December 14, 2011
Chinese Restaurants
According to Wikipedia, there are many different styles of Chinese food, but perhaps the best known and most influential types found in the US are: Guangdong (Cantonese), Szechuan, Shandong and Jiangsu cuisines. These styles are distinctive from differences in available resources, climate, geography, history, techniques and lifestyle.
Perhaps the most well-known Cantonese cuisine is dim sum, which literally means “touch your heart,” and is a term used to describe small, but hearty dishes. These generally bite-sized dishes are prepared using traditional cooking methods such as frying, steaming, stewing or baking and is served in a manner where one person can sample a variety of different dishes. Some of these may include rice rolls, lotus leaf rice, turnip cakes, buns, stir-fried green vegetables, congee porridge, soups, etc. The Cantonese style of dining is prominent in most Chinese restaurants in the US, as many of the original immigrants came from the Guangdong area of China.
Szechuan cuisine, also called Sichuan cuisine, is a style of Chinese food from the Sichuan Province of southwestern China. This type of Chinese food is famous for bold flavors, particularly the pungency and spiciness resulting from liberal use of garlic and chili peppers. Sichuan peppercorn, peanuts, sesame paste and ginger are also prominent ingredients in Szechuan cooking. Probably after Cantonese, Szechuan is the second most prominent type of cuisine served by Chinese restaurants in the US.
Shandong cuisine was once considered imperial cuisine and was widely promoted in the north China. Shandong cuisine features a variety of cooking techniques and seafood, with typical dishes including braised abalone, sweet and sour carp and Dezhou chicken.
Jiangsu cuisine is one of the major components of Chinese cuisine is world famous for its distinctive style and taste. Typical courses include: Jinling salted dried duck, crystal meat (pork heels in a bright, brown sauce), clear crab shell meatballs, Yangzhou steamed Jerky strips, triple combo duck, dried duck, and soft-shelled turtle stewed with many other ingredients such as chicken, mushrooms and wine.
Many in the US can sample virtually all of these diverse types of Chinese cuisine at many Chinese restaurants in Hawaii, San Francisco, New York city, Los Angeles and other places where there is a large Chinese-American population.
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