what's the difference between northern and southern cusines in china?

Question

im going to china later this year and would like to know the difference between the different regional cuisines, im heading off next month to the north of china then working down to the south and would like to know the different aspects of the two cuisines to expect

Answer 1

Although there are many regional cuisines in China, like Beijing cuisine and Shanghai cuisine, there are eight principal cuisines in China:

Shandong Cuisine
Sichuan Cuisine
Guangdong Cuisine
Fujian Cuisine
Jiangsu Cuisine
Zhejiang Cuisine
Hunan Cuisine
Anhui Cuisine

I've eaten mainly Sichuan, Hunan, and Guangdong.

Sichuan Cuisine (Central/West), known often in the West as Szechuan Cuisine, is one of the most famous Chinese cuisines in the world. Characterized by its spicy and pungent flavor, Sichuan cuisine has many tastes and emphasizes on the use of chili. Pepper and prickly ash are also used as are garlic, ginger and fermented soybean.

Guangdong cuisine (South East China), familiar to Westerners as Cantonese is characterized by the lack of spices, specifically peppers, and is thus unlike Sichuan and Hunan food. Though I live in Guangzhou (capital of Gungdong), I rarely eat the food here, but prefer Hunan resturants. They like things like steamed (almost raw) chicken, which I don't touch, and used to like wild animals.

Hunan (Central East) cuisine consists of local Cuisines of Xiangjiang Region, Dongting Lake and Xiangxian. It is characterized by thick and pungent flavors. Chili, pepper, garlic and shallot are always used in every dish. I lived in Hunan two years and like it a lot.

As for your main question, about north and south, I guess the main difference is between southern cooking which is delicate in flavor and not much use of spices, versus northern cooking, where thick stews and soups (hot pots) and lots of spices are used.

Answer 2

The main diffrence in the cuisine results from climate. The further north you go the colder the average climate therefore the more warmth there is in the cuisine and the greater use there is made of meat and rich sauces.In the north a lot of meat is used,roasting,barbecuing,. etc.Strong tasting vegetables are also featured, leek, onion, garlic. Sesame is a dominant spice.
In the south the stronger meats are not used.Most recipes feature duck, chicken, pork and freshwater fish.Simmered dishes and stir fried dishes dominate.There are many dishes in which meat and seafood are combined.eg: beef in oyster sauce.
This is a very brief description. I suggest that you go to your local library and read up on regional chinese cooking. If you go to the west then things change again due to the distance from supplies.
This can also be affected by where you eat. Restaurants do cater for european tastes and you may be in one region and eating food from another because the local tastes do not appeal to foreigners. You may have to ask for local dishes

Answer 3

rodents/veggies/rice are popular in the north ,Schuwan/Cantonese

while mammals and seafood is popular along the coast

there's a cat in the kettle at the Peking moon
I've got have to stopping eating there every day at noon.

Garfield's on my fork , yeah.
he's purring here on my fork

i am getting hungry
calling for delivery now
bye

Answer 4

North= colder weather, more spice, wheat noodles
South= hotter weather, more fish, rice based food.

Answer 5

One is definately hotter than the other but they're basically the same