Chinese Cuisine: Philosophy, Techniques, and Regional Traditions

Chinese cuisine is one of the world's great culinary traditions. The fundamental concept is the balancing of five flavors (sweet, sour, bitter, salty, umami) and the balancing of thermal properties of food, with cold foods considered yin and hot foods yang.

The Eight Great Cuisines

The Eight Great Cuisines are: Sichuan (bold Sichuan pepper), Cantonese (light and fresh), Shandong (seafood and wheat), Jiangsu (elegant presentations), Zhejiang (fresh and soft textures), Fujian (seafood and soups), Hunan (chili heat), and Anhui (wild herbs).

Techniques and Tools

The wok (guo) is the essential tool of Chinese cooking. Stir-frying (chao) cooks vegetables rapidly at high heat. Steaming (zheng) preserves natural flavors. Red-cooking (hong shao) braises in soy sauce and sugar for rich, savory-sweet dishes.