Northern China is defined by the government of the People's Republic of China to include the municipalities of Beijing and Tianjin, the provinces of Hebei and Shanxi, and Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region. For 80 meals purposes, we are defining Northern China as Beijing, Shandong province and the surrounding region.
Beijing cuisine is also formally known as Mandarin cuisine. Beijing cuisine is heavily influenced by other Chinese cuisines, particularly Shandong cuisine, and in turn greatly influenced other Chinese cuisines, particularly the Chinese imperial cuisine. The Emperor's Kitchen was a term referring to the cooking places inside of the Forbidden City, Beijing where thousands of cooks from the different parts of China showed their best cooking skills to please royal families and officials.
Foods that originated in Beijing are often snacks rather than full courses, and they are typically sold by little shops or street vendors. There is emphasis on dark soy paste, sesame paste, sesame oil, scallions, and fermented tofu is often served as a condiment. In terms of cooking method, methods relating to the different way of frying is often used.
Well-known Mandarin dishes include:
- Peking Duck
- Hot and Sour Soup
- Mutton Hotpot
- Sweetened Vinegar Spareribs
- Glazed/Candied Chinese Yam
- Chinese "fajitas"
- Stir Fried Tomatoes with Scrambled Eggs
Tianjin cuisine is heavily influenced by Beijing cuisine. In comparison, Tianjin cuisine is much more heavily concentrated on riverine fish/shrimps and seafoods, and the flavours are lighter than those of Beijing cuisine.
Shandong cuisine is sometimes considered the most influential in Chinese cuisine, with majority of the culinary styles in China is developed from it. More commonly known as Lu cuisine, it consists of two major styles: Jiaodong, which is characterized by seafood cooking, with light tastes; and Jinan, which is famed for its soup and utilizing soups in its dishes.
Though modern transportation methods have greatly increased the availability of ingredients throughout China, Shandong cuisine remains rooted in its ancient traditions. Most notable is the staggering array of seafood, including scallops, prawns, clams, sea cucumbers, and squid.
Beyond the use of seafood, Shandong is somewhat unique for its wide use of corn, a local cash crop that is not widely cultivated elsewhere. Shandong is also distinct from most of China's other culinary traditions in its wide use of a variety of small grains, including millet, wheat, oat and barley. More so than anywhere else in China, Shandong people are known for their tendency to eat steamed breads, rather than rice, as the staple food in a meal. Shandong is also well known for its peanut crops. It is common at meals in Shandong, both formal and casual, to see large platters of peanuts, either roasted in the shell, or shelled and stir-fried with salt.
Shanxi cuisine is famed for noodles and its sour taste. The cuisine consists of three styles: Northern Shanxi style, with its major emphasis on color and oil; Southern Shanxi style, which specialises in seafood; and Central Shanxi style, which mixes aspects of both the Northern style and the Southern Shanxi styles.
For more information on these cuisines, and this area:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/North_China
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Beijing_cuisine
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tianjin_cuisine
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shandong_cuisine
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shanxi_cuisine
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