Recognizing Chinese Gourmet Food
If you enjoy trying new foods and look forward to gourmet experiences while you are on your vacation, then there are some tips you need to know about Chinese food to ensure you are getting the best possible experience possible. Grupo Mayan chefs are very experienced with many varieties of Chinese cuisines and recommend that you check to ensure that are receiving authentic cuisines.
One of the main differences in a Chinese gourmet experience is that the order in which the food is presented is slightly different. When you are served Chinese food, the focus is on the starch (rice or noodles) with meat or seafood added first. Then vegetables are included second. Most other types of foods focus on the meat first, vegetables second and the starch (if used) last. If you have ever eaten at a Chinese restaurant where the rice or noodles were not very good, you were not eating at a true Chinese restaurant but a generic version of one.
Chinese cuisines are often divided into certain categories based on the area where the food has been influenced. Mongolian influences affected the northern parts of China. As rice is not a staple in the north as it is in most of the rest of the country, noodles and bread are often found at the heart of a Mongolian dish. If you experience the Mongolian beef dish, to be true to its culinary roots, it should be served with noodles. In the south of China, Cantonese deeply influenced the dishes created. Fresh fruits and seafood are often found in this type of regional Chinese cuisine. Spicy dishes contain many unique spices found in the Szechuan and Hunan mountain regions.
Peppers, garlic, ginger, and onions were not part of the original Chinese foods until the Buddhist monks brought them with them thousands of years ago. Today, many of the best gourmet Chinese foods contain these ingredients. If you have tried some of the many Chinese foods that have become popular in the US, you are probably not receiving true gourmet foods but are partaking of the US version. The egg roll is a good example of a dish that has been greatly modified for US consumption. Grupo Mayan chefs reveal that most gourmet Chinese experiences will have egg rolls that are vegetarian in nature and rely on simple herbs to accentuate the dish. No matter what you may have tasted before, a true Chinese gourmet experience can be exhilarating.