Explore China with these four cuisines

Chef Rey Lim of the Courtyard restaurant discusses China's four major food regions and the new dishes cooks are creating, and gives his recipe for a simple, healthy and tasty cucumber spring roll.

Chefs and foodies can argue about exactly how many groupings of Chinese cuisines there are, but most will say there are four major and four minor. The cuisines are based on the 56 ethnicities and 34 provinces that each have their own distinctive style, taste and technique handed down from dynasty to dynasty and generation to generation. The four major classifications are Cantonese, Sichuan, Shandong and Huaiyang.

Cantonese cuisine
Guangdong (Canton), the southernmost province in China, is considered its food mecca. The Cantonese are known for their culinary skills and creativity in transforming almost any creature or plant into a sumptuous and irresistible delicacy. From the sea, blunt and rubbery abalone or tasteless sea cucumbers are transformed into exquisite, luscious and pricey treats in the hands of the Cantonese chefs. Cantonese dishes bring out the natural flavor and rich essence of meats and vegetables without elaborate spices and seasonings. The Cantonese way with soups and broths is unmatchable in flavor and coupled with health-promoting properties.

Sichuan cuisine
Sichuan, a province with extreme humidity, is also the cradle of hot and spicy dishes. Sichuan cuisine is known for the lavish use of chili, pepper, spices and prickly ash on meats and vegetables, making every dish — including soups, stews and hot pots — burning hot and leaving a numbing sensation on the lips and palate. It is an acquired taste that sooner or later becomes addictive, making all other cuisines blunt and boring.

Shandong cuisine
Shandong, the northeastern province of China, is a large peninsula surrounded by sea to the east and with the Yellow River meandering through its center. It is the home of the great sage Confucius and many other poets and scholars. The legendary Qingdao (Tsingtao) beer is brewed with Shandong's natural Laoshan spring water. Shandong cuisine offers a variety of seafood and flourishes with the food philosophy. While relatively salty, northern cuisines are typically light and simple, with an absence of grease. Culinary emphasis is on the aroma, crispness, tenderness and freshness of the dishes.

Huaiyang cuisine
Huaiyang cuisine comes from the lower reaches of the Yangtze River, where marine life abounds. The freshness of ingredients, particularly seafood, and the clarity and lightness of flavors typify this type of cuisine. Only Huaiyang menus come with manually shredded soft beancurd that resembles shredded chicken. Huaiyang cuisine is famous for its "red cooking," meaning slow braising or stewing in dark soy sauce. Huaiyang cuisine stands in a league of its own in terms of cutting skills, delicate flavor and artistic presentation.

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