Chinese Cuisine

Cantonese cuisine features the cooking style in southern China – Hongkong, Guangdong, as well as Fujian and Taiwan. The popularity of southern Cantonese cuisine comes from the subtle use of sauces, the diversity of ingredients and cooking methods. The use of seafood, a wide variety of meats, fresh fruit, and vegetables combine with the methods of stir-frying, steaming, and roasting have made Cantonese dishes one of the most popular Chinese cuisine. We also have the Cantonese to thank for dim sum (“dian xin”), literally meaning "touch your heart" – consists of very small portions of varied assortment of pastries and dumplings that originated in Chinese teahouses. It is usually served with tea from late morning until early afternoon. Chinese use dim sum brunches as an opportunity for families to share the time together or to catch up with friends while enjoying the tea and many different types of delicacies. Learn more about Chinese Cuisine.

Szechuan cuisine features the cooking style of western China, such as Sichuan, Hunan provinces. The spicy style of the cooking originates from the hot and humid climate of this area and the abundant growth of the hot peppers. It is characterized by using a variety of flavoring in the cooking, such as the five spices (prickly ash, star iniseed, cinnamon, clove and fennal), prickly ash-hot pepper, vinegar-pepper, and pungently flavored vegetables like garlic and onions. Szechuan cuisine enjoys high reputation with locals widespread publicity of “Best eat at Sichuan”. . Learn more about Chinese Cuisine.

Northern Chinese cuisine refers to the cooking in the areas north of the Yangzi River, such as Hebei (which surrounds Beijing, Capitol of China), Henan, Shandong, Zhanxi and Liaoning. Since the climate is hot and dry during summers and freezing cold during winters in this part of China, northern Chinese people opt for more solid, nourishing beef, lamb and duck meat. Garlic, leeks and scallions are heavily used in northern Chinese cooking. Instead of rice, wheat is the main grain in northern China. Noodles and pancakes made from wheat flour constitute the important portion of many meals. Dumplings are a very popular Chinese food in this area. Learn more about Chinese Cuisine.

Eastern Chinese cuisine refers to the cooking in the areas of Shanghai, Jiangsu, and Zhejiang area. Both rice and wheat are grown here – rice in the subtropical climate to the south, wheat in the colder area that includes Shanghai. Noodle and bread made from both rice and wheat flour are frequently used. Chinese people in this area also take advantage of the region’s proximity to the sea and its large number of lakes. Eastern cuisine features abundant use of many varieties of seafood, fresh vegetables, including bamboo. Eastern cuisine is also famous for the liberal use of sugar to sweeten dishes and soy sauce to simmer various meats. . Learn more about Chinese Cuisine.