According to traditional Chinese medicine, a sweet flavor can "tone the body", alleviate illness, and improve one's mood. Sweet Chinese seasonings mainly include sugar, honey, and various jams.
If you're watching your salt intake, you can still enjoy a Chinese meal. A number of soy sauce varieties are low in sodium. When paired with a simple vegetable or rice dish, your Chinese meal can be delicious and low in salt.
Let's see how much you know about Taiwan: What are the three colors on the Taiwanese flag? If you guessed red, white and blue, you're right. Of the three, which is the background color? Extra points if you guessed red.
Did you know that Chinese cuisine is one of the most varied in the world? China is the second-largest country in the world (and the most populous), so many different methods of preparation and local flavors sprung up all over the country.
It didn't take long for Chinese restaurants in the U.S. to "Americanize" menus in order to keep customers happy. While there is a real General Tso in Chinese history, no one in China had heard of his sweet chicken dish before it appeared in the U.S.
Visual appeal is just as important as aroma and flavor in Chinese cooking, and steaming and stir-frying are the best techniques to achieve consistency in color, texture, and taste with every dish we prepare.
The clever Chinese takeout box design was not invented by the Chinese, but by an American inventor named Frederick Weeks Wilcox. Originally called the paper pail, this made transporting meals a whole lot easier!
The Taiwanese are huge fans of the “QQ” food texture, or something that is especially chewy. A perfect example is in bubble tea. It’s said this was invented in 1988 when Liu Han-Chieh threw tapioca pudding into iced tea, and it quickly spread across Taiwan (and the world).
Chinese culture puts a high emphasis on fresh food. While meat is sometimes frozen, fresh vegetables are considered mandatory.
Taiwanese cuisine does wonderful things with seafood, and with good reason. Since Taiwan is an island, there’s plenty of seafood around it, and the mountainous terrain and lack of space for huge fields meant that the population largely settled around the coast.
During the Shang and Chou Dynasties, beef, mutton, pork, and various wild game were preserved with salt, fermenting, and vinegar curing. Plants like royal fern, smartweed, and thistle were also collected in the wild, and dishes were enhanced by cooking in animal fat.
Did you know that fortune cookies are actually an American invention? While their exact origins have been debated, it’s generally agreed upon that fortune cookies were first made in California.
Among the Shang Dynasty’s many important contributions to ancient Chinese society was the use of bronze weapons and the invention of chopsticks. Another contribution was the writing style called calligraphy, which people around the world now associate with China.
One style of Chinese cooking is "Cantonese," which is also known as "Guangdong." This style focuses on traditional cooking methods such as baking, frying, steaming, and stewing. Cantonese style has a long history in China and is very popular at home and abroad.
In both Cantonese and Szechuan cooking, preserving the integrity of the ingredients is of major importance. Cooking them to that perfect moment to bring out their best flavors is a hallmark of these styles.
Chinese food is often prepared in bite-sized pieces that don't require additional cutting. This makes dishes easier to eat with chopsticks, and reduces the need for a knife at the table.
Tea is a favorite beverage in Taiwan. Dongding oolong tea is one of the most popular types to enjoy with a Taiwanese meal. The name dongding means "frozen summit," and is a reference to the mountain where the tea plants were first grown in Taiwan.
In China, dumplings are called "jiaozi." Jiaozi should not be confused with wonton: jiaozi has a thicker skin and a relatively flatter, double-saucer like shape. Wontons have thinner skin, are rounder, and are usually served in broth.
Food and hospitality are so integral to the Chinese culture, one of the most common greetings combines both. While the phrase “chi fan le mei you” is often loosely translated as “hello,” but it actually means “have you eaten yet?”
Like that of many island countries, Taiwan’s traditional dishes often feature seafood. You’ll find delicious entrees made from fish, crustaceans, and squid on many Taiwanese restaurant menus, as well as seaweed salad that’s perfect for those who prefer to avoid eating meat.
Chinese cuisine has long stressed the valued of achieving the perfect balance of many different ingredients, with each complementing the other in terms of flavor, texture, and even color.
Did you know China is the fourth largest country in the world? Although it is big enough to have several time zones, it actually one has one. The population of China is over 1 billion, the largest population of any country in the world.
Have you ever wondered why the Chinese didn't develop more elaborate eating utensils, like forks and knives? The legend goes that the Chinese preferred innocuous eating implements because they were ineffective as weapons.
Special meals for birthdays are a tradition in China, where the birthday boy or girl often eats long noodles to signify long life. Follow this tradition by visiting a Chinese restaurant to celebrate a birthday. Whether the guest of honor orders noodles or another tasty dish, they'll enjoy their special day.
