Talk:Historical Chinese cuisine

Most of this article is not historical, and in the discussion of ma la vs la, only the second is correct.

moving and doing away with
I've moved this rather sad page to History of Chinese cuisine where I'll throw away and start anew. I paste the old page here, some of it can possibly be taken somewhere where it belongs. Berox 16:07, 5 April 2006 (UTC)

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The History of Chinese cuisine is shrouded in mystery as are many ancient traditions since records are scarce. Although many historians can piece together information from names of dishes, most foods are not named after a specific event or person.

The eight different cuisines
There are eight distinctive cuisines in China: Shandong cuisine, Guangdong cuisine, Szechuan cuisine, Hunan cuisine, Jiangsu cuisine, Zhejiang cuisine, Fujian cuisine, Anhui cuisine. All eight cuisines have different tastes and emphases.

Cultural differences
When Westerners hear of dishes such as sauteed dog, frogs' legs, fried crickets and roaches, they may not understand the necessity that brought the Chinese to eating these animals. China's history has been scarred many times by famines and the large population multiplied the problems. People resorted to eating grass, dead wood, or anything that could be edible. Sometimes people tried foods they hadn't tried before such as crickets or frogs.

General Tso's chicken
General Tso's Chicken comes from the famous Chinese General who won major battles. When other generals heard that the general ate nothing but a specific type of chicken and rice, they ordered their men to eat the same dish every day. General's Name in Chinese: Zuo Zongtang

Szechuan cuisine
Most restaurants in the U.S.A. specialize in Szechuan cuisine. Szechuan cuisine was famous more than 800 years ago during the Southern Song Dynasty when Szechuan restaurants were opened in Lin’an, now called Hangzhou, the emperor's capital city. Peasants and nobles alike were thrilled with the food (just like Americans are with the food today). Whether it is the prestigious P.F. Chang's restaurant to the takeout down the street, most likely the food you eat will be the Szechuan style of cooking. Szechuan style's more famous foodstuffs includes "Sweet and Sour" soups, twice – cooked pork with chili sauce (Hui Guo Rou), shredded pig's lung with chili sauce, Crucian carp with thick broad – bean sauce, and boiled mat slices are common dishes eaten by every family in the Sichuan area in China. The first few "professional" restaurants were Szechuan.

Húi Gūo Ròu
Literal translation: Going back to the pot meat. After an emperor finished entertaining, the emperor ordered the chef to do something about the leftover meat. Voila! Húi Gūo Ròu was created. The heavy spices where used in order to cancel out the smell and taste of the leftover meat. Today the dish is still mostly the same except chefs use fresh meat but still involves strong spices.

Fù Chī Feì Piàn
Literal Translation: Husband and Wife Lung slices. Believed to have originated from a wedding of a noble. The couple was asked to make something original for their wedding. After running out of ideas, they went around to the most famous chefs and found nothing "original enough". During traveling between chefs, the couple happened to pass by a peasant's house where they found Pig's Lung with hot chili. Today it is made from "regular" pork meat and is still one of the most popular appetizers in Chinese restaurants.

Differences between Má Là and Là
The Chinese tend to separate spicy dishes into...(this is a literal translation)... "numbing spicy" and "spicy". The differences are quite pronounced. A "Numbing spicy" dish tends to stay in your mouth while spicy dishes are able to be washed away. When the chili pepper was introduced to China via foreign trade in the 1700s, the Sichuanese were the first to openly embrace it. In addition, Sichuan Province's warm climate is the ideal location for chilies to grow. It is believed that the northern Chinese perfected the Ma La cooking technique while the southern Chinese perfected spicy foods.

Note of different opinion
In my understanding, the difference between "Ma La" and "La" is not how long does the spicy flavor stays on the tongue. "Ma La" does not mean it is so spicy that numbs the tongue. The added "numbing" flavor comes from a numbing pepper called "Hua Jiao", which is not a hot spicy pepper, but contains pain killing element -- it literally numbs the tongue to a degree. Spicy pepper stimulates the pain nerve ends, among other flavor buds, on the surface of the tongue, therefore gives a sensation often similar to a noxious stimulate such as very hot water. The added numbing effect reduces the pain and allow the tongue to enjoy the richness of the dish, while does not mask the spicy flavor. Numbing spicy is popular in Schichuan cuisine, where people prefer spicy combined with other flavors, rather than straight hot spicy. People in Schichuan are proud of their connoisseurship in food, as their flavor does not stop at hot spice. However, in other regions in China, such as Hunan, people enjoy more straight burning spicy. Hunanese consider themselves as the real spicy people, and refer Schichuanese as less authentic regarding spicy eating. The late dictator Mao Zedong was from Hunan. He was known to love hot chili.

Beijing cuisine
When most foreigners go back to China, most visit the capital city of Beijing. Although some visit the many Western Fast Food Chains such as McDonald's or Starbucks, it is most likely the first style of cooking he/she may encounter is in the Beijing Style. Beijing cuisine consists mostly of meat because that was the preferred staple of the higher classes during the Imperial Age of China's history. Dishes such as Peking Duck as well as Lion's Head are highly popular inside the restaurants in China.

Beijing cuisine influences
The city's cuisine was undoubtedly influenced by the Imperial Cooking School as well as the constant presence of diplomats and other high ranking officials. During the Liao, Jin, Yuan, Ming and Qing dynasties when Beijing was the capital of China, the best chefs from every province were called into Beijing to train at the Imperial Cooking School. If the chef gained the favor of the officials of the school, then he would be recommended to the Imperial Court at the Forbidden City.

Anhui cuisine
Comprises of the flavors of Huizhou and other towns along the Yangtze/Huai Rivers. The people that lived in the Anhui region did not believe in the fried foods that dominate the other cuisines. The Anhui people believed more so in braising their foods and seasoning them with ham and sugar candy in order to enrich the freshness.

Braised turtle with ham
Using the Mati Turtle, this dish has not only delighted its people, but has inspired poets.

Fu li ji
Literal translation: Lucky Chicken. Is grilled chicken most likely imitated from the Dezhou braised chicken in Shandong Province during the Han Dynasty. Over the centuries, the An Hui people perfected this dish that today, the meat is golden and lightly seasoned to perfection while it can be easily torn from the bone because it is so well cooked.

Fujian cuisine
Fujian Cuisine consists of mainly four distinct features. It exhibits fine cutting techniques, alternative soups, unique seasonings, and exquisite cooking. Most dishes are based upon the abundance of marine products of the region and fine craftsmen who accompany all dishes with their creative ceramic creations.

Chao Xi Shi Xie Tou
Fried Xi Shi's tongue is the literal translation of this dish. Although the dish is made from Fu Jian Mussels, the dish gets its name from local legend. According to the legend, the concubine Xi Shi of the King of Wu was thrown in the sea tied to a huge stone by the wife of Gou Jian, the king of Yue who destroyed Wu. Because of this jealousy, the gods favored Xi Shi and decided to honor her final resting place. In the area of the sea where she sank, a special breed of mussel appeared and this was said to be Xi Shi's tongue.

Moon-cake
On the 18th of the 8th month on the Chinese Lunar Calendar, the Chinese celebrate the Moon festival or Moon-cake or Mid-Autumn festival. According to popular belief, the Chinese were oppressed by Genghis Khan's Yuan dynasty. The Khans, fearing for their people's (The Mongols) safety, limited the knives the Han Chinese were allowed to have. Although the Han did have small knives, they were not allowed to have large knives (3 inches) which were useful for cutting noodles, dumplings, etc. The people would have to lend knives from a Mongolian Family. Each 100 families had a designated "renting" point and every night after cooking, the knives had to be returned to the Mongolian Family. After a while, the Han Chinese grew rebellious. Messengers were sent out to inform all the families that an uprising was to take place on the 18th of the 8th month the following year. All the Hans were to rent out all the knives on that single night and in order to feed everyone, the renting family would also have to make a huge Bǐng (Pie) stuffed with anything eatable. When the night finally came, everything fell according to plan. The Han people used their borrowed knives and overwhelmed the minority Mongols. The Mongols were driven out of China and the Ming Dynasty was established.

Tāng Yuán
It is believed that the Lantern Festival originated during the Han Dynasty of China on which day the Chinese eat Tangyuan. The emperor selected a beautiful concubine named Yuán Xiāo. She was content for a while but soon grew homesick. She longed to see her family outside of the imperial palace. The royal advisor took pity on her and gave her advice on how to see her mother. That night, she went to the emperor with a most frightening story. The monsters from Tiān would attack on the 15th of the first month (lunar calendar). She also described how the Jade Emperor told her that in order to ward off the attack, they would have to light candles and eat the Tang Yuan. The emperor believed the story and sent out messengers throughout China to spread the word. When the festival finally came around, the emperor and his concubines went out of their palace to find all the streets filled with people with lanterns and eating Tang Yuan. In the confusion of the crowd, Yuan Xiao was able to visit her family and return to the palace safely.
 * There are other versions of how the lantern festival originated.

Chinese food symbolism
Peaches-In the Monkey King Chronicles (Sōng Wǔ Kōng) the Wáng Mǔ Queen hosts a peach banquet for all the gods in Tiān (Heaven). The Peaches in her garden took 9,000 years to ripen and would prevent people from aging (equivalent to drinking from the Fountain Of Youth). Even today giving peaches symbolizes peace and longevity in China.