Most Famous Cuisines in China

Traditional Chinese cuisines have a long history, and there are many kinds of Chinese cuisines. In Qing Dynasty, 4 cuisines had been formed. Later other 4 cuisines became famous, and the 8 Chinese Cuisines formed. They are Shandong Cuisine, Guangdong Cuisine, Sichuan Cuisine, Jiangsu Cuisine, Fujian Cuisine, Zhejiang Cuisine, Hunan Cuisine and Anhui Cuisine. Due to the differences of climate, geography, history and resources, each kind of cuisine has its characteristic.

 

 

Characteristics of the Eight Famous Chinese Cuisines

Shandong Cuisine: fresh and salty

Shandong people are good at cooking the soup and seafood.

 

Sichuan Cuisine: hot and spicy

Sichuan people are good at using spicy flavouring to add flavour to food.

 

Guangdong Cuisine: fresh

Most of the Guangdong cuisines are not spicy, at it combines the cooking styles of Western Cuisines.

 

Jiangsu Cuisine: light

The taste of Jiangsu Cuisine is mostly sweet. The cooks are good at using vegetables and soy sauce.

 

Fujian Cuisine: fresh

The cooks in Fujian are good at making soup and sweet-and-sour food.

 

Zhejiang Cuisine: light

Zhejiang Cuisine keeps the original taste of the food. The dishes are exquisite.

 

Hunan Cuisine: spicy

Hunan Cuisine emphasizes spicy and fresh. Also, it concentrates on the color and lustre of food.

 

Anhui Cuisine: fresh and spicy

Anhui Cuisine keeps the original taste and color of the food. The cooks like using ham to add flavour.

 

 

Shandong Cuisine

Shandong Cuisine, also known as Lu Cuisine, is composed of 4 types. Qilu Flavour is prevalent in northern Shandong, Beijing, Tianjin, Hebei and the northeast area. Jiaodong Flavour is prevalent is Jiaodong and Liaodong region. Kongfu Flavour is prevalent in southwest Shandong and Henan. Medicated Food Flavour is prevalent in Rizhao.

 

The features of Shandong Cuisine are fresh, tender and mellow. Shandong people are good at making soup. Shandong is famous for cooking many kinds of seafood.

 

Representative cuisines: braised sea cucumber with scallion, fried carp with sweet and sour sauce, braised intestines in brown sauce, stir-fried kidney, Kung Pao Chicken, Dezhou braised chicken

 

braised sea cucumber with scallion

 

 

Sichuan Cuisine

Sichuan Cuisine is also known as Chuan Cuisine in China. Sichuan Cuisine is famous for spicy. Different region in Sichuan has different characteristic. Rongpai Sichuan Cuisine uses accurate ingredients, which is less spicy. Yanbang Sichuan Cuisine is characterized by strange cooking ways. Xiahebang Sichuan Cuisine is prevalent in Chongqing, Dazhou and Nanchong, which boldly uses foodstuff. Xiahebang Sichuan Cuisine dares to be creative in cooking.

 

Sichuan Cuisine uses rich cooking methods to make diverse dishes. Most of the ingredients are spicy. Spicy Sichuan Cuisines are delicious, but please don’t eat too much to avoid having an upset stomach.

 

Representative cuisines: fried shredded pork with sweet and sour sauce, Kung Pao Chicken, sliced beef and ox tongue in chilli sauce, Mapo tofu, twice-cooked pork, Dongpo Ping Knuckle

 

sliced beef and ox tongue in chilli sauce

 

 

Guangdong Cuisine

Guangdong Cuisine is also known as Yue Cuisine in China. Guangdong Cuisine pursues light, fresh and keeping the original taste. The food raw materials are seasonal in Guangdong Cuisine. Guangfu Cuisine refers to the Zhaoqing, Shaoguan, Zhnajiang and Chu Chiang Delta. Guangfu Cuisine is light, fresh and tender. Chaoshan Cuisine are prevalent in Chaozhou, Jieyang, Shantou and Shanwei. Chaoshan people are good at cooking seafood and soup. Hakka Cuisine refers to cuisines in Dongjiang, where Hakka gathers. The food here is salty.

 

Representative cuisines: soft-boiled chicken, roasted goose, honey-stewed BBQ pork, Chaoshan beef hot pot, Chaozhou beef balls, steamed pork belly with preserved greens

 

soft-boiled chicken

 

 

Jiangsu Cuisine

Jiangsu Cuisine is also known as Su Cuisine in China. Jiangsu Cuisine is sweet and exquisite. It is divided into 4 flavour. Nanjing Cuisine is the representative of Jinling Flavour. Nanjing Cuisine is good at cooking ducks. Yangzhou Cuisine and Huaian Cuisine are the representatives of Huaiyang Flavour. Huaiyang Cuisine is rich, light and exquisite, which keeps the original taste and flavour of the food. And now Huaiyang Cuisine is the main food served at state banquets honoring foreign leaders and other dignitaries. Xuzhou Cuisine is the representative of Xuhai Flavour, which is salty and fresh. Southern Suzhou Flavour is prevalent in Suzhou, Wuxi, Changzhou and Shanghai, which keeps the balance of sweet and salt.

 

Representative cuisines: Nanjing boiled salted duck, Wensi tofu, Yangzhou style braised meatball, Yangzhou fried rice

 

Nanjing boiled salted duck

 

 

Fujian Cuisine

Fujian Cuisine is also known as Min Cuisine in China. Fujian Cuisine is fresh, light and sweet. Fujian Cuisine is divided into 5 flavour. Eastern Fujian Cuisine is good at using flavouring, cooking soup and using sugar. It is careful to choose foodstuff and ingredients. Southern Fujian Cuisine is good at adding sauce. The representatives are seafood, medicated food and vegetarian dish of Nanputuo. Western Fujian Cuisine refers to the Hakka cuisines in juncture of Fujian, Guangdong and Jiangxi. Northern Fujian Cuisine has food raw materials of mountainous area. Shaxian Snacks are the representative of Middle Fujian Cuisine, which is popular all over China. Puxian Cuisine is characterized by countryside food.  

 

Representative cuisines: Fotiaoqiang/steamed abalone with shark’s fin and fish maw in broth, braised mussels boiled in chicken soup

 

Fotiaoqiang/steamed abalone with shark’s fin and fish maw in broth

 

 

Zhejiang Cuisine

Zhejiang Cuisine is also known as Zhe Cuisine in China. Zhejiang cuisine focuses on fresh, tender and seasonal food raw materials. There are 4 main types of Zhejiang Cuisine. Hangzhou Cuisine is light, fresh and tender, which usually uses attractions to name the cuisines. Ningbo Cuisine combines salty and fresh, which is good at cooking seafood. Wenzhou Cuisine is light and exquisite. Ham is the core of Jinhua Cuisine, the cuisines of ham are more than 300 species.

 

Representative cuisines: stir-fried shrimps with Longjing tea leaves, West Lake fish in vinegar gravy, Dongpo Pork

 

stir-fried shrimps with Longjing tea leaves

 

 

Anhui Cuisine

Anhui Cuisine is also known as Hui Cuisine in China. Anhui Cuisine is salty and fresh, which is good at using ham and sugar. Anhui Cuisine is relevant to the climate, environment and customs in Anhui. It keeps the original taste and flavour of food. When cooking Anhui Cuisine, people like to use thick oil and sauce.

 

Representative cuisines: smelly mandarin fish, hairy tofu

 

smelly mandarin fish

 

 

Hunan Cuisine

Hunan Cuisine is also known as Xiang Cuisine in China. Hunan Cuisine is mainly spicy, fresh and salty. Changsha, Hengyang and Xiangtan are the representatives of Hunan Cuisine. The cuisines in Dongting Lake uses a lot of fish and domestic animals. And the snacks in Changsha is very famous in China.

 

Representatives cuisines: steamed fish head with diced hot red peppers, Dongan chicken

 

steamed fish head with diced hot red peppers