles that are very popular in China, especially in Hong Kong. These noodles They are served in a kind of soup, with plenty of oyster or soy sauce.
There are different versions depending on the region in which it is prepared, but it is usually served with char siew (sliced roast pork) and various types of green leafy vegetables, such as Chinese kailan. The wonton is served in a separate bowl. In Hong Kong usually add prawns , they serve it without pork and decorate it with Chinese spring onion.
Wanton Mee, Cantonese noodles
7. PEKING LACQUERED DUCK
Born in Beijing, the roasted duck dish is one of the most popular in and out of China . The way of preparing it is very curious: you take a chicken and completely empty it of viscera. All openings are covered and inflate like a balloon for the meat to separate from the skin.
It is then fried and covered with molasses, which gives it a dark color. It is then baked for at least an hour hanging on a skewer, which makes their skin crackle in our mouths. To serve, cut into thin slices.
A very popular dish inside and outside of China
8. CHOW MEIN
If there is a versatile dish in Chinese cuisine, it is chow mein. Anything in Chinese fried noodles is chow mein. There are as many types as there are ingredients you want to add, although the usual thing is that it takes noodles, meat, cabbage, and other vegetables.
The Cantonese version includes crispy fried egg noodles, green peppers, pea pods, Chinese cabbage, bamboo, water chestnuts, shrimp, and three types of meat: char siu (pork), chicken, and beef. It is accompanied by a thick sauce. It is one of the favorite dishes in the West to order in take-away format.
Chow mein, the quintessential Chinese noodles.
9. HUO GUO OR HOT POT
Known as Chinese fondue or Mongolian cauldron, the hot pot is a feast of flavors and textures that is prepared mainly in winter. It consists of cooking different types of food in a hot broth with different sauces and place it in the center of the table.
It includes: meat, vegetables, mushrooms, wontons, egg, dumplings and even shellfish. Depending on the region of China in which we are, the hot pot can be made in many ways.
A feast of flavors and textures
10. SHARK FIN SOUP
The Chinese consider shark fin soup to be a true delicacy reserved for special events such as national holidays or weddings. For Asian culture, this dish is a symbol of health and prestige. , although its main ingredient, the fin, is not exempt from great controversy. To prepare it, the shark fin is usually skinned and dried.
In itself, the fin is tasteless and its nutritional content is almost nil. What the Chinese value most is its texture. The soup is usually accompanied by mushrooms, pork and chicken broth to make it more flavorful.
A delight for the Chinese
eleven. FUQI FEIPIAN
Ignore its translation into Spanish, which would mean something like "married couple's strips of offal" or "husband and wife's lung strips". Because this title has little to do with its true ingredients (although yes, if you wish you can use the tongue, lung or stomach instead of beef).
The dish in question was a Chengdu cuisine classic that found fame in the 1930s, when a couple specialized in cooking it with different types of meat and spices, highlighting its traditional flavor. As a result of its success, children in the area used to play pranks on the couple, pasting notes on the back of the married couple with the phrase fuqi feipian.
The beef strips that make up the dish are usually served as an appetizer and not as a main course, warm or cold , with a delicious hot sauce and with peanuts and coriander on top. In its most modern version, it also accepts the use of Sichuan pepper.
12. ROU JIA MO
Xi'An (famous for its terracotta soldiers) is the capital of the shaanxi province , home of the chinese burger . “Meat in a bun” is its direct translation and consists of an elaboration in which the bacon (la zhi rou) is the protagonist –although it also has its version of beef or lamb– , cooked for several hours in a seasoned broth with more than 20 ingredients and then served inside a loaf that is baked in a wok or frying pan (in the past this process was done in a clay oven).
The oldest hamburger in the world? Probably, since history tells that this bread originated in the Qin dynasty (221 BC to 206 BC), while the meat emerged during the Zhou dynasty (1046 BC and 256 BC).
XI'AN, SHAANXI, CHINA - 2014/09/13: Rou jia mo, also Chinese hamburger, is a street food originating from Shaanxi Province. In Huiminjie food street, lamb Rou jia mo is popular, which is stewed for hours in lamb soup containing over 20 spices and seasonings. The Muslim Quarter (Hui min Jie) in Xian, located at the north of the Drum Tower, is a famous tourist attraction. Along the street, there are ancient architectures of the Ming and Qing Dynasties, all kinds of Muslim delicious food, as well as Chinese Muslim life and culture. (Photo by Zhang Peng/LightRocket via Getty Images)
13. YOUTIAO
It is during the chinese breakfast when this preparation makes its star appearance, made with two strips of flour intertwined and fried in vegetable oil, very similar to the batons that are enjoyed in Spanish cuisine. Although on this occasion its flavor has salty nuances and it is usually dipped in soy milk, also accompanied at the table with chive and sesame bread; as well as some stuffed glutinous rice rolls.
Its name in Cantonese yàuhjagwái (devil fried in oil) refers to the moment in history when youtiao was used as a protest symbol during the Song dynasty to give visibility to the betrayal and death of General Yue Fei: intertwining and frying, again and again, Qin Hui (his political enemy of his) and his wife, Lady Wang.
14. BAOZI
A classic of Chinese cuisine dates back to the Three Kingdoms , when Zhuge Liang, a military strategist saw how a plague took over his army. As an offering to cure them, he gave life to some "heads" of flour stuffed with pork and beef. Although more truthful is another of the legends of his origin, which tells that when Liang returned home victorious, he and his army found a river impossible to cross. It was then that a barbarian told him that to do so, he must sacrifice his men and throw their heads into the river as an offering. Something that the soldier preferred not to do, launching, instead, some head shaped wheat buns.
It was in the north of the country where these boiled dumplings began to be called baozi, reflecting the fact that they come from stuffed . It is also there where they are served salty, while In the south play both sides, adopting sweeter flavors (or a mix of salty and sweet) as with the meigancai, which is stuffed with pickled vegetables.
fifteen. CHAR SIU
A vibrant reddish color is the letter of presentation of this dish of pork cooked on the barbecue . A hue obtained by marinating meat with ingredients such as dark soy sauce, oyster sauce, rice wine, hoisin sauce, sugar and Chinese 'five spices' : star anise, cloves, fennel seeds, cinnamon and Sichuan pepper.
Its origin dates back to Canton, in southern China, specifically to the Guangdong province , and also has its Thai version in the muu daeng. Its flavor has been sweetened in its most mainstream version but in reality it is usually a contrast of salt and sugar.
His name translates as “fork roast” , since traditionally the pig is hung on a special fork that is placed inside the oven so that it cooks correctly. The secret of its brilliance? The maltose , a dense syrup capable of giving it its luminous finish.
*Article originally published on May 9, 2014 and updated on February 22, 2021