Chinese Cuisine - Heart of a Culture

Although the four schools of Chinese cuisine are as diverse as the country, Lauren Weirick discovers one rule applies to all: food is the heartbeat of Chinese culture.

In a commercial for a television series starring famous chef Anthony Bourdain, one phrase stands out, "If China is the future, we will all be eating a lot better". Eating is an integral part of Chinese culture. Meals bring family and friends together and food is the most important aspect of any celebratory event. While Chinese cuisine is famous the world over, its subtleties remain less well known. There are four main types of Chinese cuisine - Cantonese, Shanghainese, Peking and Sichuan - generally referring to their provinces of origin. According to Chinese cooking theory, food must balance with the climate so, for instance, recipes in cold climates focus on spices to increase blood circulation. But the balancing act is deeper than temperature. Chinese cuisine incorporates the concepts of yin and yang to achieve harmony in food through cooking techniques and ingredients. All of these factors, along with provincial histories and agriculture, have shaped the four schools of Chinese cuisine, reflecting the vastness and diversity of the country. People travel for miles just to taste regional signature dishes, but despite their differences they all have one thing in common: each region encompasses cooking as part of its culture, and food as a way of life.

Native to Hong Kong is southern Chinese, or Cantonese, cuisine, known for its freshness. When foreigners think of Chinese food, they are often referring to Cantonese cooking, as it has been exported all over the world and is the best known of the four. The Canton, or Guangdong, region is surrounded by the South China Sea and the Pearl River Delta. It experiences a year-round subtropical, warm, wet climate, resulting in sweeping fertile land. Almost anything can be grown in this region, so fresh produce is abundant. Often cooks visit local markets daily to gather ingredients for the evening meal. Seafood is widely eaten due to the area's proximity to the sea, and many Cantonese restaurants have live fish tanks from which diners choose their catch. Countless varieties of meat are also used, and very little of the animal is wasted. Since the food is so fresh, very few spices are needed. Instead, steaming, stir-frying and natural oils bring out the pure flavours of the food, such as slow-cooked soups.

A Cantonese tradition that should not be missed is dim sum. Meaning 'touch of the heart' or 'little heart', dim sum is food for the soul. Handmade rather than factory created, dim sum is a Cantonese delicacy, and is served at the table one dish at a time. Eaten by locals for breakfast or brunch, it is a must-do meal for tourists. Try the 'ha gao' (shrimp dumplings) and the 'cha siu bao' (barbecued pork dumplings) for complete culinary satisfaction.

Further up the East China Sea is Shanghai, the mainland's financial capital. As a trading hub and centre of industry and commerce, Shanghainese cuisine, broadly referred to as the Eastern School, is well developed and has been shaped by its geography. What is known as Shanghainese cuisine actually incorporates cuisines from neighbouring eastern provinces, as well as from Western cultures. Coupled with recipes adaptable to the region's cold winters and warm summers, Shanghainese fare is incredibly diverse. Common cooking methods include 'red cooking', which is braising in a soy sauce mixture, stir-frying and simmering using lots of oil, producing rich, sweet flavours. Shanghainese highlights are Beggar's Chicken, a chicken dish wrapped in lotus leaves, covered in clay and oven-cooked which is also popular in Beijing, Drunken Chicken - served cold and marinated in liquor, lime and ginger - thousand-year eggs, Shanghai dumplings and steamed fish.

On to Beijing, the capital of China and home of imperial cuisine, known for its Peking style of cooking. A meeting place for intellectuals, bureaucrats and dynasty officials, Beijing is a breeding ground for skilled chefs who historically catered to the ruling class. Because of the cool climate, Peking food is traditionally designed to keep the body warm with sizzling plates and hearty flavours. Common ingredients are full of flavour and include peppers, ginger, coriander and garlic. The most famous dish from the Beijing culinary tradition is Peking Duck, a 15th-century recipe in which a whole duck is air-dried and marinated in soy sauce and syrup before being custom roasted until the skin becomes dark brown and crispy. The duck is then sliced and wrapped in thin pancakes with onions, cucumber and hoisin sauce.

The fourth and final school of Chinese cuisine originates from Sichuan province, which is often clumped together with neighbouring Hunan cuisine. Sichuan cooking (also known as Szechuan) is exceptionally hot and spicy, using loads of chillies and peppers to make some of the fiercest dishes around. It is rumoured that the pungent tradition began as a way to cover up the true taste of rotting food in the land-locked, mountainous region. Today, Sichuan cuisine is highly regarded and not for the timid of the tongue. Its reputation comes from the use of fagara, a fruity peppercorn that produces a taste so spicy that it is sensationally numbing. Ma Por Tofu, a tofu dish made in a spicy sauce, is a typical hot Sichuan dish, as are Sichuan hot pot, Kung Pao chicken with chilli and peanuts and dan dan noodles.

Chinese cuisine is simple yet sophisticated in its quest to achieve harmony and appease the palate. The four schools remian respected traditions that give insight in to a wide-ranging country and society. With the variety of cuisines China has to offer, a trip to Hong Kong is not complete without embarking on a Chinese culinary journey.

At the Table

• Do not stick chopsticks upright into your food. This is a symbol used to show respect for the dead. • Be sure not to tap bowls and plates, as this is a sign of begging. • In Hong Kong's Chinese restaurants, people use chopsticks, but it is not disrespectful to ask for a fork and knife if you need them. • When communal serving chopsticks and spoons are placed on the table, use these to serve food from shared dishes. • When with people from the shipping industry, do not turn a fish over to de-bone it, as this mimics a capsizing sea vessel. • If someone fills your tea cup, gently tap the table next to your cup with your middle three fingers as a gesture of thanks.

Visitor's Tip

Enjoy all the dim sum you like with the Hong Kong Tourism Board's virtual dim sum guide. Simply mark what you want to order after choosing from the descriptions and images, and print out the menu to bring into restaurants. See www.discoverhongkong.com

Tasty Tourism

Learn to cook Chinese cuisine with the pros - through your very own cooking class at the Chinese Cuisine Training Institute. The four-hour class includes an introduction to the history, culture and regionalism of Chinese cuisine, a demonstration by the chef, hands-on cooking training and a Chinese luncheon. Monday to Friday, $620 including lunch. Tel: 2539 2200