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Click a regional name to jump to its location on this page.

Fukien
Hunan
Jiangsu
Shangdong
Tibetan
Yunan

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Fukien
famous dishes

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Popia

This is Fukien's best known specialty and is often used as a party dish. A medley of ingredients are slow-cooked in a large pot. Guests use this food as a filling for thin pancakes, which are rolled and eaten with the fingers.

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Buddha Jumps Over The Wall

Various meats and vegetables are marinated and slowly cooked in seasoned wine. Legend has it that it smells so good that a vegetarian Buddhist monk jumped over a wall to taste it.

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Culinary personality

Fukien (pronounced foo-kee-en) is situated along the fish-and-shellfish-rich East China Sea coast just north of Canton. It excels in clear soups and dishes made with fish from the sea and mountain rivers. Seasoning is subtle and freshness is emphasized.

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Hunan

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General Tso's Chicken

Deep fried, batter-encrusted chicken cubes are coated with a spicy, sweet-and-sour garlicky sauce.

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Smoked duck

The bird flavored with the rising fumes of smoking tea leaves or camphor wood.

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Seasoning

Hunan is known for its strong, fragrant, palate-scorching  seasonings. It vies with Sichuan for being China's chili-hottest cusine.

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Jiangsu

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Beggar's Chicken

Centuries ago, a clever beggar wrapped a stolen chicken in wet clay, then cooked it buried with hot coals in the ground so that the owner wouldn't notice the smoke. Cooks today wrap the bird in lotus leaves before encasing it in clay - and use a regular oven.

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Cha Chiang Mein

This simple dish made with egg noodles with stir fried pork becomes outstanding when made by a Jiangsu cook.

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Salted duck

It's prepared in many ways and in a variety of venues, from gourmet to street stall. As with most salt-preserved foods, you need a salt-less accompaniment. Steamed rice is perfect.

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Geographic influences

Jiangsu Province is situated just west of Shanghai. It has the latter's tendency to slightly sweeten dishes but, also, has the Cantonese desire to bring out natural flavors. Top Jiangsu cooks are noted for their enticing food presentations.

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Shandong

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Sweet-and-Sour Carp

You can find versions of this dish throughout China, but seldom will they be as subtly delicious as found in Shandong.

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Dezhou Chicken

Cooked in a variety of ways, including roasting and braising. Long cooking enriches the flavor of this celebrated chicken.

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Shandong cooking

It strives for freshness and simplicity - and has become a favorite among Beijing denizens.

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Tibetan

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Yak meat

It can be fried, stewed or grilled (or cooked in many other ways). There are even yak burgers for Westerners.

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Yak Butter

Butter made from yak milk can be blended into tea (called Yak Butter Tea) or used as a flavoring agent.

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The Yak

It not only plays a very important work role on the farm, its milk products are dietary mainstays (and its meat is a treat to non-vegetarians).

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Yunnan Province

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Crossing The Bridge Noodles

This soup is Yunnan's most famous specialty. It is made with long rice noodles, chicken and vegetables. The name "Crossing The Bridge Noodles" refers to the act of a wife who was able to cross a bridge and deliver the soup to her scholar husband before it became cold.

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Steam-Pot Chicken

The meat is steamed in a special pot with an open tube in its center.

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Yunnan Ham

Cured in the cool mountain air. Somewhat akin to the Smithfield Ham of Virginia.

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Varied local cuisines

Yunnan in southwestern China has extremely varied climates (tropical to Himalayan) and a multi-cultural environment (25 ethnic nationalities). This produces a wide range of local cuisines.

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Test yourself

How many of these major
world cuisines do you know well?

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