In China food serves not only for nutritional purposes but also for
creating pleasant atmosphere and positive effect on eaters.
Considering
Chinese culture, one can see that Chinese people are refined aesthetes,
focusing not so much on nutrition
itself as on flavor, color and aroma of Chinese food.
To understand the sources of exquisite Chinese food
cooking techniques and delicious Chinese food recipes,
one should get deeper into Eastern philosophy, the basic idea of which
is aspiration for harmony. Thus, in Chinese cuisine hot spicy sauces
are balanced with sugar, and high-calorific meat with plain rice.
The daily ration of Chinese people consists of vegetables, fruits, meat
and grains. Dairy consumption is limited because of lactose
intolerance, instead of that tofu and soymilk are used. Another
difference is that Chinese people almost don't eat standard Western
desserts, like ice cream, cookies and cakes, leaving them only for
special occasions. Chinese food desserts are much healthier, based on
fresh seasonal fruits. The most popular sweet dishes in
Chinese food menu
are steam papaya soup, sweet white lotus's seed soup and red bean soup.
Besides original Chinese food with its ancient traditions and
sophisticated recipes, there also exist such worldly recognized
products as Chinese beverages. For example, Chinese tea, featuring
delicate fragrance and unique taste, is much appreciated in the world
market, and Chinese wine,
made both from grains and fruit, has a good reputation among
connoisseurs.
Chinese food has been much promoted by Chinese restaurants,
currently available in each corner of the world. However, their
popularity can be considered as a double-end weapon. According to Chinese food health
trends
experts, most Western restaurants of Chinese food offer non-authentic
dishes with high amount of fat and carbohydrate. The question about
Chinese food healthiness has been much discussed in the Western
community. From the one hand, Chinese food is very good for health,
containing many vegetables which are cooked so that they keep all the
vitamins and minerals. From the other hand, American and Canadian Chinese food
restaurants modified most native Chinese dishes by adding much fat and
salt. So, if you are on a low
carb diet or just want to taste original Chinese food, you
should visit China.
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