TOPIC 7 Chinese Cuisine2023

TOPIC 7
CHINESE CUISINE
Objectives:
At the end of this lesson, you can
1. Explain the method of preparation of Chinese Cuisine
2. Distinguish the ingredients of a Chinese Cuisine
3. Recognized authenticity and techniques of each Culinary Regions.
II- LESSON TOPIC:
Chinese Cuisine
Broadly speaking, there are 6 main culinary regions in China, and though many
techniques and ingredients cross each boundary, each region has particular and distinctive style.
Peking
Peking cooking, best known for its exclusively and costly Peking duck is to be found in
this cooler northeastern part of China as spicy and well-seasoned hotpots made from lamb or
beef, intermingled with onions, garlic, ginger, chives and leeks. Also famous in Mongolian fire
pot, unleavened breads, noodles, carp, giant prawns and crab. Shanghai cooking is almost the
same and melting as Peking but being a Cosmopolitan center and melting pot for tourist, it is also
an area where other regional dishes are well-represented.
Canton
Cantonese cooking is what Westerners are most familiar with both because of the contact
with and greater immigration from this region. This particular part of the country has greater
variety of dishes than anywhere else and is well-noted for recipes made from very fresh fish,
meat, poultry and vegetables, well spiced yet light in character and southeastern region and
compromises up to 30 or more sweet and savoury dishes plus 2 or 3 soups in immense pots all
served piping hot in or from little bamboo basket stacked one on the top of the other. You can
take your pick from braised chicken feet, giblets, steamed dumplings containing meat or fish,
spring rolls, deep-fried tofu, fried turn over and other mystic fantasies such as fortune cookies-
little crunchy with prophetic messages printed on a piece of paper enclosed in each one.
Szechuan
In the West of the country in the province of Szechuan, the food is hot and spicy as
though to counteract the heat and humidity. Chillies are used in abundance, so too salted tofu
mushrooms, and noodles with accompaniments of tingling sharp, zesty pickles. The most
popular methods of cooking here are frying, steaming and smoking.
Hunan
Hunan, lying inland northeast of Szechuan, reputedly serves the best deep-fries river carp
in China. It is also the home for sweet and sour dishes, uses wine in cooking, prefers the noodles
to rice and being a wheat growing area, also has a large recipe collection of superb steamed and
baked breads.
Fookien
Fookien is also on the east situated between Canton and Shanghai and virtually opposite
Taiwan. Soups are excellent in this region. Sometimes, as many as four are served at a meal and
also much enjoyed are roast-suckling pig. China’s fine soy sauces are produced here. This is
probably where surf and turf originated (fish eaten together with meal) and the most widely used
cooking methods are steaming and braising.
Mandarin
Mandarin food, once served to the fastidious and aristocratic Mandarins, is a sumptuous
combination of the best of Peking and shanghai cooking.
Chinese Cooking Methods

At the heart of all Chinese cooking are the techniques handed down and followed
precisely to ensure that the food retains its taste, color and texture. Whether cooked until crisp,
firm to the bite, or soft until it falls from the bone, each ingredient is cooked in the way it brings
out the best qualities.
Thickening Sauces
The traditional method of thickening Chinese sauces is to mix a little cornstarch snd cold
water into a smooth paste (slurry). Stir these into the sauce bring to a boil then simmer gently for
a few minutes.
Stir frying
The traditional method of preparing food, stir-frying is best done in a work, which can be
heated to the necessary high temperature and in which you can stir foods without spilling over
the edge of the pan. For perfect stir-frying, a little oil is heated in the wok then smallish cubes or
strips of foods are tossed and stirred together as they are rapidly fried in hot oil. Those foods,
which takes longest to cook such as meat, go into the wok first then moved to the sides to keep
warm as other foods are added and stir-fried.
Braising
A more sophisticated technique, braising is used for foods which require longer cooking.
They are first briefly fried then liquid is added in which the food cooks. The technique is often
called red-braising as the cooking liquid often contain dark soy sauce, Chinese wine, sugar and
spices which turns food mahogany red as it cooks.
Roasting
A popular cooking method, this is carried out in communal ovens, as the average
domestic kitchen is too small to house its own. For smallish pieces of food, a wok or pan is used
instead.
Deep and Shallow frying

Chinese use very hot oil heated in a wok when deep frying. Small pieces of food usually
coated in flour or batter are plunged into oil and fried until cooked and golden brown. The wok
or frying pan is also suitable for shallow frying when foods are cooked with just enough oil to
prevent it from sticking.
Simmering
This is a method of very slow stewing in which meat and poultry are cooked gently, just
below the boil until they are so tender that the meat falls from the bones. Chunks of vegetables
are added at the end of the cooking so that they are tender but retain a slight crispness.
Steaming
For steaming, food is cooked in bamboo basket often one on top of the other over gently
simmering water or stock. If the food is savory, salt is added or stock, if sweet, sugar is added. It
is a popular method of cooking in China and is used for dumpling, bread rolls and dimsum.
III- ACTIVITY
Exercise 1A
Name:_________________________________
Date:_______________
Class Schedule:_________________________
Study Questions.
A. Instruction: Write your answers on the space provided for.
1. List down five (5) Chinese Cooking Methods.

1)
2)
3)
4)
5)
2. Main Culinary Regions of Chinese Cuisine
1)
2)
3)
4)
5)
6)
B. Differentiate the following: Write your answers on the space provided for.
1. Szechuan and Hunan methods of cooking
2. Peking and Fookien methods of cooking

Conclusion:____________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________
____________________________
Checklist
Student is able to: (√)
Classify the Main culinary region of Chinese Cuisine
Appreciate Cooking method of each regions.
Relate some of the Cooking methods and preparation of Chinese Cuisine

TOPIC 7 Chinese Cuisine2023

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TOPIC 7

II- LESSON TOPIC:

Chinese Cooking Methods

Deep and Shallow frying

1. List down five (5) Chinese Cooking Methods.

2. Peking and Fookien methods of cooking

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