Chinese Menu

I have always felt Chinese is one of the best among the continental cuisines. I think it's mainly the use of sauces, especially soy sauce, that make Chinese cuisine stand apart. Most of the dishes being boiled and sauteed, I feel Chinese recipes are healthy too, to some extend. I love stir fried noodles and if possible, will give it a try!

Chinese Cuisine is not all the same! There are 8 major Traditions: Anhui, Cantonese, Fujian, Hunan, Jiangsu, Shandong, Sichuan and Zhejiang. There is also Huaiyang Cuisine, a major style and even viewed as the representation of the cuisine. Sometimes Beijing cuisine and Shanghai cuisine are also cited along with eight regional styles as the Ten Great Traditions. There are also featured Buddhist and Muslim sub-cuisines within the greater Chinese cuisine, with an emphasis on vegetarian and halal-based diets respectively. For instance Cantonese to me is quite bland, but fresh seafood is great. Hunan is very spicy and can be very oily. Inland Chinese cuisines do not feature seafood for sure! Mongolian Cuisine is centered around meat-horses, cattle, yaks, camels, sheep, and goats. The Mongolian diet includes a large proportion of animal fat to fuel for the cold and hard work. Shanti/Mary-Anne

That's right Mary-Anne. Although we broadly categorise it as Chinese cuisine there are indeed several regional variations and each having its own distinct identity. thank you for the informative comments.

we've had a lot of chinese the past few days...we've actually OD'd on it, so have decided to stay away for a while. but really, chinese food is something that everyone takes to very easily. in india, kids love their noodles and chowmein, and if a particular cuisine can hook children so easily, it sure has a lot of appeal.

Vikas The best Chinese food is in India! They use local Indian spices and Chinese recipes making for great flavours! Same for Nonya cooking (Strait's Chinese who immigrated to Penang, Malaysia and Singapore areas) utilizing local ingredients and spices using "grandmother's Chinese recipes. The Chinese actually introduced noodles to Thailand! Much of SE Asian cuisine has Chinese influences. Of course the opposite applies as well like in Macao and Goa where the Portugese influenced local cuisines with their ingredients, like chiles, and recipes. Shanti/Mary-Anne

Yes it's definitely the spiciness of the Chinese cuisine I enjoy. Also, the fried noodle variety, which is often served with a broth-like gravy, which they often call as soup, is one of my favorite. I hope the dish belongs to Chinese cuisine itself. Am I right?

I do agree with you Vikas kids love the noodles, yesterday we had chinese and my daughter has no doubts she likes her noodles and yes she likes to have it with chopsticks.

Yes, Shanti I definitely feel the Indian Chinese is what would agree with my palate. From what I read on Chinese cuisine and the adventurous variety that I see online, I certainly feel I like mine a little Indianised and also being a little conservative in my tastes prefer to stick to chicken and seafood.

If anyone knows the recipe to the white sauce , is it cream cheese or mayo or what, they put on the mussels in chinese restruants , please please email it to me???

Continental is European cuisines, in particular Italian and French. Chinese cuisines are Asian. There is a Chinese basic brown sauce often served with noodles that is popular in Cantonese cooking and also in Thailand-Chinese cooking called Radna Talay. This Chinese brown sauce is Ingredients: 3/4 cup beef broth (beef bouillon cubes can be used) 1 tablespoon plus 1 teaspoon oyster sauce 1 teaspoon dark soy sauce 1/2 teaspoon sugar 1 tablespoon cornstarch (corn flour) Directions: Combine the above ingredients in order and bring to a boil, stirring. To me this brown sauce is very bland-typical of Cantonese dishes. I'd add a good amount of white pepper to wake it up :-) Chinese cuisine can be healthy if you cut out the MSG and the copious amounts of oil used in many of the Chinese cuisines. Stir-fries can be done quickly in a hot wok w/a small amount of oil IE peanut oil. These are usually served with steamed white rice in the US. However in China rice or noodles are often served at the end of a meal following veggies, seafood, and meats. This rice or noodles is used to fill up the stomach whereas in the west we have a tendency to eat rice with the meal! Noodles are used in soups and such for lunch-time in China. The Chinese diet is high in vegetables and depending on the geographical location seafood is often a featured proein. Tofu is of course popular. Pork is a favoured meat while lamb in Mongolia is the number one meat. Beef s used in some dishes as well.