Interesting Facts about Chinese Food

February 12, 2022 Read time 2 min

History of Chinese food goes back several thousand years to the earliest days of this old civilization. However, it forms changed from time to time, guided by new fashions, climate, food preparation techniques, regions, local preferences and influences from surrounding cultures.

The most important foods and ingredients that are used in Chinese dishes are rice, noodles, wheat, soybeans, vegetables, sauces, herbs and seasonings.
In 1995, average Chinese intake of calories per day rose to 2570 kcal. This was much more than in any previous time in their history.
“Dim sum” is Cantonese for “touch your heart”. This term represents all bite-size portioned Cantonese foods.
The staggering variety of Chinese food recipes was created not only because of the large size of Chinese territories, but also because their food was very respected by their nobles and cooks.
In addition to foods, Chinese also took great care in creation of their drinks – Teas, herbal drinks and liquor.
Chinese food can be separated into eight culinary traditions – Anhui, Cantonese, Fujian, Hunan, Jiangsu, Shandong, Szechuan, and Zhejiang cuisines.

Chinese food can also be separated by the regions they are made from –Cantonese, Szechuan, Anhui, Shandong, Fujian, Jiangsu, Hunan, Zhejiang, Mongolian, Tibetan and several others.
The most popular deserts in Chinese cuisine are seasonal fruits, sweet cakes, bakery products, rice-based steamed snacks, ice cream, shaved ice with sweet syrup, jellies. In global, all Chinese desserts are less sugary than deserts from the western hemisphere.
Most popular food types in chine are soups, Chinese pickles, sausages, tofu products, snacks and cold dishes.
Chinese cuisine spread all around the world, mostly carried with the immigrants.
Chinese food is very popular today in Singapore, Indonesia, Malaysia, Caribbean, India, Pakistan, Puerto Rico, Korea, Japan, Canada and America. In all those countries Chinese food morphed to better suit needs of local population.
One of the best examples of mixture of Chinese and foreign local cuisine is Japanese Ramen, which is famous all around the world.
Chinese food arrived in North America during great migration of Chinese workers who were tasked to build railways in America.
First nexus of Chinese food in America was San Francisco. Almost all dishes were adapted to better suit local needs.
Most popular Chinese foods in America are almond chicken, sesame chicken, Chinese chicken salad, chop suey, sweet rolls, sushi, egg rolls, fried rice, and many others.
Fortune Cookie was invented in California, as a variation of Japanese “omikuji senbei” fortune cookies. The main difference of Fortune Cookies is that they are much sweeter than Japanese variant.
Popular Chinese food chain restaurants in United States are Chinese Gourmet Express, Manchu Wok, Panda Express, Pei Wei Asian Diner, P. F. Chang's China Bistro, Pick Up Stix, The Great Wall and Stir Crazy.