Chinese Food And Chinese Cooking

Contrary to popular belief, not all Chinese meals consist mainly of rice. While this staple grain is used extensively in regional cuisine from the southern parts of China, pasta in the form of noodles and ground wheat as cous cous are more common in the northern areas.

While western civilization tends to use meat dishes as a main course, the Chinese consider the high carbohydrate dishes to be primary. Many traditional Chinese dishes contain very little or no meat at all. Especially among the areas where Buddhism is strongest, there is a tendency to create flavorful and diverse dishes using nothing but rice and the multitude of vegetables that abound.

It is a social custom that on should not have to cut their food into pieces at the table, so Chinese food is prepared by cutting the meat and vegetables into bite sized pieces before preparing the meal. Since the western forks and spoons are considered weapons in the Chinese culture, the smaller pieces are created so that each bite can be picked up with chopsticks. The only exception to this custom is when serving fish. here the traditional Chinese method is to leave the head and tail intact and pieces of the flesh are pulled off the fish as it is being eaten. While these parts are not eaten, it is a part of their philosophy that a meal should have a beginning and an end and the head and tail represents this cultural belief.

The primary cooking utensil for proper Chinese cooking is the beaten metal round bowled wok. For the best results Chinese food should be prepared over an open flame. The design of the wok allows he maximum of food to be prepared with the minimum of cooking oil so the food will not be greasy. Even stir-fried vegetables are prepared separately from the rice. Each diner is given their separate plates but the foods are served out of a communal pot. This way it is up to the individual whether to place the vegetables over the rice or to the side.

Chinese food uses a wide variety of spices to give specific tastes to different dishes. Different combinations of vegetables, meat pieces and sauces differentiate the specific dishes. Unlike western culture which usually reserves the sweet dishes for the end of a meal, Chinese foods offer a mixture of sweet and sour alternatively trooughout a dinner. Dessert is a relative unknown in traditional Chinese cuisine. Usually a meal will be finished with fruit or sometimes a sweet soup.

Chinese food has become very popular all over the world and many foreign elements have slipped in to change the face of Chinese food. Chop Suey for instance is a completely American invention based on the Chinese formula. Thailand reduces the amount of rice and adds a fair bit of extra hot peppers to create their own variation of the standard fare.

Chinese food is uniquely suited for vegetarian diets and those who need to decrease the amounts of meat they consume. It is versatile and easily adjusted to create many distinctly different dishes while using the same low cost ingredients. And ultimately, it is more healthy than the majority of foods found in western culture.

There are few festivities that are felt around the world on quite the grand scale that the Chinese New Year is celebrated. This is an event that affects people all around the globe and the celebrations are quite exotic and a lot of fun for everyone involved. One thing that many outsiders may not realize is that many of the aspects of the Chinese New Year celebrations have a very specific purpose and meaning even the food. Whether you are Chinese are not, I know very few people in the world that couldn't use a small degree of good fortune to make things in their worlds run a little more smoothly.

When it comes to cooking for a Chinese New Year celebration there are a few things you might want to keep in mind. The foods that are prepared each have their very own meaning and a definite reason for being prepared.

Dumplings are believed to bring wealth in the New Year to those who eat them on this special day. Of course wealth is something that many people wish to accumulate so there are many paths to doing so. Other foods that are symbolic of wealth on the Chinese New Year are bamboo shoots, black moss seaweed, egg rolls, and oranges. Wow, this is just the beginning of the symbolic nature of food for the Chinese New Year so be sure to bring your appetite if you choose to celebrate.

Longevity or long life is something else that the Chinese are quite famous for. Eternal youth is what some may call it though these days it is far less eternal than may have been the case in centuries past. The secret however, to that long life was in consuming the proper foods as part of the New Year festivities. Those foods include: noodles, Chinese garlic chives, and peanuts (circus elephants everywhere rejoice at this news).

Prosperity is attributed to foods such as lettuce, whole fish, and pomelo. IN addition to prosperity whole fish and pomelo are believed to bring abundance and togetherness (as in marriage or romance) during the coming year.

Chicken is the main course when happiness is the goal. In addition chicken is associated with marriage, particularly when served with foods such as lobster that are considered to be dragon foods).

For those planning for children in the near future you might want to add eggs, seeds (such as watermelon seeds), and pomelo-the last two especially if you want several children.

Finally, if luck is what you are most in need of try to add a tangerine or some seaweed to your plate on this special day. If your run of luck has been really bad you may want to double up on your servings of both.

The Internet is filled with wonderful recipes for to help you celebrate the Chinese New Year in as traditional a setting as possible. Foods such as Jiaozi (Chinese noodles) and egg rolls are commonly found online and will go a long way towards creating the proper atmosphere for all good things to come your way in the coming year. Add a few lettuce wraps and longevity noodles and you have a good grasp on the good things that most of us hope will come our way in the coming year.

If you can't manage to eat all of the foods that are believed to be symbolic of good things to come in the coming year be sure to pick those you feel are most important and focus on eating those. This is, after all, quite a bit of food to take in during the course of one day unless you are barely getting a bite in of any of them and that would most likely defeat the purpose. Take time and make sure that you manage to enjoy cooking and preparing the dishes that make a Chinese New Year so special as well as you enjoy eating them.