Zhadiger Atabekov A Comparison of Chinese food and Russian food. Abstract This topic about comparison Chinese and Russian food. Which cuisine you will like to eat more when you will finish reading? What dishes people choose more? And I want to explain to all of you that every country and every nation has own creativity. Key words: Chinese cuisine, Russian cuisine, taste, ingredients, history, health. TITLE Introduction 1.Chinese cuisine history and influence. 1.1 Chinese famous cuisine dishes and ingredients 2. Chinese cuisine cooking styles 2.1 Favorite Chinese Province cuisines 3. Russian Cuisine 3.1 Common dishes in Russia 3.2 Similarities with Chinese cuisine 3.3 Differences with Chinese cuisine Conclusion 1.Chinese cuisine history and influence. Chinese cuisine is an important part of Chinese culture, which include cuisine originating from the diverse regions of China, as well as from Chinese people in other parts of the world. Because of the Chinese diaspora and historical power of the country, Chinese cuisine has influenced many other cuisines in Asia and the whole world with modifications made to cater to local palates.(Chinese cuisine, 2017) 1.1 Chinese famous cuisine dishes and ingredients «Chinese cuisine is one important constituent part of Chinese culture. Chinese dishes are famous for color, aroma, taste, meaning and appearance.The following dishes are most popular dishes among foreigners and Chinese.These dishes are sweet and sour pork (chicken), ma po tofu, wontons, dumplings, spring rolls, chow mien and Peking duck. These dishes are available in most large restaurants in China.»(Jenny Ma, 2017) «Sweet and Sour Pork. Sweet and sour pork has a bright orange-red color, and a delicious sweet and sour taste. At the very beginning there was only sweet and sour pork, but to meet demands, there have been some developments on this dish. Now, the pork can be substituted by other ingredients like chicken, beef or pork ribs. Ma Po Tofu. Ma Po Tofu is one of the most famous dishes in Sichuan Cuisine with a history of more than 100 years. Ma describes a spicy and hot taste which comes from pepper powder, one kind of condiment usually used in Sichuan Cui- sine. Since the Tang Dynasty (618–907), it has been a custom for people to eat wontons on the winter solstice. The most versatile shape of a wonton is simple a right triangle, similar to Italian tortellini.» (Kelly, 2017) «Wontons. The filling of wontons can be minced pork or diced shrimp. With a long history of more than 1,800 years, dumplings are a traditional food widely popular in North China. Wonton was featured by clear soup and delicate stuffing at that time. Its fineness was ever appraised by poets and was hard to achieve by common people. In ancient times, it was a custom in some regions to eat wonton on the midwinter day, which is said to has bearing on a famous doctor - Zhang Zhongjing.»(Cooking magazine, 2017) «Dumplings consist of minced meat and chopped vegetables wrapped into a thin piece of dough skin. Popular fillings are mince pork, diced shrimp, ground chicken, beef, and vegetables. They can be cooked by boiling, steaming, or frying. Dumplings are a traditional dish eaten on Chinese New Year’s Eve. Peking duck is a famous dish from Beijing, enjoying world fame, and considered as one of China’s national dishes. Peking duck is savored for its thin and crispy skin. The Sliced Peking duck is often eaten with pancakes, sweet bean sauce, or soy with mashed garlic. It is a must-taste dish in Beijing! The "Chow mien" is the Cantonese pronunciation of the Chinese characters above, which means stir-fried noodles. Generally speaking, this stir-fried dish consists of noodles, meat (usually chicken, beef, shrimp, or pork), onions and celery. Spring rolls are a Cantonese dim sum of cylindrical shape. The filling of spring rolls could be vegetables or meat, and the taste could be either sweet or savory. After fillings are wrapped in spring roll wrappers, the next step is frying. Then the spring rolls are given their golden yellow color. It is a dish especially popular in Jiangxi, Jiangsu, Shanghai, Fujian, Guangzhou, Shenzhen, Hong Kong.» (Kelly, 2017) 2. Chinese cuisine cooking styles There are many styles of cooking in China, but Chinese chefs have identified eight culinary traditions as the best. These have set the course of how Chinese cook food, and are looked to as models. Each of these schools has a distinct style and different strengths. 2.1 Favorite Chinese Province cuisines 1. Guangdong/Cantonese Cuisine 菜 Yuècài Gavin Van Hinsbergh pointed that «Basically Cantonese Cuisine has sweeter, favoring braising and stewing, adding various mild sauces. Cantonese food is the most popular style internationally. Guangdong Province and Hong Kong are noted for fine seafood dishes and rice dishes. They eat a very wide variety of foods. The dishes they serve don't have strong flavors since it is lightly seasoned, and they often tend to be a little sweet.» 2. Sichuan Cuisine 川菜 Chuāncài « Mainly Sichuan Cuisine is spicy and bold, often mouth-numbing, using lots of chili, garlic, ginger, and peanuts. Sichuan Province produced the most widely served cuisine in China. Their dishes are famous for their hotspicy taste and the of Sichuan peppercorn that is rare in other regional cuisines. It is the numbing flavor food of Chengdu and Chongqing (which used to be part of Sichuan)» (Gavin Van Hinsbergh, 2016) 3. Jiangsu Cuisine 菜 Sūcài «Actually Jiangsu Cuisine fresh, moderately salty and sweet, precise cooking techniques, favoring seafood, soups and artistic, colorful presentation. Jiangsu Province and China's biggest city, Shanghai, have a very refined gourmet cuisine that is often served at government banquets. What makes it special is the exquisite cooking techniques that produce richly aromatic and visually artistic dishes. Their chefs also focus on serving meals that promote health.» (Gavin Van Hinsbergh, 2016) 4. Zhejiang Cuisine 浙菜 Zhècài «Zhejiang Cuisine has mellow, using fresh seafood, freshwater fish, and bamboo shoots, and a wide variety of cooking methods. Zhejiang Province is the province south of Jiangsu, and it borders on Shanghai too, so their style is similar to theirs, but it is less elaborately prepared. They focus more on serving fresh food. The food is often served raw or almost raw and is fresh and crispy and seasonal. It is more like Japanese food. Ningbo cuisine is very salty.» (Gavin Van Hinsbergh, 2016) 5. Fujian/Min Cuisine 菜 Mǐncài «Fujian/Min Cuisine presents lighter, with a mild sweet and sour taste, using ingredients from the sea and the mountains. Fujian Province is known for great seafood and soups and the precise use of scintillating but not tongue numbing spices. Adding much wild exotic delicacies from the sea and mountains makes their dishes have unusual flavors. It is like a culinary wild adventure.» (Gavin Van Hinsbergh, 2016) 6. Hunan Cuisine 湘菜 Xiāngcài «Quite spicy, with a hot and sour taste, favoring sautéing, stir-frying, steaming and smoking. If you like Sichuan food, you'll probably like Hunan food too since it is even hotter. It is tastier and more delicious because they don't use peppercorn that numbs the mouth. It is a rich agricultural area that produces a broad range of vegetables and herbs, and these are served up.» (Gavin Van Hinsbergh, 2016) 7. Anhui Cuisine 徽菜 Huīcài « Uses many wild plants and animals as ingredients, favoring stewing and more oil. Anhui cuisine is even wilder than Fujian cuisine. It is island, and big mountains such as the Yellow Mountains are the source of lots of different wild foods and herbs. It is basically a hearty mountain peasant food. Some of the best dishes incorporate wild food for an unusual taste. Some dishes are sweet from added sugar.» (Gavin Van Hinsbergh, 2016) 8. Shandong Cuisine 菜 Lǔcài «Shandong Cuisine mostly provides salty and crispy, favoring braising and seafood. Shandong was one of the first civilized areas, and it set the pattern for northern styles of cooking. With a long coast, seafood is its forte. They preserve the original taste of the seafood by using simple ingredients and braising, and they like vinegar and salt. Unlike southern cuisines, they serve much more wheat food, including their noodles.»(Gavin Van Hinsbergh, 2016) I can say that i tried at least 5 different cuisine styles in China, other 3 not yet. First, i want to write about my top choice cuisines, these cuisines i can eat whenever and wherever. So first cuisine it is - Sichuan Cuisine. Why Sichuan Cuisine?! Because spicy food is one my favorite dishes, when Sichuan Cuisine burns you inside and outside actually you will feel that spice in your tongue and it can make you cry. Also i realized that al- most everyone loves Sichuan Cuisine. Second cuisine it is Shandong Cuisine. When i was in Shandong province i loved there food so much that i asked their secrets from chiefs. However when i heard some secrets, i realized that Shandong cuisine are very simple and easy to do. In my opinion the taste of food was simultaneously simple and delicious. Living already 2 years in Zhejiang province made me love Zhejiang Cuisine too. Even taste is very simple but it is fresh. I believe that Zhejiang province has so many dish styles that you can never be tired of it. In Guangdong province i was several times, but every time i was unsatisfied with food that i eat there. For me Guangdong province food was too sweet and no taste and maybe it was unhealthy? 3. Russian Cuisine The cuisine is diverse, with Northern European, Central European, Central Asian, Siberian, East Asian and Middle Eastern influences as Russia is by area the largest country in the world. «When temperatures can drop to 30°C (-22°F) during winter, it's no surprise that Russian food is typically hearty, with potatoes, bread, pastry and sour cream featuring as common ingredients. Yet delicate smoked fishes, thin papery crêpesand red and black caviar are equal contenders in Russian cuisine. You may feel French influences show through in several dishes, although the Russian versions stand on their own merit and creation.»(Yevgen Akrov, 2017) «So what is the peculiarities of Russian Cuisine? Despite all the changes caused by foreign chefs the basics of Russian cuisine remained intact for centuries. It managed to preserve the most characteristic national features – the abundance of food on the table, diversity of starters, adherence to bread, blini (pancakes), kasha’s(porridge); originality of first liquid cold and hot meals, variety of fish and mushroom dishes, wide offer pickled vegetables and mushrooms as well as vast choice of sweet stuffs like jams, cookies, gingerbreads, cakes etc.» (Natasha Kuplinova, 2016) 3.1 Common dishes in Russia So what are some of the most common foods on a traditional Russian restaurant’s menu or served at a Russian cook's table? «Borshch, borscht is beet soup, and one of the most famous Russian traditional foods. Beets seem a strange base for soup to many Westerners, but there are plenty of reasons that this hearty soup is one of Russia’s most famous dishes. Full of vegetables and meat, the layered flavors in this soup are especially nice with a dollop of fresh sour cream. Shchi is a typical cabbage soup made from either fresh or fermented cabbage. While different recipes call for various ingredients, shchi often contains potatoes, carrots, onions, and possibly some type of meat such as chicken.» (Kerry Kubilius, 2017) «Solyanka is a soup that is plentiful enough to be a meal in itself. This soup is made with various types of meat, including sausage, bacon, ham, and beef, as well as vegetables such as cabbage, carrots, onions, and potatoes. Chopped pickles and the traditional lemon slice garnish play an important role in giving this recipe its sour flavor. Fish soup is represented by Ukha, made with a variety of different types of fish often swimming in a clear broth. Russia is famous for pastries and dumplings and maybe you heard of Pirozhki. These little pastries can be packed full of potatoes, meat, cabbage, or cheese.» (Kerry Kubilius, 2017) Pelmeni are pastry dumplings filled typically with meatballs. They can be served alone, slathered in butter and topped with sour cream, or in a soup broth. Definitely a favorite in Russia and abroad! Blini are also served rolled with a variety of fillings: jam, cheese, onions, or even chocolate syrup. At any restaurant where you aren’t sure of any of the other dishes, blini are always a safe bet. Blini are such an important part of Russian cuisine, a festival called Maslenitsa celebrates the beginning of spring with them. «Meat Dishes in Russia Russian kebabs are called Shashlyk. Like any kebab, they can be a combination of meat and veg- etables.The classic beef Stroganoff consists of strips of beef in a creamy sauce with mushrooms or tomatoes, often served with rice, noodles, or potatoes. This recipe has a long history, and many variations for its preparation exist.»(Alexandra Kozlova, 2012) 3.2 Difference with Chinese Cuisine The difference with Chinese cuisine is very huge. For instance Russian people eat any dishes with bread while Chinese people don’t. However Chinese eat rice every meal too. Chinese usually eat communally and share their dishes with others. Russians usually enjoy individual servings. When i came to China first thing what i saw that Chinese cooks chop everything into bite size pieces, thus people don't need knives to cut it, and just pick up their food with chopsticks. Russian cook food in big pieces and serve it with knives and forks for cutting. Chinese cuisine has so many own ingredients, species, sauces and of course own traditional dishes while Russian cuisine has not so many. Even design and texture of the food are not the same but some of them are same. «Where Russians limit themselves to boiling, frying, roasting, and baking usually, Chinese use more methods of cooking, like steaming, stewing, sautéing, braising, and quick-frying with a wok. Chinese usually use animal/peanut oil to fry food; Russians use more butter, sunflower oil, and olive oil.»(Differences and similarities of dishes, 2017). Even it is trivial but Russians use mainly use knifes, forks, spoons while Chinese only use chopsticks and special spoon for soups. 3.3 Similarities with Chinese cuisine For similarities we can add Dumplings, because pastry plays a big role in Russians life, but not like Chinese’s, still it’s very common. By the way my favorite dish in Russia it is dumplings with potato which calls Vareniki. In Russia they have own grain called Grechka it really similar to rice but has different design, texture and taste, nonetheless that is good point. «Both Russian and Chinese have long courses of dinner when they are having a party.»(Tiffany Cheng, 2016) Mostly for Russians to switch their food for Chinese not difficult, however for muslim it can be hard and this i can’t understand why. Also what i can not understand, that people make summaries and generalizes before they even didn’t start or try. Conclusion As you can see Russian food are mostly similar to European and Central Asia’s food. From here we can make some summaries and findings that Russian cuisine are not really Russian, basically they borrowed from different cuisines. I want say that every country and nation has own beautiful and amazing dishes and no need to blame other dishes because how they look or how they smell maybe behind this dish legendary story? Anyway, if someone will ask me which country has unpredictable beautiful, tasty and strange dishes i will definitely tell Chinese cuisine. References: 1. Chinese cuisine. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chinese_cuisine (December 30, 2017) 2. The 8 Great Regional Cuisines of China. https://www.chinahighlights.com/travelguide/chinese-food/ eight-cuisine.htm Gavin Van Hinsbergh (July 14, 2016) 3. The 8 popular Chinese dishes https://www.chinahighlights.com/travelguide/chinese-food/ eight-chinese-dishes.htm Kelly (November 10, 2017) 4.Top 10 Russian foods https://www.expatica.com/ru/about (December 30, 2017) 5. Russian cuisine https://www.advantour.com/russia/cuisine.htm (December 30, 2017) 6. «The world Factbook». Cia.gov. Retrieved 27 December 2014. 7. Russian Traditional Foods https://www.tripsavvy.com/russian-traditionalfoods-1502211 Kerry Kubilius (Updated 05/16/17) 8. Beatty, Theresa M. Food and Recipes of China. New York: PowerKids Press, 1999. 9. Yan, Martin. Chinese Cooking for Dummies. Foster City, CA: IDG Books, 2000.
