Inside China: The Country's Culinary Map

Chinese food is the best in the world, as far as I am concerned, and I mean in all its varieties. And consuming China means taking part of the food, equally with the art, architecture and those other good things that spell culture to everyone. It's difficult to compress even the bare bones of Chinese dining in a few hundred words, but here goes, with some basic advice to start:

If you're with a tour group, try to get away from the bland dishes usually served you, seek out authentic restaurants even if you need a note from the front desk of your hotels to guide you there and inside. The authors of the excellent Frommer's China suggest bring along a bilingual menu from your favorite hometown Chinese restaurant to show what you would like. Chances are, the in-China version will be better.

You already know that nearly all food in China is cut up into small pieces, the easier to eat while using chopsticks. Desserts are practically unknown in traditional restaurants, the meal ending with the serving of rice, usually. You can drink hot tea (which I recommend), beer or other soft drinks, or act like the nouveau riche here and order expensive French brandy with the meal.

If you're lucky, you'll visit more than one of the four greatest of the food regions: Northern, Cantonese (Guangdong), Sichuan, and Fujian (eastern). Each region has its famous specialties, some not so well known. There are traditionally eight main regional cuisines, the above four and Anhui, Hunan, Jiangsu, and Zhejiang -- in case anyone asks -- or even ten "great traditional cuisines," if you add Shanghai and Beijing. There are even Buddhist and Muslim cuisines, too, being mostly vegetarian and halal, of course.

The Big Four

Northern Cuisine: The most popular meat here is lamb (more often than not, mutton, really), the favorite starch is wheat, not rice. If you like starches, ask here for pancakes, steamed buns, noodles and dumplings. Be sure to ask for Peking duck, which comes in three courses: the crispy skin, with pancakes and scallions, then stir-fried duck meat, lastly, duck soup. Also well known in the U.S. are such Beijing specialties as Mongolian Hot Pot and lamb with scallions.

Cantonese Food: Pork is top meat here, and in a lush rice-crowing region, rice is plentiful. This is the place to celebrate good eating with a dim sum lunch. Seafood is also in its glory in this, what many consider to be the best of all Chinese cuisine regions. Familiar from home might be dishes such as sweet and sour chicken or pork, or beef with tomatoes. I suggest avoiding shark fin soup due to the shark being an endangered creature and the fishing methods used are often too cruel.

Sichuan Cooking: Beef is well known in this part of the country, and wheat and rice alternate. Familiar in the US are these regional dishes: hot and sour soup, hot and spicy cucumber salad, mapo dofu, and Sichuan noodles. Expect chili peppers with everything, or maybe the numbing taste of the non-chili red peppercorns.

Eastern (Fujian) Dishes: Fish is the chief protein in these parts, and pickling food one of the great arts. Eastern cuisine, especially in Shanghai, is said to be sweeter than elsewhere in China. Well known in the U.S. are these dishes: lion's head meatballs, red cooked chicken and snow chicken.

The Little Five

Anhui cuisine frequently includes ham, typical dishes being stewed snapper and braised pigeon.

Hunan dishes of note are as fiery as those from nearby Sichuan province, popular dishes being peppery chicken, orange beef and crispy duck.

Jiangsu cuisine is found in the lower Yangtze region, with fish the main source of protein. Typical dishes include stewed crab and crisp eel.

Shandong dishes that are liked by many include Yellow River Carp (often in sweet and sour sauce) and bird's nest soup, though I don't recommend the latter both for hygienic reasons and for the inhumane conditions under which the birds' saliva used in the dish is collected.

Zhejiang food includes Hangzhou (formerly known as Hangchow) cuisine, beggar's chicken being one of the best known dishes here.

Notes

Except in the most modern, high turnover restaurants, I recommend avoiding the cold appetizers served at the beginning of some Chinese meals, as you need to be careful where lack of refrigeration and the highest sanitary standards are concerned. There will be plenty of hot food to come, in most cases. For beverages, I recommend hot tea or bottled beer or water, the latter opened in your presence. Avoid all dairy products, including yogurt. The International Association for Medical Assistance to Travellers, a not-for-profit group of which I am the pro bono vice president, says as follows in its literature: "All meat, poultry and seafood must be well cooked and served while hot. Pork is best avoided; vegetables should be well cooked and served hot. Salads are best avoided. Fruits with intact skins should be peeled by you just prior to consumption. Avoid raw and undercooked eggs and dishes prepared with raw eggs (steak tartar, mayonnaise and dressings). Avoid cold buffets, uncured cheeses, custards and any frozen dessert." The IAMAT website is www.iamat.org.

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