Chinese food, rich and colorful, has diversified color, aromatic flavor, and excellent taste as its main features. With these three characteristics, it is not only tasty but also a work of art for people to appreciate.

To make real Chinese dishes, none of the three characteristics - color, aroma and delicious taste should be excluded.

Table of Contents

Diverse Colors

Dishes with diverse color can usually greatly arouse people's appetite. For many years, Chinese food preparation has paid attention to aesthetic appearance. To have a bright, pleased and harmonious color is one of the main principles when cooking dishes. To achieve this, add two or three ingredients with different colors are added as decoration to complement the main ingredient. Thus, it is not only the taste of the dishes that makes you amazed but also its aesthetic value.

Aromatic Flavor

The aroma of the dish is very important. Usually aniseed, Chinese prickly ash seeds, cinnamon and other spices are added to help cover the ingredients’ particular smells, such as foul, fishy and mutton smells. Also some other flavors like **spring onion**, **ginger**, **garlic** or **chili**, **cooking wine** and **sesame oil** are added to make the dishes fragrant in flavor.

Excellent Taste

Regarded as the soul of the Chinese dish, taste can be divided into five classes - sweet, sour, bitter, hot and salty. Seasoning such as soy sauce, sugar, vinegar and salt in proper amount and in different sequences, contribute to the taste of the dish. In the vast land of China, there are eating habits of ‘South-Sweet, North-Salty, East-Hot and West-Sour’ according to the different tastes of the people. Those in southern China like to add more sugar when cooking than others. Jiangsu Cuisine one of the 'Eight Cuisines' is representative of 'South-Sweet'. Shandong Cuisine features more salt and people living in Hunan, Gubei, Jiangxi, Guizhou, Sichuan like chili best. Sour flavor is favored by Shanxi, Fujian, Guangxi people and the northeasterners.

Traditional cooking ways

1. Stir-frying

Perhaps the most common method of Chinese cooking is stir-frying. A quick and simple method, all you have to do is put the ingredients in a wok and cook on high heat for a short period of time. Due to the short cooking time, vegetables and other ingredients will keep most of their nutrients, and stir-fried meat is often juicy and tasty.

2. Steaming

Steaming is a method of cooking using steam. It is considered to be the healthiest cooking way.

Invented in China, steaming is widely used for buns and dumplings. The process of this cooking style involves putting ingredients in a steamer basket which is placed over water in a steamer pot. Steaming can hold more of the nutrition contained in food compared to boiling because the water doesn’t absorb them. Furthermore, less seasoning is used, and very little oil is required, so the foods natural flavour is maintained. Bamboo steamers are commonly used by the locals, which are stacked upon one another, allowing for an array of food to be cooked at once. Dishes that require the longest cooking time are placed at the bottom so that they are near the hottest part. Furthermore, the most well-known dishes that are steamed are dim sum, dumplings, buns and fish.

3. Braising/stewing /breɪz/ /stjuː/

Cooking meat and vegetables slowly in liquid for a long time.

A method that is slightly more time-consuming is braising; however, it is certainly worth putting in the effort. The technique involves adding seasoning and ingredients to a small amount of water or broth to either a wok or saucepan, then boiling it together at a high temperature. Afterwards, you simmer at low heat for around one hour or longer. Once braised, you can cut the ingredients into large cubes and serve. Braised chicken with mushrooms or braised beef with potatoes are perhaps the most well-known dishes cooked in this way.

Some cuisines

Tomato Egg Drop Soup

There are many variations of this dish: Often, the egg is scrambled and mixed through a tangy tomato and macaroni soup; other times, a thick tomato soup is served with instant noodles and a fried egg on top. This recipe takes its cues from dan faa tong, which translates to “egg flower soup” (more commonly known as egg drop soup), a reference to the way the egg flocculates and blooms when dropped into the boiling soup. Canned tomatoes make this recipe a year-round dish, and the diced variety used here adds texture to the soup. If you’d prefer, use crushed tomatoes, which will provide you with a smoother soup. This soup is designed to be a little sweet and a touch tart, so adjust your sugar and salt as needed until you achieve this balance. — Hetty McKinnon