Chinese cuisine has spread around the world

Sudibyo M. Wiradji, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

Who doesn't recognize Chinese cuisine? With Chinese restaurants found in almost every country, gourmands must at least be familiar with dishes like fried rice, fried noodles, chicken balls, chop suey, Peking duck and shark fin soup.

In countries with large Chinese communities, Chinese restaurants have flourished, so it is no wonder that Chinese dishes have become some of the most popular in the world.

Like French and Italian food, Chinese cuisine enjoys a good reputation in the world not only for its exquisite, delicious taste and charming appearance but also for its sheer abundance.

In fact, Chinese dishes available at restaurants outside China and Hong Kong represent only a few of the existing Chinese dishes, given the enormous variety of Chinese food that differs greatly from region to region. It is not surprising to see many visitors to China or Hong Kong trying out different authentic food there.

For Chinese people, food is a central part of their culture. Their passion for eating good food has seen their cooking evolve into a sophisticated culinary art.

Historically, Chinese cuisine has been able to develop in terms of recipes, variety, taste, style and cooking techniques thanks to the famine and hardship that people suffered through.

To survive poor harvests, they explored everything edible, with many strange and incredible ingredients, such as wood ears and lily buds, discovered and added to Chinese recipes.

The scarcity of food also drove them to take advantage of what most people would consider waste. "Various fruit and vegetable peels and even shark fins turned out to be delicacies in Chinese food," said Index-China.com, a website that provides a guide to China's past, present and future.

Each region in China has its own typical specialties with their special characteristics and cooking techniques.

Shandong, for instance, is known for items like bird's nest soup, yellow river carp in sweet and sour sauce. The dishes are cooked by deep-frying, grilling, pan-frying and stir-frying.

Shandong cuisine is characterized by its emphasis on aroma, freshness, crispness and tenderness. Shallots and garlic are frequently used as seasoning, which make Shandong dishes pungent. "Thin soups from the region are clear and fresh while creamy soups are thick and taste strong," said TravelChinaGuide.com.

Unlike Shandong cuisine which emphasizes aroma, freshness, crispness and tenderness, Sichuan cuisine puts more emphasis on the use of chili. The cuisine is characterized by its spicy and pungent flavors and myriad of tastes. Pepper and prickly ash are always in accompaniment, producing the typical exciting tastes. Garlic, ginger and fermented soybean are also used in the cooking process. Wild vegetables and meats are often chosen as ingredients, while frying, frying without oil, pickling and braising are used as basic cooking techniques.

Typical items from Sichuan include hot pot, smoked duck, Kung Pao chicken, twice cooked pork and mapo dofu.

Meanwhile, Guangdong, Fujian Jiangsu, Zhejiang, Hunan and Anhui are also renowned for having their specialities.

Guangdong, or Canton, for instance, has been well recognized as the region from where specialties such as shark fin soup, steamed sea bass and roasted piglet originates.

Guangdong cuisine, familiar to Westerners, usually features fowl and other meats. It tastes clean, light, crisp and fresh.

The basic cooking techniques used to cook Guangdong cuisine include roasting, stir-frying, sauteing, deep-frying, braising, stewing and steaming. Steaming and stir-frying are most frequently used to preserve the ingredients' natural flavors.

Chinese dishes like stewed crab with clear soup, long-boiled and dry-shredded meat, duck triplet, crystal meat and squirrel with Mandarin fish originally come from Jiangsu.

Commonly, Jiangsu cuisine uses fish and crustaceans as the main ingredients and its stresses their freshness. Chefs usually employ stewing, braising, roasting and simmering to cook dishes typical of Jiangsu.

With many Chinese people migrating to other countries, including Indonesia, Chinese food has developed a number of unique tastes to suit local tastes.

The advent of Chinese food in Indonesia dates back to the 16th century when overseas Chinese migrated to Indonesia and introduced their cooking to Indonesians.

As cooking technique also plays an important role in making Chinese food delicious, these Chinese shared their knowledge of cooking methods like steaming, stir-frying and deep-frying, according to William Wongso, a culinary expert.

"Chinese cooking has gained popularity because it does not need expensive ingredients, and with the ingredients cooked only when ordered, the dishes will always stay fresh," he said.

According to William, most Chinese dishes here are based on recipes that have been blended with local foods. These include fried and boiled noodles, fried rice mixed with beans with a pungent odor locally known as pete, and rice with salty fish.

Adjustments to local culture have also been by making Chinese dishes halal, or allowable under Islamic law.

"Fried or boiled noodles, for instance, are preferred by many because the food is fully guaranteed halal," William said.

Several kinds of Chinese dishes here use local ingredients but with a Dutch flavor. These include beef, lobster or chicken steak served with local seasonings such as butter, ketchup and chili sauce.

In Indonesia as well as in other Asian countries, Chinese dishes are preferred mainly due to their delicious taste. One of the elements that makes the food tasty is monosodium glutamate (MSG).

William said that MSG was the basic flavor of Chinese dishes and contributed to the popularity of Chinese food in Indonesia.

"The MSG makes the food easily acceptable, palatable and less hot," he said.

Commonly, MSG is specially used as a seasoning for Chinese dishes sold at more modest eating places and low and middle-class restaurants.

"Food with MSG is relatively cheap," he said. "However, high- class Chinese restaurants tend to use stock instead of MSG."

"Using stock for Chinese cuisine remains expensive because the stock is made of dried seasoning like dried scallop, dried Chinese shiitake and dried bones of pork or chickens," he said

The stock is used as seasoning for particular Chinese items with exclusive ingredients like bird's nest soup, shark fin and fungi.

"Those kinds of dishes can only be found at high-class restaurants and they have been popular over the last several years," he said.

While many kinds of Chinese food have been adapted to local tastes, preparing Chinese dishes served with original recipes or "authentic" cuisine requires extra effort because it requires chefs with adequate skill in preparing authentic Chinese dishes.

"Chefs with the skill in authentic Chinese dishes are those who originally come from one of the regions in China where the food originates. Particular restaurants offer authentic Chinese dishes by inviting these chefs to cook here," William said.

Despite the authenticity, the food will taste differently when cooked by a team of chefs from different regions of China because each region has its own style and typical kinds of dishes, he said.