Eat like an emperor

Chinese cuisine is world famous, yet there is really no such thing. We tend to make a distinction between four major regional types of cooking, which sometimes differ sharply: Peking, Cantonese, Szechuan-Hunan and Fujian.

Peking cookery reveals Mongolian influences. Frequent use is made of onions, garlic, ginger, sesame oil and soy sauce. Its hallmarks are the famous Peking duck, noodle soups and filled dumplings.

Cantonese cuisine is particularly popular in the West. It is typically enlivened by ginger, spring onions, salt, vinegar, soy sauce and rice wine, with widespread use being made of a wok. However, the best-known Cantonese dish is the legendary Dim Sum, small filled dumplings.

Szechuan-Hunan cooking makes greater demands on the European palate with its generous use of chillies, white pepper and native Szechuan pepper. Other principal features of Western Chinese dishes are the use of pickled vegetables, especially garlic, Chinese cabbage and bamboo shoots. Szechuan-Hunan cuisine is renowned for its sweet and sour soups, duck and chicken dishes.

Finally, refined seafood and a love of soy sauces, fine vinegars and sweet aromas make Fujian food stand out against the other regions´ cookery.

We recommend sampling all four regional varieties and picking your own favourite.