Year in 1784, the emperor Qianlong was personally served a total of about 150 kilograms of meat, including 3 ducks, 10 chickens, 6 pheasants, 5 geese. 12 kilograms of boar. 10 kilograms of mutton, 10 kilograms of fish, and 4 deer's tails—a fit repast for any emperor!
Today, Fangshan and Listening to the Orioles Pavilion are two restaurants in Beijing, specialize in dishes said to be prepared according to authentic imperial recipes.
Home and Market
The proliferation of refrigerators in China today is making inroads on an institution that for centuries has been an essential part of daily life, that is, shopping in the local food market. Quite unwittingly, markets in China make excellent destinations for tourists, sociologists and economists. Here, one can observe the locals squeezing fruit—and fruit sellers squeezing the customers—and the high-pitched haggling that revolves around the price of a fistful of pork which costs less than a penny, but where loss of face is at stake. You may also observe how the emerging middle class and nouveaux riche interact with the food sellers, who are usually of peasant origin.
Most dealers have their regular customers and try to please them by throwing in the extra strawberry or potato or backing off on the price, every now and then. With six people selling exactly the same cucumbers, tomatoes and string beans within earshot, competition is fierce.
Many men and women go to the market two or three times a day. In some state-run offices in Beijing, for example, half-hour rest periods are allotted for shopping for lunch and dinner. Although prices are not marked on most stands, the average housewife knows the price of every item in the market and what she paid two weeks ago. Food in China may appear inexpensive compared to the West, but food purchases consume 40-60 percent of the average household budget, as rent for many is negligible.
In addition to fresh food markets, there are shops selling a huge variety of prepared and packaged food, which can be fascinating for the first-time visitor. China's open policy since 1978 has resulted in what the locals call, "100 flowers blooming" in the area of comestibles, particularly in the major cities, where people have more disposable time and cash than before.
An old Chinese painting depicting an obviously important and wealthy Chinese gentleman being entertained by a woman playing music, while being tempted with a range of delicacies.
Along with food markets, most cities have areas where snack foods are sold in stand-up or sit-down stalls. Breakfast is well-catered for in almost every city, as the morning meal is the one people are most likely to eat outside the home or work place. Popular breakfasts are: a fried egg wrapped in a pancake; an "elephant ear", which is a plate-sized piece of fried bread; noodles; congee (rice gruel) or tofu jelly accompanied by a deep-fried cruller (you tiao); or a slice of cake and a jar of milk.
Every region has its own particular snacks, very often sold on the street. Snack food is very inexpensive and includes such regional specialties as Beijing's boiled tripe with fresh coriander, fried starch sausage with garlic, sour bean soup, and boiled pork and leek dumplings (jiaozi). Shanghai is known for its steamed baozi dumplings and sweet glutinous rice with eight sweetmeats (babaofan). Sichuan is noted for spicy dan dan noodles, dumplings in hot sauce and tofu jelly (dou hua), while Cantonese dim sum is a cuisine unto itself.
The average urban family eats its meal meal of the day in the evening. This meal usually consists of a staple such as rice or noodles, one or two fried dishes, at least one of which contains meat or fish, and a soup. Beer regularly accompanies meals at home. Cramped quarters make it difficult for home cooking to be fancy, but Sunday provides a good excuse for moderate culinary excesses. The whole family gets involved in the business of shopping and cooking, and friends or relatives may be invited to join in the feast. For the vast bulk of the population, it is rice and vegetables, the way Mother used to make it.
This Chinese kitchen has the traditional coal-tired stove in the corner, as well as a modern two-burner gas cooker.
Cooking and Eating Chinese
Perhaps the most surprising aspect of a Chinese kitchen is its utter simplicity. It's hard to believe that such creative and often sophisticated food is prepared with so few utensils. Even today, most cooks manage with a single coal-fired stove, which in China, is basically a bench top with several holes of differing sizes where woks, claypots and saucepans are placed.
Indispensible Utensils
The most essential ingredient is a wok, a parabolic pan traditionally made of cast iron and used for just about everything except cooking rice: stir-frying, deep-frying, braising, making sauces, holding a steaming basket and so on. The shape of the wok distributes the heat evenly, while its sloping sides ensure that during stir-frying, food falls back into the pan and not out over the edge. It's also practical for deep-frying, requiring less oil than a conventional saucepan or frying pan.
A wok the most essential item in a Chinese kitchen.
A wok should be "seasoned" before its first use so that food will not stick to it. Wash the inside of the wok with warm, soapy water but do not use a scouring pad. Rinse with fresh water and dry thoroughly. Place some oil on a piece of paper towel and wipe the inside of the wok. Repeat two or three times until the paper towel comes away clean after wiping Store the oiled wok until you are ready to use it. Before cooking, Chinese cooks always heat the wok before adding any oil to ensure that it is dry and the oil will not splatter. After cooking, never clean your wok with detergent or harsh abrasives; just rinse with warm water and wipe it dry.
Claypots of various shapes and sizes, with a sandy exterior and a glazed interior, are used for slow cooking and for making soups and stocks. These are attractive and inexpensive, but any type of saucepan could be used instead. Rice is usually cooked in an aluminium or stainless steel saucepan, although more and more affluent homes in the cities boast an electric rice cooker.
Just as indispensable as the wok is a cleaver, which comes with either a heavy rectangular blade about 3 to 4 inches deep, ideal for cutting through bones, or a lighter weight blade for chopping, slicing, bruising garlic cloves and scooping up food on the flat edge to carry it to the pan. One single Chinese cleaver does the work of a whole battery of knives in a Western kitchen.
Partner to the cleaver is a strong chopping board, which in China, is a thick cross section of a tree trunk. Meat is always minced on a board, using two cleavers simultaneously—a food processor achieves similar results without the effort and skill that is required to use two cleavers.
Chinese claypots, used for slow cooking, are attractive and inexpensive.
Steaming is a healthy method of cooking favored by the Chinese, who traditionally use a multi-tiered bamboo steamer with a woven cover that absorbs any moisture, unlike a metal cover where moisture condenses and then falls back onto the food. The steaming basket is placed inside a wok, sitting a few inches above the boiling water Chinese stores also sell perforated metal disks that sit inside a wok above the water level; these are useful for steaming a single plate of food. For steaming in this fashion, you will need to buy a large, dome-shaped lid that will cover your wok.
Other useful utensils include a wire mesh basket on a long handle, good for scooping out deep-fried food or boiled noodles; and a round-edged frying spatula, which is perfect for tossing stir-fried ingredients in the wok. Chinese cooks also prefer long wooden chopsticks for turning food during deep-frying, though this does require a certain dexterity, and you may be happier with tongs.
Simple Cooking Methods
Cooking methods include steaming, stir-frying, braising, deep-frying and slow cooking.