Chinese Food
Chinese Food is not all shark's fin soup and bird's nests. From north to south every region has its share of delicacies - be it braised bear's paw or grouse in north-east China; dog in Guangzhou; or on a more mundane level noodles as wide as belts in the province of Shaanxi. All the different nationalities have also, of course, brought their specialities to the Chinese menu. The different types of cuisine, or a special oil, or famous soy sauce, are always one of the main things the traveller 1ooks for when visiting another region in China. Haute cuisine to the Chinese is a delicate art - the skilled chef will produce a banquet which nor only delights the olfactory senses and fills the stomach, but which pleases the eye by its presentation - hors d'oeuvres presented in the shape of a flower basket, carefully garnished fish, prawns in two sauces forming a peacock's tail design, or soup on which float egg-white ducks! The dish names themselves often have an imaginative ring. With their penchant for classification, Chinese food has four major culinary regions: Peking, Yangtze, Sichuan and Cantonese.
Peking-style cooking, also known as "ran family' cuisine, after a famous family of Peking chefs, has also been influenced by the Shandong style of cuisine, particularly in the preparation of seafood and soups. The best-known refinement of Peking-style cuisine is the Peking duck (kaoya). The life of the Peking duck is short -about sixty-five days, during the latter part of which time they are force-fed on carbohydrate-rich grain until they weigh between 2.5 and 3 kg. Preparation for roasting involves inserting a sorghum stalk for support in side the cavity of a cleaned duck. Hot water is then poured over the duck to close the pores so that the fat will not escape during roasting. A malt sugar solution is painted over the bird, which gives it its characteristic golden colour and helps to make the skin crisper; then the duck is hung up to dry. The duck is then suspended in a wood-burning oven so that the heat does not fall directly on to it but radiates out from the oven wall. Special varieties of wood are used, such as jujube date, pear and peach, which all exude a pleasant aroma and produce relatively little smoke. When the duck is ready it is usually brought to the table and presented, to applause from the diners; then it is taken away to be sliced.
