Food and Drink Atlas

How The World Eats
Sign In
Text size
100%
Theme
Cuisine

Chinese Cuisine

East Asian Cuisines

The cooking traditions of China, one of the world's oldest continuous culinary systems, built on rice in the south and wheat noodles and breads in the north. Regional schools are pronounced: Sichuan cuisine favors chili and Sichuan pepper for its numbing heat; Cantonese cuisine, centered on Guangdong, favors lighter stir-frying and dim sum; Shandong cuisine anchors much of northern Chinese cooking technique; Jiangsu cuisine is known for delicate, often sweet, river and lake dishes. Soy sauce, ginger, garlic and the wok as a cooking vessel run through nearly all of them.

Facts
Signature Technique
High heat wok stir frying and bamboo steaming are hallmark techniques, alongside fermentation based seasonings such as soy sauce and rice vinegar. 1
Origin Region
East Asia, centered on China, with pronounced regional schools including Sichuan, Cantonese, Shandong and Jiangsu cooking. 2
Connections

Associated With

Filipino Cuisine, Cuisines

Chinese and Japanese traders reaching the archipelago from around the eleventh century contributed stir fried noodles that became pancit and dumplings that became lumpia.

Source The Filipino Food Wave Is Coming (National Geographic)April Fulton
Lomo Saltado, Dishes

Lomo saltado is a signature chifa dish, the Cantonese-Peruvian culinary fusion born of Chinese indentured labor migration to Peru from the 1850s, marrying wok stir-frying technique to Peruvian ingredients.

Source The Oxford Companion to FoodAlan Davidson
Vietnamese Cuisine, Cuisines

A millennium of Chinese rule over northern Vietnam, traditionally dated from 111 BCE to the 10th century CE, left techniques, ingredients and, in the case of pho, a contested etymological layer on Vietnamese cooking.

Source Pho (Language Log, University of Pennsylvania)Victor Mair

Expresses Tradition

Features Dish

Source Alkaline noodles (Wikipedia)
Source Ants climbing a tree (Wikipedia)
Baba (bread), Dishes
Source Baba (bread) (Wikipedia)
Bánh bao, Dishes
Source Bánh bao (Wikipedia)
Baozi, Dishes
Source Baozi (Wikipedia)
Source Beggar's chicken (Wikipedia)
Source Biangbiang noodles (Wikipedia)
Source Buddha's delight (Wikipedia)
Champon, Dishes
Source Champon (Wikipedia)
Char Siu, Dishes
Source Char Siu (Wikipedia)
Chwee kueh, Dishes
Source Chwee kueh (Wikipedia)
Congee, Dishes
Source Crossing the bridge noodles, Wikipedia
Curry, Dishes
Source Curry (Wikipedia)
Source Dandan noodles (Wikipedia)
Drunken shrimp, Dishes
Source Drunken shrimp (Wikipedia)
Har Gow, Dishes
Source Har gow, Wikipedia
Hong Shao Rou, Dishes
Source Red braised pork belly (Wikipedia)
Source Hot and Sour Soup (Wikipedia)
Hotteok, Dishes
Source Hotteok (Wikipedia)
Hujiao bing, Dishes
Source Hujiao bing (Wikipedia)
Jian dui, Dishes
Source Jian dui (Wikipedia)
Jianbing, Dishes
Source Jianbing - Wikipedia
Jianbing guozi, Dishes
Source Jianbing guozi (Wikipedia)
Jiaozi, Dishes
Source Encyclopaedia Britannica
Lamian, Dishes
Source Lamian - Wikipedia
Lo Mein, Dishes
Source Lo Mein (Wikipedia)
Luzhu huoshao, Dishes
Source Luzhu huoshao (Wikipedia)
Lychee pork, Dishes
Source Lychee pork (Wikipedia)
Mala Xiang Guo, Dishes
Source Mala xiang guo, Wikipedia
Mapo Tofu, Dishes
Source Mapo Tofu (Wikipedia)
Master stock, Dishes
Source Wikipedia, Master stock
Meat pie, Dishes
Source Meat pie (Wikipedia)
Mianwo, Dishes
Source Mianwo (Wikipedia)
Osmanthus cake, Dishes
Source Osmanthus cake (Wikipedia)
Paomo, Dishes
Source Paomo (Wikipedia)
Source Paper wrapped cake (Wikipedia)
Peking Duck, Dishes
Source The Oxford Companion to FoodAlan Davidson
Qingtuan, Dishes
Source Qingtuan (Wikipedia)
Shahe fen, Dishes
Source Shahe fen (Wikipedia)
Shaobing, Dishes
Source Wikipedia, Shaobing
Shuizhu, Dishes
Source Shuizhu (Wikipedia)
Source Snow skin mooncake (Wikipedia)
Sou, Dishes
Source Sou (pastry) (Wikipedia)
Source Sweet and sour pork (Wikipedia)
Tanghulu, Dishes
Source Tanghulu (Wikipedia)
Taro dumpling, Dishes
Source Taro dumpling (Wikipedia)
Virgin boy egg, Dishes
Source Virgin boy egg (Wikipedia)
Xiaolongbao, Dishes
Source Xiaolongbao (Wikipedia)
Youmian, Dishes
Source Youmian (Wikipedia)
Zhajiangmian, Dishes
Source Zhajiangmian, Wikipedia
Zongzi, Dishes
Source Zongzi, Wikipedia

Uses Ingredient

Ginger, Ingredients
Source Larousse Gastronomique
Soybean, Ingredients
Source Larousse Gastronomique
In the Other Atlases
Sources
1. On Food and Cooking: The Science and Lore of the Kitchen
Harold McGee, Scribner, 2004technique discussion: stir frying and wok cookery
2. Encyclopaedia Britannica
Encyclopaedia Britannica, Inc.
  • entry: Chinese cuisine
  • Features Dish: Kung Pao Chicken
View the Source
The Oxford Companion to Food
Alan Davidson, Oxford University Press, 2014entry: China
Larousse Gastronomique
Hamlyn, 2009
  • Uses Ingredient: Soybean, entry: Soybean
  • Uses Ingredient: Ginger, entry: Ginger
Pho (Language Log, University of Pennsylvania)
Victor Mair, Language Log, University of Pennsylvania, 2023Associated With: Vietnamese CuisineView the Source
The Filipino Food Wave Is Coming (National Geographic)
April Fulton, National Geographic, 2015Associated With: Filipino CuisineView the Source
Curry (Wikipedia)
WikipediaFeatures Dish: Curry, Wikipedia category listView the Source
Mapo Tofu (Wikipedia)
WikipediaFeatures Dish: Mapo Tofu, Wikipedia category listView the Source
Zongzi, Wikipedia
Features Dish: Zongzi, Wikipedia category listView the Source
Mala xiang guo, Wikipedia
Features Dish: Mala Xiang Guo, Wikipedia category listView the Source
Champon (Wikipedia)
Features Dish: Champon, Wikipedia category listView the Source
Hotteok (Wikipedia)
Features Dish: Hotteok, Wikipedia category listView the Source
Meat pie (Wikipedia)
Features Dish: Meat pie, Wikipedia category listView the Source
Jianbing - Wikipedia
Features Dish: Jianbing, infobox national_cuisine field
Quote, Features Dish: Jianbing, infobox national_cuisine field
Chinese cuisine
View the Source
Drunken shrimp (Wikipedia)
Features Dish: Drunken shrimp, infobox associated_cuisine field
Quote, Features Dish: Drunken shrimp, infobox associated_cuisine field
Chinese
View the Source
Xiaolongbao (Wikipedia)
WikipediaFeatures Dish: Xiaolongbao, lead paragraph
Quote, Features Dish: Xiaolongbao, lead paragraph
Xiaolongbao (simplified Chinese: 小笼包; traditional Chinese: 小籠包; lit. 'little basket bun'; IPA: ) is a type of Chinese tangbao (汤包; 湯包), traditionally prepared in a xiaolong, a small bamboo steaming basket.
View the Source
Char Siu (Wikipedia)
WikipediaFeatures Dish: Char Siu, lead paragraph
Quote, Features Dish: Char Siu, lead paragraph
Char siu (Chinese: 叉燒; lit. 'fork roasted') is a Cantonese-style barbecued pork.
View the Source
Baozi (Wikipedia)
WikipediaFeatures Dish: Baozi, lead paragraph
Quote, Features Dish: Baozi, lead paragraph
Baozi (Chinese: ), or simply bao, is a type of yeast-leavened filled bun in various Chinese cuisines.
View the Source
Dandan noodles (Wikipedia)
WikipediaFeatures Dish: Dan Dan Noodles, lead paragraph
Quote, Features Dish: Dan Dan Noodles, lead paragraph
Dandan noodles (traditional Chinese: 擔擔麵; simplified Chinese: 担担面; dandanmian, literally 'carrying pole noodles') is a Chinese noodle dish originating from Sichuan cuisine.
View the Source
Hot and Sour Soup (Wikipedia)
WikipediaFeatures Dish: Hot and Sour Soup, lead paragraph
Quote, Features Dish: Hot and Sour Soup, lead paragraph
Hot and sour soup is a variant of hulatang or "pepper hot soup" (Chinese: 胡辣汤) that originated from Henan cuisine.
View the Source
Har gow, Wikipedia
Features Dish: Har Gow, lead paragraph
Quote, Features Dish: Har Gow, lead paragraph
Har gow (Chinese: 蝦餃; pinyin: xiājiǎo; Jyutping: haa1 gaau2; lit. 'shrimp jiao'), also anglicized as ha gow, hau kau, or ha kao, is a traditional Cantonese dumpling served as dim sum.
View the Source
Red braised pork belly (Wikipedia)
Features Dish: Hong Shao Rou, lead paragraph
Quote, Features Dish: Hong Shao Rou, lead paragraph
Red braised pork belly, or hong shao rou (simplified Chinese: 红烧肉; traditional Chinese: 紅燒肉; pinyin: hóngshāoròu), is a classic pork dish from China, red-cooked using pork belly and a combination of ginger, garlic, aromatic spices, chilis, sugar, star anise, light and dark soy sauce, and rice wine.
View the Source
Crossing the bridge noodles, Wikipedia
Features Dish: Crossing-the-Bridge Noodles, lead paragraph
Quote, Features Dish: Crossing-the-Bridge Noodles, lead paragraph
Crossing-the-bridge noodles is a rice noodle soup that originates from Yunnan province of China.
View the Source
Zhajiangmian, Wikipedia
Features Dish: Zhajiangmian, lead paragraph
Quote, Features Dish: Zhajiangmian, lead paragraph
Zhajiangmian (Chinese: 炸醬麵; pinyin: zhájiàngmiàn), commonly translated as "noodles served with fried bean sauce", is a dish of Chinese origin consisting of thick wheat noodles topped with zhajiang, a fermented soybean-based sauce.
View the Source
Biangbiang noodles (Wikipedia)
Features Dish: Biangbiang Noodles, lead paragraph
Quote, Features Dish: Biangbiang Noodles, lead paragraph
Biangbiang noodles (simplified Chinese: 𰻝𰻝面; traditional Chinese: 𰻞𰻞麵; pinyin: Biángbiángmiàn), alternatively known as youpo chemian (simplified Chinese: 油泼扯面; traditional Chinese: 油潑扯麵) in Chinese, are a type of Chinese noodle originating from Shaanxi cuisine.
View the Source
Lamian - Wikipedia
Features Dish: Lamian, lead paragraph
Quote, Features Dish: Lamian, lead paragraph
Lamian (traditional Chinese: 拉麵; simplified Chinese: 拉面; pinyin: Lāmiàn; 'pulled noodles') is a type of soft wheat flour handmade Chinese noodle that is particularly common in northern China.
View the Source
Wikipedia, Shaobing
Features Dish: Shaobing, lead paragraph
Quote, Features Dish: Shaobing, lead paragraph
Shaobing (pinyin: shāobǐng; Wade-Giles: shao-ping), also called huoshao, is a type of baked, unleavened, layered flatbread in northern Chinese cuisine.
View the Source
Jianbing guozi (Wikipedia)
Features Dish: Jianbing guozi, lead paragraph
Quote, Features Dish: Jianbing guozi, lead paragraph
Jianbing guozi (Chinese: 煎饼果子; pinyin: Jiānbǐng guǒzi, "deep-fried dough sticks rolled in a thin pancake") is a popular Chinese street food originating in Tianjin.
View the Source
Wikipedia, Master stock
Features Dish: Master stock, lead paragraph
Quote, Features Dish: Master stock, lead paragraph
It has its origins in Teochew cuisine and is typically used in Cantonese and Fujian cuisines.
View the Source
Shahe fen (Wikipedia)
Features Dish: Shahe fen, lead paragraph
Quote, Features Dish: Shahe fen, lead paragraph
Shahe fen (Chinese: 沙河粉; pinyin: shāhé fěn, also simply hor fun / he fen Chinese: 河粉) or guotiao (Chinese: 粿條; pinyin: guǒtiáo, also kway teow) is a type of wide Chinese noodle made from rice.
View the Source
Alkaline noodles (Wikipedia)
Features Dish: Alkaline noodles, lead paragraph
Quote, Features Dish: Alkaline noodles, lead paragraph
Alkaline noodles or alkali noodles (Chinese: 碱面/碱麵; pinyin: jiǎn miàn) are a variation of noodles traditional to Chinese cuisine with a much higher quantity of alkali than usual.
View the Source
Snow skin mooncake (Wikipedia)
Features Dish: Snow Skin Mooncake, lead paragraph
Quote, Features Dish: Snow Skin Mooncake, lead paragraph
Snow skin mooncake, snowy mooncake, ice skin mooncake or crystal mooncake is a Chinese confection eaten during the Mid-Autumn Festival.
View the Source
Lo Mein (Wikipedia)
Features Dish: Lo Mein, lead paragraph
Quote, Features Dish: Lo Mein, lead paragraph
Lo mein (traditional Chinese: 撈麵/撈麪; simplified Chinese: 捞面; Cantonese Yale: lou1 min6; pinyin: lāo miàn) is a Chinese dish with noodles.
View the Source
Buddha's delight (Wikipedia)
Features Dish: Buddha's Delight, lead paragraph
Quote, Features Dish: Buddha's Delight, lead paragraph
Buddha's delight, often transliterated as Luóhàn zhāi (simplified Chinese: 罗汉斋; traditional Chinese: 羅漢齋, Japanese: rakansai (羅漢斎, 羅漢菜, 羅漢齋, らかんさい)), lo han jai, or lo hon jai, is a vegetarian dish well known in Chinese and Buddhist cuisine.
View the Source
Sweet and sour pork (Wikipedia)
Features Dish: Sweet and sour pork, lead paragraph
Quote, Features Dish: Sweet and sour pork, lead paragraph
Sweet and sour pork (Chinese: 咕嚕肉; pinyin: gūlūròu; Cantonese Yale: gū lōu yuhk) is a Cantonese and Chinese-American dish consisting of fried pork tenders with sweet and sour sauce.
View the Source
Qingtuan (Wikipedia)
Features Dish: Qingtuan, lead paragraph
Quote, Features Dish: Qingtuan, lead paragraph
Qīngtuán (traditional Chinese: 青糰; simplified Chinese: 青团), also written as tsingtuan, is a green-colored dumpling originating from Jiangnan and common throughout China.
View the Source
Osmanthus cake (Wikipedia)
Features Dish: Osmanthus cake, lead paragraph
Quote, Features Dish: Osmanthus cake, lead paragraph
Osmanthus cake (Chinese: 桂花糕; pinyin: guì huā gāo) is a traditional sweet-scented Chinese pastry made with glutinous rice flour, honey, sweet osmanthus and rock sugar.
View the Source
Hujiao bing (Wikipedia)
Features Dish: Hujiao bing, lead paragraph
Quote, Features Dish: Hujiao bing, lead paragraph
Hujiao bing or pepper bun (Chinese: 胡椒餅; pinyin: hújiāo bǐng; Pe̍h-ōe-jī: hô͘-chio-piáⁿ; lit. 'black pepper cake or biscuit') is a type of baked bun that originated in city of Fuzhou, the capital of China's Fujian province.
View the Source
Youmian (Wikipedia)
Features Dish: Youmian, lead paragraph
Quote, Features Dish: Youmian, lead paragraph
Youmian (lit. 'thin noodles') are a variety of Chinese noodle widely used in Southern China, especially in the cuisines of Hong Kong and Guangdong.
View the Source
Paper wrapped cake (Wikipedia)
Features Dish: Paper wrapped cake, lead paragraph
Quote, Features Dish: Paper wrapped cake, lead paragraph
Paper wrapped cake (Chinese: 紙包蛋糕; Jyutping: zi2 baau1 daan6 gou1) is a type of Chinese cake.
View the Source
Baba (bread) (Wikipedia)
Features Dish: Baba (bread), lead paragraph
Quote, Features Dish: Baba (bread), lead paragraph
Baba (Chinese: 粑粑, pinyin: Bābā) is a type of thick, round, heavy bread that is prepared either plain or with various fillings by the Naxi people of north-western Yunnan, China.
View the Source
Shuizhu (Wikipedia)
Features Dish: Shuizhu, lead paragraph
Quote, Features Dish: Shuizhu, lead paragraph
Shuizhu (Chinese: 水煮; pinyin: shuǐzhǔ, [ʂwěɪ ʈʂù ɻôʊ pʰjɛ̂n]) is a Chinese dish which originated from Sichuan cuisine; its name literally means "water-boiled (meat)".
View the Source
Virgin boy egg (Wikipedia)
Features Dish: Virgin boy egg, lead paragraph
Quote, Features Dish: Virgin boy egg, lead paragraph
Virgin boy eggs are a traditional dish of Dongyang, Zhejiang, China, in which eggs are boiled in the urine of young boys, preferably under the age of ten.
View the Source
Tanghulu (Wikipedia)
Features Dish: Tanghulu, lead paragraph
Quote, Features Dish: Tanghulu, lead paragraph
Tanghulu, tang hulu, or bingtang hulu is a traditional Chinese snack consisting of several malt sugar coated fruits of Chinese hawthorn (Crataegus pinnatifida) on a bamboo skewer.
View the Source
Bánh bao (Wikipedia)
Features Dish: Bánh bao, lead paragraph
Quote, Features Dish: Bánh bao, lead paragraph
Bánh bao (literally "dumplings") is a Chinese bun based on the Cantonese tai pao, or da bao (large bun), which was introduced to Vietnam by Chinese immigrants.
View the Source
Beggar's chicken (Wikipedia)
Features Dish: Beggar's chicken, lead paragraph
Quote, Features Dish: Beggar's chicken, lead paragraph
Beggar's chicken (simplified Chinese: 叫化鸡; traditional Chinese: 叫化雞; pinyin: jiàohuā jī) is a Chinese dish of chicken that is stuffed, wrapped in clay and lotus leaves (or banana or bamboo leaves as alternatives), and baked slowly using low heat.
View the Source
Paomo (Wikipedia)
Features Dish: Paomo, lead paragraph
Quote, Features Dish: Paomo, lead paragraph
Paomo is a popular specialty of Shaanxi cuisine common throughout Xi'an and other cities of Guanzhong.
View the Source
Jian dui (Wikipedia)
Features Dish: Jian dui, lead paragraph
Quote, Features Dish: Jian dui, lead paragraph
Jian dui or sesame balls are a type of fried Chinese pastry made from glutinous rice flour.
View the Source
Lychee pork (Wikipedia)
Features Dish: Lychee pork, lead paragraph
Quote, Features Dish: Lychee pork, lead paragraph
Lychee pork, or lizhi rou (Chinese: 荔枝肉; pinyin: lìzhī ròu; Pe̍h-ōe-jī: lāi-chi-bah; Eastern Min: liĕk-chiĕ-nṳ̆k), is a dish in Fujianese cuisine that consists of small pieces of deep-fried pork and sliced water chestnuts served in a sweet and sour sauce.
View the Source
Taro dumpling (Wikipedia)
Features Dish: Taro dumpling, lead paragraph
Quote, Features Dish: Taro dumpling, lead paragraph
Taro dumpling (Chinese: 芋角; Jyutping: wu6 gok3; Cantonese Yale: wuhgók) is a variety of dim sum served within Chinese cuisine.
View the Source
Luzhu huoshao (Wikipedia)
Features Dish: Luzhu huoshao, lead paragraph
Quote, Features Dish: Luzhu huoshao, lead paragraph
Luzhu huoshao (Chinese: 卤煮火烧; pinyin: lúzhǔ huǒshāo; lit. 'pork stew with bread') is a popular traditional Beijing street food.
View the Source
Ants climbing a tree (Wikipedia)
WikipediaFeatures Dish: Ants climbing a tree, lead paragraph
Quote, Features Dish: Ants climbing a tree, lead paragraph
Ants climbing a tree (simplified Chinese: 蚂蚁上树; traditional Chinese: 螞蟻上樹; pinyin: mǎyǐshàngshù) is a classic Sichuan dish in Chinese cuisine.
View the Source
Chwee kueh (Wikipedia)
Features Dish: Chwee kueh, lead paragraph
Quote, Features Dish: Chwee kueh, lead paragraph
Chwee kueh (Chinese: 水粿; pinyin: shuǐguǒ; Pe̍h-ōe-jī: chúi-kóe; lit. 'water rice cake'), also spelt chwee kweh, is a steamed rice cake originating in Teochew cuisine.
View the Source
Mianwo (Wikipedia)
Features Dish: Mianwo, lead paragraph
Quote, Features Dish: Mianwo, lead paragraph
Mianwo is a deep-fried, donut-shaped snack from Wuhan in Hubei province in central China.
View the Source
Sou (pastry) (Wikipedia)
Features Dish: Sou, lead paragraph
Quote, Features Dish: Sou, lead paragraph
Sou is a type of dried flaky Chinese pastry, which use Chinese flaky pastry, found in a variety of Chinese cuisines.
View the Source

Take a Related Quiz

Comments (0)
No comments yet. Be the first to share a thought.
Reader Challenges (0)
No disputes yet. Spotted an error or a better source? Open the first one.