Food is an integral part of a country’s cultural identity and therefore of the travel experience itself. For us, discovering new flavors, spices, and colors is just as thrilling as enjoying a beautiful landscape or meeting wonderful people. So when the country in question (China) is this vast and has such a rich history, the culinary discovery becomes all the more fascinating! After spending 2 months in China, we obviously didn’t have time to explore every facet of this ancient cuisine, but we certainly made the most of it. Here’s what we learned about Chinese cuisine in 10 commandments.
Thou shalt share thy food
If we had to remember just one thing about Chinese cuisine, it’s definitely its social aspect. Here, every dish is served in the middle of the table (often round) and is meant to be shared among all diners. We were completely won over by this way of eating! It’s so much better than our European habits, where everyone orders their own dish and eats what they ordered. It’s way more fun to share so you can taste everything! This is definitely something we’re bringing back to Switzerland after this trip.
Thou shalt master the chopsticks
Let’s just say that when we first arrived in China, we ate much more slowly than in Europe. Blame it on those famous chopsticks, which aren’t exactly easy to handle at first. Especially with noodle soups! Apparently, eating slowly is healthier, so that’s a plus! But we got used to them pretty quickly, and by the end, we were practically diving face-first into our bowls of Chinese noodles and wolfing them down in no time. Like pros, we tell you!
Thou shalt make plenty of noise
If people making noise while eating bothers you, you’d better get used to it in China. The first time a Chinese person ate their noodle soup next to us, it definitely made us smile. The whole experience was accompanied by some throat clearing and a little final spit… But you get used to everything, as they say, and after two months in this country, we didn’t even notice our Chinese friends anymore, even though they were pretty loud. Instead, feel free to make as much noise as you want while eating—in China, it’s totally acceptable!
Thou shalt never leave thy plate empty
If Chinese people invite you to their home, avoid finishing your plate, especially if you want to stop eating. An empty bowl simply means you haven’t eaten your fill. It’s the ultimate dishonor for a host not to have satisfied their guests. Result: you’ll get a double portion. You should know that food in China is, in a way, the primary sign of social belonging. A host will generally cook their very best for you and will constantly worry about your plate.
This phenomenon is similar in Chinese restaurants… People generally order mountains of food to show they can afford the best and end up leaving half of it. What seems like the height of waste to us is completely normal in China.
Thou shalt taste an incredibly varied cuisine
Chinese cuisine is incredibly diverse. Then again, that’s to be expected for such a large country with such a rich history.
In the north, around Beijing, you’ll eat noodles, dumplings, and xPeking duck with a great variety of vegetables always cooked in oil and garlic. The further you go toward the center and west, the spicier your food will be—or should I say, the more it’ll burn—particularly with the famous Sichuan pepper that has the effect of numbing your tongue! I swear, after eating, you’d think you’d just left the dentist! As you travel, you’ll also gradually eat more rice. Even though it’s eaten everywhere in China, it’s mainly cultivated in the southwest of the country.
We also really loved all those vegetables we don’t find much back home, like bamboo shoots, soy, lotus roots, all cooked with plenty of ginger. In the south, in the Canton region, you’ll see that it’s possible to eat just about anything…
Back home, we say “everything’s good in a pig.” In China, this saying applies to all animals, and generally speaking, everything edible gets eaten. Just to give you an idea, our Couchsurfing host in Canton prepared chicken kidneys, duck blood, chicken feet, grilled silkworms for us… And that’s just a glimpse of what people eat in this region. Thankfully, there are dim sum (kinds of sweet or savory pastries steamed) that remain more digestible for us poor Europeans…
Thou shalt forget cheese; thou shalt embrace tofu
Much to our dismay, most Chinese people can’t handle cheese. Often, they don’t even know what it is. Actually, they’re lactose intolerant and therefore prefer tofu, a kind of paste made from fermented soybeans. Let’s be honest, tofu is pretty bland and will never replace cheese (that’s not even the point anyway). The advantage of tofu is that it’s very affordable, healthy, packed with protein, and you can cook it 10,000 different ways. When it’s well prepared, a tofu dish can transform into an incredible taste experience! I’m actually hoping to use this trip to learn how to cook tofu properly for when we get back.
Thou shalt drink tea
In China, forget about coffee (which is often outrageously expensive anyway) and get used to hot tea. It actually took us a while because, honestly, when it’s already 95°F at 7 in the morning, you don’t really crave a piping hot cup of tea. But since it’s clearly the most popular drink in China, we had to adapt. Ordinarily, Chinese people consume large quantities of green tea.
They always have their little bottle for making infusions with them and drink it all day long. Even though green tea is by far the most consumed, there’s an incredible diversity of teas in China, some of which are very expensive.
The best way to try several is to go relax in one of the many teahouses you’ll find throughout the country. We spent several afternoons in these places (like at People’s Park in Chengdu) and it was always really nice.
Thou shalt learn to gesture, draw, and mime
We’d already told you about this when we shared our first impressions of China. This country isn’t really English-speaking, and even less French-speaking. And since pictures of dishes on restaurant menus aren’t always present, sometimes you have to make do with whatever means you have to order. We’ve already mimed chicken, used our picture book a lot, chosen based on what we saw in bowls or at other tables, drawn vegetables… In the end, it’s always been a total blast!
For example, we ate the famous hot pot several times in Yunnan. It’s a Chinese fondue where you cook a multitude of ingredients in more or less spicy broths. Every time, it’s the same problem… We find ourselves facing a gigantic menu written in Mandarin where you have to check off the ingredients you want for the hot pot. So we always end up wandering around the restaurant tables looking for inspiration and asking Chinese customers to give us a hand. Guaranteed laughs!
Thou shalt venture into the alleys
It’s no secret—in Asia, the streets are where you need to go to eat, and China is no exception! The street food there is delicious, varied, and extremely cheap. Count on spending between 1 and 3 euros per person for a meal. So don’t be afraid (we never got sick from food in China) and just enjoy yourself!
Thou shalt try these Chinese specialties
So there you have it, that’s everything about food and Chinese eating habits! There’s no denying it, this cuisine delighted us for 2 months. We absolutely loved its richness, its diversity, the vegetables that were completely new to us, the spices, the Chinese noodles… However, we weren’t quite as thrilled about the fact that everything is cooked with a lot of oil. But we had to find at least one small negative point, which doesn’t tarnish the beautiful picture of Chinese cuisine at all. And despite all that oil, we didn’t gain an ounce—we actually lost a few pounds… But that’s probably more due to the many hours of trekking (hello to the 60,000 stair steps at Mount Emei!) than to the local gastronomy!
What about you? Have you tried Chinese cuisine? Do you have a favorite dish?
To go further, we detail the must-try dishes to taste on your next trip to China!
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