Cuisine in China
I am writing this as a celebration of some really great meals the last week while in Guangzhou in particular. It’s also intended to be a reminder that those who think Chinese food consists of fried nuggets of chicken meat of indeterminate origins coupled to sauces that are a vague concoction of soy, hoison and maybe some chili oil misrepresent the incredible opportunities within Chinese cuisine. Derivations of this misunderstanding revolve around what Americans call stir-fries – thrown in sliced bamboo from a can (along with the not so complimentary taste of aluminum), assorted nuts on the top, maybe even a number of mushrooms: that’s a pretty good primer on how Americans view Chinese food. Too bad, because the food in China is worth elevating as one of the world’s great cuisines.
Unlike these American stereotypes, Chinese food is typically light and utilizes primarily seafood. Among the reasons our version of Chinese food is underappreciated is that we typically have neither the vegetables nor the proteins they primarily utilize. If there is a way to be fair to the American perception of Chinese food it is that the need for Chinese cooks to utilize every part of the protein coupled with their fast-cooking style built around the wok, together can make certain dining experiences less than ideal. Offal in particular needs slow methodical preparation and cooking styles; when these organ meats are put together with faster cooking techniques, the end result can be a bit gristly and unappetizing (at least to me).
Each region in China has its own cuisine – with Guangzhou being known as the most flavorful of all. When next you look at your neighborhood Chinese restaurant a reminder of the uniqueness of each region is the typical Szechuan Chicken – a reference to the Sichuan province in China – is a bad way of representing an important culinary cornerstone within the country. In China the most typical Sichuan dish is chopped up bits of chicken (complete with bone) that are flash fried in a very light breading (what appears to be only a dusting of corn starch) that have no secondary sauce and are instead tossed with cut up dried Sichuan peppers.
Some of the meals in Guangzhou were incredible and, to my very middling palette, absolutely original in their flavor and less so, in their presentation: pork soup w/ spicy chilis (the pork was in big pieces, belly fat and all, and was just incredibly juicy and full of flavor), tofu with some sort of sautéed green vegetable (the vegetables in China are unique – like nothing we have in the States – when done properly they are really good), an egg battered fish filet, steamed fish covered in garlic and ginger, steak with black pepper sauce, some sort of steamed and sauced green stemmed vegetable, steamed rice with crab roe and chicken in a clay pot covered in parchment paper. Another meal the following day also did not disappoint: peppers and beef with some sort of long stemmed mushroom (just the stems cut thinly), scallops in shells with a rice vermencilli and garlic / ginger concoction on top (my favorite probably), fresh prawns, some other sort of sautéed green vegetable w/ carrots and mushrooms, steamed fish with green chili (really great) Beijing duck and finally rice with pork, ham (I know, but in this context not the same thing).
Created with Admarket’s flickrSLiDR.
There is an opportunity in America for revisiting Chinese food and redefining what the food and experience involves. The slower pace of typical Chinese communal, family-style dining, would be a nice change to the fast pace of even sit-down, menu restaurants. Chinese foods come in waves – a first taste, then a couple of dishes more, then more, etc. It is a wonderful way to stop in the midst of a hectic day and enjoy the moment. But even more potentially impactful is the cuisine itself: getting away from anything fried and elevating the steamed and braised proteins, the sautéed vegetables with aromatics. These would find the American palette surprised by a whole new flavor profile.
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“If anyone can show me, and prove to me, that I am wrong in thought or deed, I will gladly change. I seek the truth, which never yet hurt anybody. It is only persistence in self-delusion and ignorance which does harm.”
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