Chinese Food

Perhaps the two most important things that China has given to civilization are its language and its cuisine. It is not an exaggeration to say that Chinese cuisine is the most refined and sophisticated in the world, with a very large number of cooking techniques and combinations of ingredients, sauces (salsas) and spices (especias). There is probably a Chinese restaurant in every city in the world and what they all have in common are their extensive menus. The Chinese love variety and are famous for eating anything that moves. It is difficult to simplify this complex cuisine in a post, but we will try to explain the essence of Chinese food.

 

Hot Wok

 

The wok is a symbol of Chinese cuisine and an ancient and very versatile cooking implement (utensilio).

The essence of Chinese cooking is making food tender (tierna) quickly, retaining all its flavours (sabores)

and nutrients. The wok is ideal for this purpose and is used for stir-frying (sofreír)any type of food. It is also used for stewing, (guisar) steaming (cocinar al vapor) and boiling. An incredible sight (espectáculo) in China is to see chefs cooking with several extremely hot woks. The best thing to do is to try every dish and guess what is in it! 

 

 

 

       

Hot with Hot

The ritual of tea drinking is another part of Chinese life, and is associated with relaxation and purifying the spirit.With a meal, it is common to drink tea, not water, usually from small cups. This is because it is important not to mix (mezclar) hot and cold elements together: hot food needs a hot drink to accompany it. Now the West has discovered that green tea helps prevent cancer and ageing (envejecimiento) and doctors are recommending it. This is another example of ancient Chinese customs incorporated into modern life.

 

Sweet and Sour (agridulce)

 

The Chinese are not famous for their desserts, which are only served at banquets. This does not mean that they do not like sweet things. Instead of (en vez de) having the sweet flavours separately at the end of the meal, they prefer to have them in their main dishes. Many recipes contain a little sugar, and sweet soups are always served at banquets. Sweet and sour sauces, which combine very well with pork, vegetables and fish, are also popular