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Sunday, February 14, 2010

chinese regional menus: do you want to eat one?

Hello,

I think that discussions concerning menu building, complementary to individual recipes, can be quite useful to understanding these remarkable cuisines.

After reading some of the literature and much experimenting with different dishes, I have come up with proposals for regional menus which might be considered “typical”. I wonder if you have any comments or changes to propose? I consider the North (or Northeast) to be comprised of Beijing, Dongbei, Shandong. The East (or Southeast) consists of Shanghai, Jiangsu, Anhui, Zhejiang and the South of Canton, Guangdong, Fujian. The West/Central regions are Sichuan and Hunan.

I understand that these groupings are somewhat arbitrary and no doubt exclude some serious gastronomic regions.

Here are the menus:

NORTHERN menu with principle regional attributes
Peking lamb with leeks (??????) lamb, leeks, garlic
Chicken with cashew nuts (???) garlic, hoisin sauce
Sole in Wine sauce (????) a more typical fish dish from north would be welcome
Pickled Cabbage Peking style (????) white cabbage
Beef noodle soup (?????) wheat, noodles, ginger, scallions, garlic

EASTERN menu with principle regional attributes
Dong po Pork (???) rich (oily), red cooking
Wuwei Smoked Duck (????) black/green tea of Longjing
West Lake Fish (=Carp) (?????) wine/Shaoxing, black vinegar/Zhenjiang, fish
Dry braised bamboo shoots & chinese mushrooms (???) bamboo shoots, red cooking
Lion's Head casserole (?????) wine/Shaoxing, Shanghai green cabbage, crab/pork mixture

SOUTHERN menu with principle regional attributes
Sweet and Sour pork (???) sweet, stir-frying
Paper-wrapped Chicken (???) dim sum
Steamed Whole Fish / black beans (????) fish, black beans, steaming
Asparagus with Beef slivers (?????) stir-frying
Assorted Meat Soup in Winter Melon (?????) steaming

WESTERN/CENTRAL menu with principle regional attributes
Tangerine Peel Beef (????) multiple processes, chilis, tangerine, Sichuan pepper
Gong Bao (Kung Pao) Chicken (????) chilis, peanuts
Stir-fried Frogs Legs with Garlic Sauce (????) chilis
Dry-fried string beans (?????) Sichuan vegetable
Hot sour soup (???) spicy

TOUR OF CHINA menu with principle regional attributes
North: Canard de Pékin (???) roasting
North: Mandarin Pancakes/Scallion Brushes (?? / ???) raw scallions, wheat, hoisin sauce
East: Wuxi style pork ribs (????) red-cooking
South: Seafood "birds" (taro) nest (????) taro, seafood, stir-frying
West: Pock-Marked Ma's Bean Curd (????) Sichuan pepper/chili paste
all regions: Spinach and Bean Curd Soup (?????) a soup from no place in particular. Is that right?

Have fun!