By Avery Bridges

          Ruben Zavala

INTRODUCTION 

                         Chinese food today is different then traditional chinese food or ancient chinese food. Typical chinese foods include: tea, sea food, rice, and anything that is a grain. Rice is the main food that is consumed in southern China. In the north their main food is wheat. Notice that both  of these foods are grains. They mainly drink tea. Tea originally came from China so no wonder it is what they drink the most. The food  that is eaten in China is not the same as the food we eat in the U.S that we call "Chinse food". In China they only eat with copsticks and soup spoons. Most people in the U.S cannot eat with chops so imagine eating all your foods except soup with them. The north and south of China have their own distinct types of food they eat. Basically China has different types of cuisines based on what part you visit.

MAIN DISHES

                     In China the Chinese use rice and noodles in wide varieties of the dishes. In South China the dominantly use rice. In the North part of they use wheat based products like noodles. One Cantonese main dish is the Cantonese style lobster. Which is made with  2 small (1 pound) fresh live lobsters, 1/3 cup peanut oil, divided , 1 clove garlic, crushed, 1 mince slice fresh ginger root, 6 ounces lean ground pork, 1 cup chicken broth, 1 tablespoon cooking sherry, 1 tablespoon soy sauce, 1 tablespoon cornstarch, 1 teaspoon brown sugar, 2 beaten eggs, and 3 chopped green onions. 

1.      Rinse the lobster, and hold it belly up. At the bottom of the tail, there is a small opening, stick a long skewer in it to drain any urine left in its' body, then crack the tail off, chop the tail into small pieces, and crack the claws in half as well. If you know how to eat the body of the lobster, cut it up and throw it on the pile too.

2.       Heat half of the peanut oil in a deep heavy skillet over medium heat. Add the crushed garlic, and fry for about 1 minute. Throw in the lobster pieces, and fry until they are cooked through, about 4 to 5 minutes. Remove the lobster and garlic mixture to a dish and keep warm.

3.       Heat the remaining oil in the skillet. Add the minced ginger and pork, and fry until the pork is no longer pink. Pour in the chicken broth, and bring to a boil, stirring constantly. In a small bowl, mix together the sherry, soy sauce, cornstarch and brown sugar until well blended. Add the sherry mixture to the pan, and stir-fry for a minute or two, until the sauce becomes thick and somewhat clear.

4.       Stir in the green onions, and turn the heat off. Drizzle the beaten eggs over the mixture in the pan, and stir until the eggs are in little pieces. Finally, return the lobster to the pan, and cook over low heat for a few minutes to blend the flavors. Transfer to a serving dish, and let stand, covered, for a few minutes before serving. Eat with steamed rice Rinse the lobster, and hold and enjoy

  HOW FOOD IS EATEN

                         CHOPSTICKS

 People in China eat all of their food except for soup with chopsticks. Chopsticks are two wooden sticks that are placed n your hand by pinching the top stick and wedging the bottom stick. The two ends should be even.Chopsticks are used in almost all the food eaten in China. The main food that is not eaten with chopsticks is soup. Soup is eaten with a soup spoon.

REGIONAL STYLE DIFFERENCES

                          There are four main types of cooking  styles in China. They are called Cantonese, Mandarin, Shanghai, and Szechuan. Each one has its own distinct characteristics that seperate it from the others.

CANTONESE- Cantonese style is associated with the south, but it is most familiar with the westerners. The main food is rice. The main dishes are mostly stir-fried and lightly seasoned.

MANDARIN- Mandarin style is associated with the north. The main food is wheat and flour. They use the wheat and flour to make noodles, steamed bread, and dumplings. The most famous food of this style of cooking is Peking Duck.

SHANGHAI- This style of cooking is the dominant and main one used. Thier food is associated with mostly seafood. They also use soy sauce and sugar. Thier food is rich and tangy.

SZECHUAN- This style of cooking uses hot and spicy dishes. They also use a lot of hot peppers, garlic, onion, and leeks in thier food.

FACTS YOU MAY NOT KNOW

                         For the three times food is eaten in the day, they each have a specific food Chinese people eat. For breakfast they usually eat soybean milk with fried doughsticks called youtiao. For lunch they usually eat rice or porridge with pickled vegetables or fermemnted bean curd. Dinner serves the main food of the day. All the dishes are served at the same time. Each person is served a bowl of rice and they pick thier food from the dishes with thier chopsticks. The bones and shells are left on the table.

                         When preparing thier food, the Chinese natives use mostly only two cooking utensils. These are the cleaver and wok. The cleaver is very versatile, so it is used to do a lot of things. A cleaver is a flat, broad knife blade with a handle. It is used to hack bones, mince meat, slike fish,chop garlic, crush ginger, and even mash beans. The wok is a pan in the shape of a half sphere. It is used to deep-fry, stir-fry, boil, simmer, and steam.

                         Like most foreign foods here in America that are different in the country that it supposedly comes from, food in China is a whole different type of food. The chinese food here has been americanized. For example, the fortune cookie is an American invention made in San Francisco. Orange chicken is also different in China. Like most foreign foods here in America that are different in the country that it supposedly comes from, food in China is a whole different type of food.

                         Slurping your soup in China is a sign of respect to the cook or chef. By slurping the soup, it is like telling the cook that the meal was delicious. Who would have thought that what we in america think is rude could mean a sign of respect in another country.

Bibliography

Yu, Ling "Cooking the Chinese Way"1982 Main Dishes, Introduction 

GohmSui Noi "Countries of the World China" 1998 Food

www.historyforkids.org "Ancient Chinese food" 2007, 22 January 2009, http://www.historyforkids.org/learn/china/food/ 

http://www.nicemeal.com/foodculture/