Chinese Food 中国饮食文化 英文版.doc

Chinese cuisine Chinese cuisine ( Chinese: 中國菜) originated from different regions of China and has become widespread in many other parts of the world — from East Asia to North America, Australasia and Western Europe. National cuisine A meal in Chinese culture is typically seen as consisting of two or more general components: (1) a carbohydrate source or starch, known as 主食 in the Chinese language, (zhǔshí Pinyin , lit. main food, staple) — typically rice, noodles, or mantou (steamed buns), and (2) accompanying dishes of vegetables, meat, fish, or other items, known as 菜 (càiPinyin , lit. vegetable) in the Chinese language. This cultural conceptualization is in some ways in contrast to cuisines of Northern Europe and the USA, where meat or animal protein is often considered the main dish, and analogous to the one of most Mediterranean cuisines, based typically on wheat-derived components like pasta or cous cous. Rice is a critical part of much of Chinese cuisine. However, in many parts of China, particularly northern China, wheat-based products including noodles and steamed buns (such as mantou) predominate, in contrast to southern China where rice is dominant. Despite the importance of rice in Chinese cuisine, at extremely formal occasions, sometimes no rice at all will be served; in such a case, rice would only be provided when no other dishes remained, or as a token dish in the form of fried rice at the end of the meal. Soup is usually served at the start of a meal and at the end of a meal in Southern China. Chopsticks are the primary eating utensil in Chinese culture for solid foods, while soups and other liquids are enjoyed [1] with a wide, flat-bottomed spoon (traditionally made of ceramic). It is reported that wooden chopsticks are losing their dominance due to recent logging shortfalls in China and East Asia [citation needed]; many Chinese eating establishments