Eight cuisines, one country

I. Shandong and the imperial kitchen

Shandong cuisine — Lu cuisine — is the oldest of the Eight Great Cuisines and the cuisine that most influenced the Chinese imperial court. The emperors of the Ming and Qing dynasties ate Shandong-influenced food because the chefs they employed came primarily from Shandong.

Wheat-based rather than rice-based, in keeping with northern grain traditions. Braising, frying, quick stir-frying over high heat. Vinegar, garlic, and spring onion as primary seasonings rather than chili. Peking duck — technically Beijing — belongs to this northern tradition.

II. Cantonese · the freshness principle

Cantonese cuisine — Yue cuisine — from Guangdong and Hong Kong, is defined by a single philosophical commitment: the ingredient should taste of itself. A fresh fish is steamed with ginger and scallion and finished with hot oil and soy sauce. A fresh shrimp is poached in just enough water to barely cook it.

This philosophy produces the most delicate and technically demanding cooking in China. When the ingredient is doing all the work, the ingredient must be perfect. A fish that is one day old is not served in a serious Cantonese kitchen. Dim sum, Cantonese roast meats, and clay pot rice all belong to this tradition.

III. Sichuan and Hunan · the spice philosophies

Sichuan and Hunan are the two famously spicy Chinese cuisines, and they are frequently confused outside of China. They are completely distinct. Sichuan spice is mala — numbing-spicy. Hunan spice is pure heat — fresh and dried chilis without the numbing agent, producing a direct, clean burn.

Hunan cooking is also more sour than Sichuan, incorporating pickled vegetables and fermented black beans in ways that Sichuan does not. Both are hot. One numbs. One does not. The distinction is the cuisine.

IV. The eastern traditions

The cuisines of the Yangtze River Delta — Jiangsu, Zhejiang, and Shanghai — are grouped together by geography and share a general character: sweet-leaning, technically demanding, sea and river influenced, with careful attention to visual presentation.

Jiangsu is famous for its knife work. Zhejiang is lighter and fresher, with a stronger emphasis on river fish. Shanghai sits between them, sweeter than both, with the red-braising technique — hong shao — as its signature.

V. Fujian, Anhui, and where to start

Fujian, from the southeastern coast, is characterized by its long-simmered soups and umami-rich preserved ingredients. Anhui, landlocked west of Jiangsu, is the least internationally known of the eight — wild mountain herbs, mushrooms, slow-cooking methods.

Pick one cuisine, eat it systematically, then move to the most different cuisine available. The contrast is more instructive than the survey. I would start with Cantonese for the freshness principle, then Sichuan for the mala principle. The other six will follow from those two.

Recipe — Hong Shao Rou · 红烧肉

Wu Jin · Shanghai · serves 4–6 · two hours

• Serves 4–6
• 2h total
• 90 min braise
• 1 kg pork belly

The Ingredients

• 1 kg skin-on pork belly, in 4cm cubes
• 60 g rock sugar (or yellow sugar)
• 2 tbsp neutral oil
• 6 thick slices fresh ginger
• 3 scallions, in 5cm lengths
• 120 ml Shaoxing wine
• 3 tbsp light soy sauce
• 1 tbsp dark soy sauce (for colour)
• 2 star anise pods
• 1 small cinnamon stick
• 1 bay leaf (optional)
• Hot water to cover

The method

1. Blanch the pork belly in boiling water for 3 minutes to remove impurities. Drain. Pat dry.
2. In a heavy pot, melt the rock sugar in the oil over medium-low heat until it turns deep amber — watch closely, sugar goes from caramel to burnt in seconds.
3. Add the pork. Turn to coat every face in the caramel. The cubes should darken to a glossy brown.
4. Add ginger, scallion, Shaoxing wine. Let the alcohol cook off, 1 minute.
5. Add both soy sauces, star anise, cinnamon, bay leaf. Pour in hot water just to cover.
6. Bring to a simmer. Cover. Reduce heat to lowest setting. Braise 90 minutes — the pork should be utterly tender.
7. Uncover. Raise heat. Reduce the sauce 15–20 minutes until it becomes a glossy, sweet, deeply savoury glaze and the pork fat has turned translucent and yielding.
8. Serve over plain white rice. This is one dish from one of eight regional cuisines from one country.

About the contributor

Wu Jin

Wu Jin writes about Chinese regional cooking from Shanghai, China. Third generation in a Shanghai kitchen, current at the burner of his family's restaurant.

Editor’s notes — the longer view

A note on the survey. If you have eaten one Chinese cuisine your whole life — the kind of takeout that lives near most American university towns — you have eaten one dialect of one cuisine, often heavily Americanised. To understand the eight requires actively seeking out the other seven.

A note on the wine. Shaoxing wine is a fermented rice wine from Zhejiang province and is essential to the hong shao technique. Do not substitute dry sherry; it is not the same. Avoid the «salted» versions if you can.

A note on the rock sugar. Rock sugar (冰糖) gives the dish its specific colour and a cleaner sweetness than white granulated. The caramelisation step is what turns the pork mahogany. Refined white sugar will work but will not give you the colour.

A note on the next steps. I would start with Cantonese because it is the most widely available and the freshness principle is the clearest entry point. Then Sichuan, because the mala principle is so specific. The other six will follow from those two.

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