Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
cooking, dispensing a legacy of rich and hearty stews, dense breads, pre-
served foods and dumplings.
The nomadic and carnivorous diet of the Mongolians also infiltrates northern
cooking, most noticeably in the Mongolian hotpot and the Mongolian barbe-
cue.
Hallmark northern dishes include the following:
Beijing kaoya
Peking duck
jiao zha yangrou
deep-fried mutton
qing xiang shao ji
chicken wrapped in lotus leaf
shuan yangrou
lamb hotpot
mantou
steamed buns
jiaozi
dumplings
rou baozi
steamed meat buns
san mei doufu
sliced bean curd with Chinese cabbage
Southern School
The southern Chinese - particularly the Cantonese - historically spearheaded
successive waves of immigration overseas, leaving aromatic constellations of
Chinatowns around the world.
Typified by
Cantonese
cooking (
yuecai
), southern cooking lacks the rich-
ness and saltiness of northern cooking, instead coaxing more subtle aromas to
the fore. It's an article of faith to the Cantonese that good cooking requires little
flavouring: it is the
xian
(natural freshness) of the ingredients that mark a truly
high-grade dish. Hence the near obsessive attention paid to the freshness of
ingredients in southern cuisine.
The hallmark Cantonese dish is dim sum ( Mandarin:
dianxin
). Dishes - of-
ten in steamers - are wheeled around on trolleys so you can see what you
want to order. Well-known dim sum dishes include
guotie
(a kind of fried
dumpling),
shaomai
(a kind of open pork dumpling),
chashaobao
(pork-filled
bun) and
chunjuan
(spring rolls).
Fujian
cuisine (
mincai
) is another important southern cooking style, with its
emphasis on light flavours and seafood. Hakka cuisine from the disparate and
