Chinese cuisine comprises cuisines originating from China,as well as from Chinese people from other parts of the world. Because of the Chinese diaspora and the historical power of the country,Chinese cuisine has profoundly influenced many other cuisines in Asia and beyond,with modifications made to cater to local palates. Chinese food staples such as rice,soy sauce,noodles,tea,chili oil,and tofu,and utensils such as chopsticks and the wok,can now be found worldwide.
Glutinous rice is a type of rice grown mainly in Southeast East Asia,the northeastern regions of India and Bhutan which has opaque grains,very low amylose content,and is especially sticky when cooked. It is widely consumed across Asia.
Kuih are bite-sized snack or dessert foods commonly found in Southeast Asia and China. It is a fairly broad term which may include items that would be called cakes,cookies,dumplings,pudding,biscuits,or pastries in English and are usually made from rice or glutinous rice. In China,where the term originates from,kueh or koé (粿) in the Min Nan languages refers to snacks which are typically made from rice but can occasionally be made from other grains such as wheat. The term kuih is widely used in Malaysia,Brunei,and Singapore,kueh is used in Singapore and Indonesia,kue is used in Indonesia only,all three refer to sweet or savoury desserts.
Senbei,also spelled sembei,is a type of Japanese rice cracker. They come in various shapes,sizes,and flavors,usually savory but sometimes sweet. Senbei are often eaten with green tea as a casual snack and offered to visiting house guests as a courtesy refreshment.
Chinese Indonesian cuisine is characterized by the mixture of Chinese with local Indonesian style. Chinese Indonesians,mostly descendant of Han ethnic Hokkien and Hakka speakers,brought their legacy of Chinese cuisine,and modified some of the dishes with the addition of Indonesian ingredients,such as kecap manis,palm sugar,peanut sauce,chili,santan and local spices to form a hybrid Chinese-Indonesian cuisine. Some of the dishes and cakes share the same style as in Malaysia and Singapore,known as Nyonya cuisine by the Peranakan.
A rice cake may be any kind of food item made from rice that has been shaped,condensed,or otherwise combined into a single object. A wide variety of rice cakes exist in many different cultures in which rice is eaten. Common variations include cakes made with rice flour,those made from ground rice,and those made from whole grains of rice compressed together or combined with some other binding substance.
Tangyuan are a traditional Chinese dessert made of glutinous rice shaped into balls that are served in a hot broth or syrup. They come in varying sizes,anything between a marble to a ping pong ball,and are sometimes stuffed with filling. Tangyuan are traditionally eaten during the Lantern Festival,but because the name is a homophone for union and symbolizes togetherness and completeness,this dish is also served at weddings,family reunions,Chinese New Year,and the Dōngzhìfestival.
A rice noodle roll,also known as a steamed rice roll and cheung fun,and as look funn or look fun in Hawaii,is a Cantonese dish originating from Guangdong Province in southern China,commonly served as either a snack,small meal or variety of dim sum. It is a thin roll made from a wide strip of shahe fen,filled with shrimp,beef,vegetables,or other ingredients. Seasoned soy sauce –sometimes with siu mei drippings –is poured over the dish upon serving. When plain and made without filling,the rice noodle is also known as jyu cheung fun,literally "pork intestine noodle",a reference to its resemblance of a pig's intestines. There is no official recording of the history of rice noodle rolls;most cookbooks claim that it was first made in the 1930s. In Guangzhou,Guangdong Province,people called the dish laai cheung because it is a noodle roll that pulled by hand.
Qīngtuán,also written as Tsingtuan,is a green-colored dumpling originating from Jiangnan and common throughout China. It is made of glutinous rice mixed with Chinese mugwort or barley grass. It is usually filled with sweet red or black bean paste. The exact technique for making qingtuan is quite complicated and the grass involved is only edible in the early spring,so it is typically only available around the time of the Qingming Festival (April 4 or 5),with which the rice cake has become associated. Nowadays,qingtuan sold in most convenience stores in China are made of glutinous rice mixed with matcha. Modern versions use a wider variety of fillings,such as rousong or salted egg yolk.
Hangwa is a general term for traditional Korean confections. With tteok,hangwa forms the sweet food category in Korean cuisine. Common ingredients of hangwa include grain flour,fruits and roots,sweet ingredients such as honey and yeot,and spices such as cinnamon and ginger.
Javanese cuisine is the cuisine of Javanese people,a major ethnic group in Indonesia,more precisely the province of Central Java,Yogyakarta and East Java.
Ang ku kueh,also known as red tortoise cake,is a small round or oval-shaped Chinese sweet dumpling with soft,sticky glutinous rice flour skin wrapped around a sweet central filling. It is molded to resemble a tortoise shell and is presented resting on a square piece of banana leaf. As suggested by its name,red tortoise cakes are traditionally red in color and has a sticky,chewy texture when eaten. Red tortoise cakes are shaped like tortoise shells because the Chinese traditionally believed that eating tortoises would bring longevity to those who are eating it and bring about good fortune and prosperity. Considered to be auspicious items,these sweet pastries are especially prepared during important festivals such as Chinese New Year as offerings to the Chinese deities.
Bua loi or bua loy is a Thai dessert. It consists of rice flour rolled into small balls,and cooked in coconut milk and sugar. Some Bua loi also adds sweet egg into the recipe. It was inspired by Tangyuan,a Chinese dessert that is traditionally eaten around the Lantern festival. Bua Loi is also traditionally eaten during the Dongzhi Festival in Thailand,which is a festival for the Chinese-Thai bloodline. There are a variety of versions of Bua loi such as ones that use food coloring instead of natural color,use soy milk instead of Coconut cream,add sliced pumpkin inside the rice balls,et cetera. There are other types of Bua loi from other countries such as China,Japan,Indonesia,Myanmar,Philippines,Southern Vietnam and Malaysia. 1 cup of Bua Loy has total calories of 295.5 kilocalories,protein of 10.4 grams,carbohydrate of 6.3 grams,and fat of 25 grams.
Dumpling is a broad class of dishes that consist of pieces of cooked dough,often wrapped around a filling. The dough can be based on bread,wheat or other flours,or potatoes,and it may be filled with meat,fish,tofu,cheese,vegetables,or a combination. Dumplings may be prepared using a variety of cooking methods and are found in many world cuisines.
Phuket cuisine originates from Phuket,Thailand and has Chinese,Malaysian,and Thai influences.
Tao kuih is a kind of traditional food in Chaoshan area,Guangdong,China. Tao means peach in Chinese and kuih (粿) is a general name of a class of food,which is made from rice flour,flour and tapioca. “净米也，又米食也”is the explanation of kuih from Kangxi Dictionary. In Chaoshan area,the housewife always make tao kuih in some big festivals,such as Spring Festival,Lantern Festival,Double Ninth Festival and so on. Tao kuih uses to sacrifice to ancestors. Tao kuih gets its name because people think it looks like a red peach. It is made for worship. In China,red peach symbolizes longevity and luck,it reflects people's aspiration when they pray.
Tong but lut is a Cantonese dessert. Glutinous rice flour balls in sugar syrup are sprinkled with crushed roasted peanuts. The stickiness of the balls prevents the topping from coming off,hence the name.
