Cultural Eating Pattern ProjectChina

By Gabrielle Damin,, Feifei Du, Cory Haenggi, and Carly Hansen

History The history of Chinese cuisine is marked by both

variety and change.

Regional cultural differences vary greatly amongst the different regions of China, giving rise to the different styles of food.

Chinese imperial food originated around the Zhou Dynasty (11th century B.C. – 476 B.C).

Stir-frying was the chief cooking method during the Southern and Northern Dynasties (420-589), and stir-fried dishes became popular as everyday meals among the common people.

In the Sui Dynasty (581- 691) seafood appeared much more frequently on imperial menus

Soybeans originated in China, but other beans came from abroad. Green beans came from India during the Northern Song Dynasty (1127-1279)

Geography China is located in Southeast Asia

China is the 3rd largest country in the world

Varied climate and agriculture depending on geographical area

Most of the country consists of mountains and plateaus

North/ Northeast- various deserts and basins with cool and arid temperature

South- tropical with warm, rainy, and humid temperatures

East- low lying valleys and plains with temperature weather

West- mountainous region

Popular Foods

Grains -Tofu

- Northern China- Noodles and flour products

- Southern China- Rice and rice products

Vegetables- Chinese prefer cooked versus raw vegetables.

-mushrooms, cabbages, peas, beans, leafy greens, seaweed, chili peppers, onions, carrots, celery, broccoli, bamboo shoots.

Fruits- Chinese typically prefer in season fruits.

peaches, apricots, kiwi, pears, apples, oranges, mandarin oranges, lemon, mango, banana, and watermelon in the summer.

-nuts; cashews and walnuts

Popular Foods

Dairy Products- Chinese do not consume large amounts of dairy products and substitutes for soy milk and tofu.

-whole milk and reduced fat milk, fruit flavored yogurts.

Meats- eggs, pork, beef, chicken, duck

Seafood- carp, squid, crab, shrimp, scallops, oysters, and prawn.

Beverages- Hot teas, water, fruit/ vegetable juices.

Spices- ginger, pepper; Five Spice Seasoning is a popular spice mix of Szechuan peppercorn, cinnamon, fennel seeds, star anise, and one of or a combination of citrus peel, nutmeg, or cloves.

Popular Dishes Rice

For the Chinese, rice is the staple food in everyday meals. They eat it as Westerners do bread.

Noodles

Noodles are served and eaten hot or cold, boiled, steamed, stir-fried, deep-fried, or served in soup.

Plain Tea

Green or flower tea: rose, daisy

Pork and beef most affordable, inland

Fish along coastline

Peking Duck in Beijing

Popular Dishes Noodle soup, vegetable or

chicken soups It’s an ancient tradition to

treat a cold or fever with soup. In addition to its ability to comfort, it is believed that certain soups have healing powers. Many soups are consumed for their flavor, as well as for their restorative or invigorating effects. This is heavily linked with traditional Chinese medicine.

Dumplings Spring Festival

Typical Dinner Menu

An ordinary dinner menu consists of soup, rice, three to four vegetables dishes, and one to two meat dishes. Soup

Serves as the beverage. Drunken throughout meal.

Rice Central focus of meal.

Vegetables Intended to accent/enhance rice.

Prefer cooked to raw vegetables.

Cut into small pieces or thin stripes.

Meat Braised or stir-fried pork, chicken, beef, or fish.

Typical Dinner Style

Family style Everything is placed in center of

table and is shared.

Main dishes are placed in the center with supporting dishes evenly and attractively spaced around them.

Chopsticks are versatile. Exercise proper etiquette.

Our Dishes

Our Recipes Fried Green Pepper with Shredded Pork 2 sliced green peppers 1lb of pork 1t sliced ginger 2 ½ t chopped garlic 2 ½ t soy sauce 1t sugar 1t corn starch 3t water 4t vegetable oil Dash of salt   Slice pork and place into a bowl Add a dash of salt into the bowl with pork and

mix Put vegetable oil into a skillet over medium

heat Pour garlic and ginger into the pan Place the pork into the pan and stir until pork

changes color Pour the sliced pepper into the pan and stir Cover the pan for 3-5 minutes Mix cornstarch and water into a small bowl Pour the liquid mixture into the pan and stir for

1-2 minutes Ready to serve with noodles

Stir Fried Shredded Potato with Carrot

3 potatoes 3 carrots 1t chili powder 1T chopped garlic 3t vegetable oil Dash of Salt   Cut potatoes and carrots into thin slices Soak sliced potatoes in water Pour vegetable oil into skillet over

medium heat Put chopped garlic into the skillet and stir

for 1 minute Remove the potatoes from the water and

place into the skillet with carrots Continuously stir for 10-13 minutes Sprinkle salt and chili pepper into the

skillet Ready to Serve

Our Recipes Tomato Tofu

2 boxes of firm tofu

3 medium sized tomatoes

¼ c of chopped green onion

1/8 c of tomato sauce

2c of water

1t sesame oil

2t vegetable oil

Dash of salt

 

Dice tofu into small pieces

Cut tomato into small pieces

Pour vegetable oil into a medium skillet over medium heat

Pour tomato into pan and stir for 1-2 minutes

Add tomato sauce and water into the pan and mix together

Cover for 10-15 minutes or until tofu is done and reduce heat

Cold Noodle

2 bags of Organic Ramen

 

Cook noodles in a large pot of boiling water until tender (about 4 minutes)

Drain the noodles

Soak noodles in a bowl of cold water and stir a little bit to avoid the noodles sticking together

Transfer noodles into another bowl without water

Ready to serve 

Green Tea

Green tea leaves

Hot water

 

Boil water

Place green tea leaves into a teapot and cover with hot water

Pour out the water to wash the first pot of tea

Fill the tea pot with hot water

Absorb the odor, drink, and enjoy

Additional Information Yin and Yang- . From Chinese perspective, everything in life is a balance of yin

and yang, including food. The Chinese love to eat and food is very important in their culture. Eating a healthy balanced diet is essential and important in life.

Medicinal Cuisine- Traditional Chinese culture believes in using food as a form of medicine. Illness can be treated with eating and using proper foods and herbs.

“Waste not, want not.”- The Chinese believe in being resourceful and every part of the plant and animal can and should be used.

Traditional Chinese food vs. Westernized/ Americanized Chinese food- Authentic Chinese menus focus more on vegetables and bean products where westernized menus focus most attention on meats and vegetables as side dishes. American Chinese food is much greasier than traditional Chinese, and also contains high amounts of salt and sugar. Americanized cooking techniques are very simple compared to the long process for preparing true Chinese dishes. Although both focus on taste, traditional Chinese also emphasize on color and aroma for a successful end product in cooking. Americans typically use frying methods for cooking Chinese dishes, while frying food isn’t common in the Chinese home but is used in restaurants. The Chinese usually find frying food to be unhealthy and use alternate cooking methods.

Popular Chinese cooking methods- Stir fry, deep frying, steaming, red stewing/red cooking, boiling, roasting, poaching.

References http://www.attractchina.com/blog/americanized-chinese-food-vs-authenti

c-chinese-food/

http://www.chinahighlights.com/travelguide/chinese-food/chinese-food-type.htm

http://www.travelchinaguide.com/intro/cuisine.htm