The Eight Great Cuisines of China

The Eight Great Cuisines of China form the core of Chinese culinary art, with the key feature of “Each dish has its own style, and each cuisine has its own distinct characteristics” — each is marked by vivid regional flavors, unique cooking techniques, and representative ingredients, together constituting the richness of Chinese cuisine.

Below is the core distinction of the Eight Great Cuisines (categorized by region, highlighting the memory points of “flavor + representative dishes”):

1. Lu Cuisine (Shandong) – “Representative of Northern Cuisine, the Ancestor of Techniques”
   Core Flavor: Pure salty and fresh taste, emphasizing “the finer the food, the better”. It makes good use of green onions, ginger, garlic, and soy sauce for seasoning. Its cooking techniques are good at stir-frying, quick-frying, braising, and simmering, especially in cooking seafood, poultry, and livestock.
   Representative Dishes: Braised Sea Cucumber with Scallions, Braised Pork Intestines in Brown Sauce, Sweet and Sour Carp.
2. Sichuan Cuisine (Sichuan) – “A World of Spicy and Numbing, a Hundred Dishes with a Hundred Flavors”
   Core Flavor: Centered on “numbing, spicy, fresh, and fragrant”, it emphasizes “each dish has its own style, and a hundred dishes have a hundred flavors”. It skillfully uses chili peppers, Sichuan peppercorns, broad bean paste, pickled peppers, etc., with rich flavor profiles (fish-fragrant, spicy, sour-spicy, etc.).
   Representative Dishes: Mapo Tofu, Twice-Cooked Pork, Kung Pao Chicken, Boiled Fish in Spicy Broth.
3. Cantonese Cuisine (Guangdong) – “The Pinnacle of Freshness, Simplicity as the Foundation”
   Core Flavor: Pursues “the original taste of ingredients”, focusing on “clear, fresh, tender, smooth, and crisp”. Its cooking techniques are exquisite, good at steaming, blanching, and roasted meat. It especially values the freshness of soups and seafood.
   Representative Dishes: White-Cut Chicken, Roast Goose, Slow-Simmered Soup, Steamed Grouper.
4. Huaiyang Cuisine (Jiangsu, Northern Anhui) – “Exquisiteness of the Jiangnan Region, the King of Knife Skills”
   Core Flavor: Moderately salty and sweet, fresh and mild, with exquisite knife skills (e.g., “Wensi Tofu”). It is good at braising, simmering, and steaming, focusing on the tenderness of ingredients and the richness of soup.
   Representative Dishes: Braised Lion’s Head with Crab Roe, Sliced Pork in Chicken Broth, Sweet and Sour Mandarin Fish.
5. Zhejiang Cuisine (Zhejiang) – “Sweet Freshness of Jiangnan, the Taste of Mountains and Waters”
   Core Flavor: Fresh, crisp, and tender, slightly sweet and fresh. It makes good use of Jiangnan ingredients such as rice wine, bamboo shoots, fish, and shrimp. Its cooking techniques are mainly steaming, boiling, stir-frying, and pickling, emphasizing “fresh and crisp without greasiness”.
   Representative Dishes: Dongpo Pork, Sautéed Shrimps with Longjing Tea Leaves, West Lake Vinegar Fish, Sister Song’s Fish Soup.
6. Fujian Cuisine (Fujian) – “A Feast of Seafood, Outstanding Soups”
   Core Flavor: Characterized by “fresh, fragrant, light, and mellow”, it is good at cooking mountain delicacies and seafood, especially famous for its soups (“ten variations from one soup”). It skillfully uses red yeast rice, shrimp oil, fish sauce for seasoning.
   Representative Dishes: Buddha Jumps Over the Wall, Lychee Meat, Satay Noodles, Fuzhou Fish Balls.
7. Hunan Cuisine (Hunan) – “The Passion of Spicy and Fragrant, a Must for Rice”
   Core Flavor: Focusing on “spicy, sour, and fragrant”, different from the “spicy and numbing” of Sichuan cuisine, it emphasizes “spicy and fragrant” and “sour-spicy”. It skillfully uses chopped chili peppers, fermented black beans, and perilla, with strong and savory flavors that go well with rice.
   Representative Dishes: Chopped Chili Fish Head, Sautéed Yellow Beef with Chili, Dong’an Chicken, Mao’s Braised Pork.
8. Anhui Cuisine (Anhui) – “The Richness of Mountain Areas, Excellence in Heat Control”
   Core Flavor: Rich in oil and dark in color, emphasizing “heat control” (slow braising, stewing). It makes good use of mountain delicacies (bamboo shoots, mushrooms), river fresh ingredients, and preserved meats (such as ham, cured pork), with a mellow and simple taste.
   Representative Dishes: Stinky Mandarin Fish, Fermented Tofu, Hu Shi’s One-Pot Dish, Huizhou Sliced Pork with Bamboo.